Society of Blue Buckets

The Society of Blue Buckets (Russian: Общество синих ведёрок Obshchestvo sinikh vedyorok) is a free protest movement that emerged in Russia in 2010 as a response to the arbitrary, self-serving use of emergency rotating blue flashers by public servants. Inspired by blue toy buckets' strong resemblance to emergency blue rotating lights, members of the Society affix buckets to their vehicles’ roofs during automotive flashmobs, as a manifestation of their protest against misuse of emergency lights.

The Russian traffic code states that an emergency vehicle can have priority if it is furnished with flashing blue light, an accompanying siren, both of which must be on, and an appropriate graphic livery of the emergency service it belongs to. The latter condition cannot be fulfilled by "VIP" vehicles of civil servants. Nevertheless, these are allowed by individual proponents of Russian government.

While the legal arguments for their legitimacy is a subject for heated discussions, recent years have seen a huge spread of such "VIP" vehicles. Blue flashing lights can nowadays be seen not only on senior government officials' vehicles, but on cars of businessmen and celebrities like Nikita Mikhalkov, many of whom acquire the flashing lights via clandestine channels and/or bribes. Their use has also been controversial, journalists and internet users have spotted such lights on cars being used for leisure activities and ordinary commuting of government servants and celebrities, and even being used by their families. In many cases, the drivers of these cars do not adhere to the traffic rules, putting ordinary citizens' lives at risk and violating the law. These facts have caused severe annoyance in the Russian public at large, and seriously undermined credibility of authorities, especially in Moscow, where traffic congestion is a major issue.

A number of car accidents caused by "VIP" vehicles have brought the issue into headlines and inspired motorists to take part in street protests.

One outrageous accident that became catalytic to the Society's rapid development took place on 25 February 2010. A head-on collision happened in the morning rush hour on a central lane (that is reserved for emergency vehicles) between a Mercedes-Benz S500 and Citroën C3. The privileged Mercedes with a blue flasher on top was carrying the deputy director of Lukoil, Anatoly Barkov. Unlike Barkov, who was barely injured, the two female physicians in the Citroën died. In public opinion, investigation on this matter and its conclusions were considered to be doubtful, especially the initial finding that the Citroën was responsible for the accident as it had ostensibly skidded into reserved contraflow lane. Substantial public and internet-society outcries insisted on the opposite. Public pressure forced the Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, to put this case under personal control of Russian Minister of the Interior Rashid Nurgaliyev.

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Wikipedia