Moscow authorities want traffic police to react to accidents in 60 sec.

MOSCOW, September 11 (Itar-Tass) -- The Moscow authorities have
drafted proposals for reducing the deadline for the arrival of the traffic
police at the scene of a road accident to one minute following the phone
call. The head of Moscow's department for transport and communications,
Vasily Kichedzhi, said such proposals would be presented to the new chief
of the city's traffic police force.
This post remains vacant following the resignation of Sergei
Kazantsev, who quit 2001. He stepped down of his own accord.
Kichedzhi did not disclose any details of this idea. He merely stated
that the city officials intend to "accelerate" the arrival of traffic
police crews at the scenes of road accidents. The problem came to a head
long ago. Motorists are forced two wait for traffic police for too long,
and all the time their vehicles block roads hindering traffic. In the
context of the modern urban congestion this has become a major problem.
"Sometimes drivers have to wait for the arrival of a traffic police
officer in a tunnel for half an hour. Response to such cases musts be much
faster," Kichedzhi said.
Poor operation of the traffic lights is another headache.
"We have 11,000 traffic lights in the city, but there is no unified
system of their control. Such a system should be created at last," he said.
Kichedzhi hopes that the purchase of new buses and trolleybuses, as
well measures to enforce public transport's adherence to the schedule will
greatly improve the road situation in the city.
The official recalled that half a million motor vehicles flood Moscow
roads every day (on some days there are as many as 800 of them) and Moscow
is almost paralyzed.
"However many roads one may build, we shall never achieve the speed
the drivers would like to see," the official said.