Corruption on the Road: A case study of Russian Traffic Police

Motorists deal with traffic police officers on a daily basis. In Russia, the operations of the traffic police are not transparent. Mass surveys show that contacts with traffic police officers represent a key source of corruption in this country. This article discusses the links between corruption in the traffic police and road safety. Corruption in the traffic police has a positive impact on road safety in Russia, a middle-income country. It suppresses economic growth and thus reduces the intensity of road use. In the current situation, Russian motorists have no incentive for fighting corruption: constantly growing fines and penalties for traffic offences increase the attractiveness of paying bribes compared to individual and/or collective protests. A vicious circle emerges as a result corruption becomes self-sustainable. The official statistical data and results of a nationally representative sociological survey provide the data for the analysis. An instrumental variables analysis and multiple regression modelling are used in this study.