Russian road roulette is all the rage in Sofia

[link to www.brisbanetimes.com.au]

October 27, 2009

SOFIA: Gangs of drivers in the Bulgarian capital are defying death – or dying – for bets of up to 10,000 leva ($8,300) by speeding through red lights at 200km/h.

"Russian road roulette" is played every night at intersections throughout the city.

Five people have been killed and many injured since the craze took hold in July and August. According to the rules, participants must drive at top speed and not apply their brakes.

The 50 or so drivers, most of them in their 20s and in four-wheel-drives, gather at midnight at designated meeting points in the city's north. As lookouts watch for the police, the participants decide on a venue. Other gang members are informed via texts and the gambling starts.

To win at Russian road roulette, the driver must jump red lights at busy intersections at full speed and not collide with another vehicle, pedestrian or leave the road. If he hits an object, he loses. Onlookers also gamble on the outcome.

In a variation, drivers enter roundabouts at high speed – in the wrong direction. Rivals also race each other along the dual carriageway of the city's ring road.

On some occasions the gangs have even blocked sections of the road to other traffic while the race takes place.

Rumen Georgiev, a taxi driver, said he was now afraid to be on the city's roads after dark.

"I – like every other taxi driver in Sofia – stop at a green light to make sure nothing is coming the other way," he said. "I have to apologise to clients for the slow journey. It's a jungle out there.