At least nine people were injured early on Sunday when a car driven by a drunk driver ran into the back of a passenger minivan on a highway in the Nizhny Novgorod region, traffic police reported.
The accident occurred around 04.00 a.m. Moscow time and involved a Mercedes minivan and a KIA sedan. Medical examination showed that the KIA driver was in a state of heavy intoxication at the time of the accident.
“As a result, nine people, including four children were injured,” police spokesperson Svetlana Petrova told RIA Novosti.
DUI-related car accidents have long plagued the Russian roads as the punishment for drinking and driving has been rather lenient.
The Russian authorities have ratcheted up the pressure on drunk drivers after a September 22 crash in which a 29-year-old man lost control of his car at a high speed and killed seven people in Moscow. Five of the victims were children.
Moscow traffic police have detained more than 750 drunk drivers over the past five days, according to the local Interior Ministry’s press service, 230 of which were arrested during the past 24 hours alone.
Russian lawmakers have pushed for tougher punishments against drunk drivers, including a life-long prison sentence for offenders who cause multiple deaths.