Queue of independent

The Moscow traffic police will take external exams in only two divisions

The capital's State Traffic Inspectorate was the first to report on the fulfillment of the wishes of the president, who recently announced the need to improve the level of driver training. Since Vladimir Putin, who, according to his own statement, “faces rudeness on the roads,” has not formulated specific instructions on how exactly the qualification requirements for those wishing to obtain a driver’s license should be changed, the Moscow traffic police chose the path of least resistance.

Yesterday it became known that from now on Muscovites preparing for the exams on their own will be able to pass the Category B driving test in only two divisions. Residents of the Southern, South-Eastern, South-Western and Western administrative districts will have to apply to the MREO at Varshavskoe Shosse, 170, and car owners from other districts will be able to take the exam externally only at the MREO at 20 Lobnenskaya Street. In other departments of technical inspection, registration and the traffic police examination work, exams will now be accepted only for driving school graduates.

The traffic police found it difficult to explain the meaning of such reforms. “The President said we took action. And there is no need to look for underlying reasons here, we are simply talking about streamlining the administration of exams,” Igor Koloskov, an employee of the propaganda department of the Moscow State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, told Vremya Novostey. At the same time, according to him, neither the requirements nor the procedure for taking exams will change yet, and the innovation will affect only a few. “There is an insignificant percentage of those passing exams externally,” says Mr. Koloskov.

The capital's motorists, it seems, did not understand the logic of the police. “If we were talking about a complete ban on self-training of drivers and mandatory training of drivers in a driving school, then this would still be understandable, there would be logic in this. Otherwise, this will bring nothing but extra hassle and queues,” Viktor Pokhmelkin, head of the Russian Motorists’ Movement, told Vremya Novostey. The legality of such a decision, in his opinion, also raises questions, since the right of citizens to take the exam externally is approved at the federal level and cannot be limited by city authorities. “The traffic police should have done a better job of administering exams, instead of creating problems for people,” the deputy said.

Alexander GUDKOV