16 September 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. Some Will Contend in the Marathon… Some Will Have to Contend with It

Some will Contend in the Marathon… Some will have to Contend with It

Sergei Yolkin

2013

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The original Russian title was Кому марафон бежать, а кому объезжать (Komu marafon bezhat, a komu obyezhat), employing a play on words. My problem was to “English” it in such a way as to retain that wordplay. I think that the above fills the bill…

By the way, the cop in the picture belongs to the GIBDD, the Russian traffic cops. It’s a specialised branch of the MVD. Traffic snarls in Moscow are the worst in Europe; it makes rush-hour traffic on the Beltway look anaemic in comparison. That means that the detours in force for the Marathon pissed off tons of drivers. It wasn’t a good day to be a cop…

BMD

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On Sunday, there’ll be traffic restrictions in Moscow because of the first-ever Moscow Marathon. Sergei Yolkin gives us his view of it all.

12 September 2013

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/caricature/20130912/962768327.html

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Sergei Yolkin’s World: “Bud” on the Hunt for Drunk Drivers

“Bud” on the Hunt for Drunk Drivers

Sergei Yolkin

2011

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Russian engineers presented a new remote alcohol sensor, the Buton (Flower-Bud), which can detect alcohol vapours inside a moving vehicle. The remote alcohol sensor with a laser beam can zoom in on a drunk driver at the wheel. The Buton can scan moving vehicles up to 150 kilometres per hour. The RF MVD plans to take the equipment into service at the end of the year.

26 October 2011

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/caricature/20111026/471490059.html

Sergei Yolkin’s World: Winter Tyres for Your Favourite Car

Winter Tyres for Your Favourite Car

Sergei Yolkin

2011

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If you look at the licence plate under the grill, it says, “No, no”. That must mean that they fit “just right”.

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In anticipation of the first snowfall of the year, which is expected on Saturday, Moscow motorists are beginning to change the summer tyres on their vehicles, but our RIA-Novosti correspondent found out that not that many were in the auto repair shops. Earlier, experts at the Phobos Weather Centre told RIA-Novosti that the first snow of the season’s expected in Moscow on Saturday, and the first below-freezing temperature will come on Sunday night, the mercury will fall to -2 Celsius (28.5 degrees Fahrenheit). In turn, the State Automobile Inspectorate (GAI) urged drivers to change over to winter tyres before the snow falls, for safety reasons. According to the UGIBDD (Directorate of the State Inspectorate of Road Traffic Safety) statistics, the onset of cold weather, which causes ice to form on the roads, significantly increases the number of road accidents, most of which can be traced to drivers neglecting to change over to winter tyres fast enough. After the first snowfall, the number of those going into the shop to change their tyres will increase significantly.

13 October 2011

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/caricature/20111013/458052204.html