I can’t tell you how badly I would like someone to do this here in South Africa with the taxis that have created their own rules for the road. Granted we would probably have a gun pulled to our heads or be stabbed at the traffic light in broad daylight… Sigh. It is nice to dream.
Have you heard about Russia’s Stop a Douchebag movement? You’re going to enjoy this one.
Imagine you’re driving your car down the sidewalk (yes, you’re trying to avoid the long queue of cars) when someone stops you in your tracks and asks you, rather nicely, to please reverse and get back in line (also, they’re pointing a camera in your face and threatening to stick a very sticky sticker onto your windscreen).
The video clips have been made into YouTube videos and have been seen the world over, millions of times. The Stop a Douchebag movement is five years old this month, so it’s high time you have a look for yourself.
Its popularity… is due in part to the absurdity of Russian driving habits, but also to the activists themselves. The boys are self-righteous, but not outwardly malicious. Most of the time, the worst fate a driver suffers is a hard-to-peel-off sticker on his car. They may be brusque, but they’re not unlikeable.
The project was started by Dmitry Chugunov and grew a following quite swiftly; turns out a lot of young Russians are tired of the constant traffic which plagues the motorways morning, noon and night.
How do the gatherings work?
A few hours before showing up at a site, the leaders will post the location and contact numbers on Russian social network VKontakte. Some volunteers show up often. Others come once and never again.
Some of the videos get passed on to the police, who then take matters into their own hands, and yes, some encounters have been harrowing – one of the volunteers has stared down the barrel of a Kalashnikov.
Perhaps we should give it a try and teach a few people some manners and morals in good ol’ SA.
[Source: The Daily Beast]
