On Saturday, September 22, seven people were killed in Moscow when a drunk driver lost control of his car and plowed into a bus shelter. The seven people killed included a group of five teenage orphans and their teacher and her husband, who were all returning from an arts and crafts festival for disabled children. Alexander Maximov, 29, allegedly lost control of his car and crashed into the bus shelter, the speed of his car was an estimated 125 miles per hour. He survived the accident with head injuries. Maximov admitted he had been drinking for two days, and it has emerged that he has a prior DUI on his record from 2010. He faces a sentence of 9 years in prison which is the limit for causing multiple deaths from dangerous driving, regardless of whether or not drinking was involved. The accident has prompted Russian lawmakers to re-think the current maximum penalty for such incidents.
Shamsail Saraliyev is an MP from Russia’s ruling party, United Russia, who told Russian media, “Last year, drunk drivers killed 2,103 people. This is a colossal number. This year, as of September, tragedies on the roads have killed 2,300 people.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin encouraged the call for toughened legislation, saying, “We will have to toughen legislation in that area. The current legislation does not work.”
