Russian politicians are facing clampdowns on the use of official cars and motorcades, the RT news website reported Monday.
Officials will no longer be allowed to use the cars if traveling more than 50 kilometers outside of Moscow's city limits, according to sources in Russia's State Duma. Dignitaries will be forced instead to use trains and other forms of public transport alongside the electorate.
The rule has long been an official Duma “recommendation,” but officials have long been happy to “turn a blind eye,” RT reported.
Distinguished by their blue flashing lights, official government cars have long provoked the wrath of Muscovites for their ability to bypass the capital's notorious traffic jams. A number of protest groups have accused civil-servants of taking advantage of the cars' special status and ignoring basic traffic rules.
Protest group the Blue Buckets staged a number of demonstrations against the official cars in 2010, with Muscovites strapping blue buckets to their cars and cruising the streets of the capital.
The current parliament has 12 official cars at their disposal.
