Please read the article at: Desperate for Safer Roads, Russians Are Literally Filling Potholes with Money
- Due to poor road conditions, Russia consistently ranks very low in global road quality comparisons.
- Many Russian roads suffer from potholes, uneven surfaces, and inadequate maintenance, contributing to the low ranking.
- While some major highways in urban areas might be better, rural roads in Russia are often significantly worse.
"An estimated 40 percent of rural villages are not connected to a paved road. In 1999 an estimated 43 percent of federal roads (which account for 46,000 kilometers and half of the country’s trucking volume) did not meet minimum quality standards because of broken surfaces, poor marking, and poor lighting. Road conditions are a major factor in Russia’s very high rate of traffic casualties. The road crisis is exacerbated by steady increases in vehicle volume. [Source: Library of Congress, October 2006 **]. Automobile travel is expanding, but the construction of new roads is not keeping pace. Some dreamers believe that in the not too distant future, the pot-holed roads will be replaced with a network of modern highways and goods will thus be moved overland by truck rather than railway." - Source: Roads in Russia
"In 2023, for the first time in a decade, the number of accidents in Russia increased by 6 percent compared to the previous year. For the first time in 12 years, the number of road accident victims also rose: fatalities increased by 2.7 percent, and injuries by 5.7 percent. Over the year, 14,700 people died in traffic incidents in Russia, according to research by Esli Byt Tochnym ("If One is Being Accurate") project...
At the same time, the number of accidents involving passenger cars has also risen. Experts attribute this to sanctions and the exit of Western automakers from Russia. "The main factors driving the rise in accidents are the deteriorating quality of cars amid an aging vehicle fleet, a slow renewal rate, or the replacement of vehicles with those that do not meet safety standards," said Anton Shaparin, vice president of the National Automobile Union." Source: Russian Roads Become More Treacherous, October 4, 2024
"As good as it may sound, many economists doubt that all these efforts will produce the national makeover that Mr. Putin has proclaimed as his program for the next five years.
Vladimir Kvint, one of Russia’s leading economic strategists, says the investments are necessary to overcome Russia’s legacy of decaying Soviet-era infrastructure. But he says they are not connected with a systematic assessment of the country’s needs and are unlikely to stimulate the economic dynamism that official statements promise." - To make Russia great again, Putin is building roads and bridges, Christian Science Monitor, 2019
Russia compared to the waning years of Roman Empire before its fall
The decline of the Roman Empire's infrastructure was mainly caused by a lack of dedicated funding for maintenance, political turmoil (Russia recently has its Wagner Group rebellion), and the vastness of the Roman empire (Russia is a very large country and Russia is having increasing difficulty to defend Russia. See: Essay: Is Russia a failed state?) making it difficult to manage and repair infrastructure effectively, leading to aqueducts, roads, and other public works falling into disrepair, especially during the later stages of the Roman empire; as more resources were diverted towards military defense against barbarian invasions, funding for infrastructure projects dwindled significantly.
As noted above, Russia car quality now in decline, but it was never that great to begin with as can be seen below.
"Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian people's greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists. One thing is for sure, no one was lining up to buy their cars." - Yuri Orlov, Lord of War movie, 2005
