Driving in Russia

As Russia spans three regions of the world (that is, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and East Asia), and is the largest country in the world, since 1991 (with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the creation of a modern Russia), different areas of Russia may experience high car ownership rate. Car ownership rate is high in Asian parts of Russia while in European parts of Russia, driving qualities are similar to other European countries. Thus, it is cheaper to get gas in Asian Russia than in European Russia.

If you're not used to local road conditions and driving culture and don't understand Russian, independent car travel can be challenging and even dangerous. Roads may be poorly marked, if marked at all, and poorly maintained, especially outside the cities and towns. Road numbers are not well marked, and direction signs are normally in Russian only (in the western part of Russia, they are sometimes also in Latin script).

The most important roads in Russia are designated federal highways; these include major roads raying out from Moscow (designated with 'М') and roads that are part of the European or Asian international road networks. In addition many roads between administrative centers (designated 'Р', Cyrillic for 'R' ) and other important access roads (designated 'А'). These form the major skeleton of the Russian road network, are the best maintained and usually paved — though particularly in the east of Russia, some (for example the Kolyma Highway) are still gravel roads or include gravel sections. The roads making up the Trans-Siberian Highway were completely paved only in 2015.

Highways in the countryside usually consist of two lanes with no barrier between them, though in major cities highways have more of them — the MKAD beltway of Moscow has ten.

These are things you should bring if driving your own car to Russia:

In addition, see Russia#Get in for visa procedures.

It's recommended having an international driving license; this is a supplement to your regular driving license and usually available from your the automobile club in your home country.

In built up areas the speed limit is 60 km/h, on highways 90 km/h and controlled-access highways 110 km/h. Cars driving 120 km/h on highways are not an uncommon sight, though road conditions do not always allow for high speeds. Driving on unpaved roads with a normal car is possible, though it's good to have a 4WD.

Traffic behavior in Russia is unpredictable, for the uninitiated outright dangerous. Sometimes Russian drivers respect and take into consideration other drivers and other traffic, yield and know how to drive, but all too often, they don't. Expect to encounter speeding, dangerous overtakings and cars that are in a dangerously bad condition. High speeds are not uncommon in urban areas either. Moreover, highways were built for a much smaller number of cars than there are now, which means busy traffic. Headlights are often used only at dark, and in the worst case not even then, even though the law requires drivers to turn them on even in daytime. Road fatalties per 100,000 inhabitants is 18.9; twice that of the USA, four times of Germany and France and comparable to China, and some Middle Eastern and Latin American countries.

That said, if you have your wits about you and use common sense you'll likely be fine. Especially from neighboring countries it's not uncommon for people driving into Russia without incidents and of course Russians themselves use the roads for getting around.

Fuel prices are at around €0.60/liter for both gasoline and diesel comparable to the USA, and considerably lower than in Europe in general.

When far out in the countryside, it can be hard to find unleaded fuel, and there the quality may be bad. Hence, try to use branded fuel stations only. Diesel is available everywhere, but it too may be of low quality which means it could clog your fuel filter.

When parking, don't leave valuables visible. When parking overnight, it's good to use guarded parking lots, just to be on the safe side. You can often find those at hotels or near hotels. Another alternative is asking locals if you could park your car on their yard overnight.

There are also official camping areas along the highways, and wilderness camping is allowed pretty much everywhere. If you camp near settlements, you should out of courtesy ask locals if it's OK to camp there. There are no regulations against making campfires, though you should of course exercise common sense and abstain from doing this if the terrain is dry.

You also can pull over into a shoulder as long as the line on your right if there's one is white, and there aren't any signs saying you cannot do so. A yellow line means you cannot stop at all, while a broken yellow line means no parking (that is stopping for more than 5 minutes).

Back into parking spaces wherever possible, because if you pull into it, when you back out, there may be people that fake crashes or scratches from your car and try to get money from you. This is known as an "автоподстава". For this reason, it's recommended you have a dashcam to prove them otherwise. And also backing into parking spaces is safer in general. There are no laws to prohibit this.

Road signs in Russia are pretty much the same as the ones you would see in Europe. There are 8 categories of road signs, which are: Warning signs, priority signs, prohibitory signs, regulation signs, special regulation signs, information signs, service signs, and additional information signs (known as plates).

Warning signs are triangular in shape, and warn the driver of a danger ahead. The most common warning signs you will see are "deer or moose may be crossing ahead", which consists of a deer in a triangle. The other common signs are signs that warn you of dangerous sharp turns or bends.

Priority signs can be of any shape. They are also placed at signalled intersections that go into a "blinking amber" mode at night. The most common priority sign you will see is "Give Way" (Yield in American English). It's a sign that consists of a blank upside down triangle, like the warning sign, but just upside down and blank. The other common sign you may find is the "Priority road" sign. It resembles an American/MUTCD road sign, but is not fully yellow. It consists of a slightly rotated square with a yellow middle and thick white borders. The sign means that the road you're on has priority, and should expect drivers on roads joining your road to give way. Another common sign is the STOP sign. It's used in circumstances when the visibility of the intersection is severely restricted, that you have to come to a complete stop and look both ways. They can also be installed at level crossings, and in that case, you must stop, look both ways, and make sure no train is approaching. If there is one, you should stop at the STOP line, or if there isn't one, in front of the sign..

Don't confuse a STOP sign with a white rectangular "Stop line marker". These are not priority signs, and mark the stop line, for example in areas where snow and ice is prone to damaging the markings.

Prohibitory signs are round with red borders. The most common of them that you will find is the "No Entry/Do Not Enter" sign. It consists of a red circle with a white rectangle in the middle. It prohibits movement in the direction of the sign, and is placed at the end or entrance to a one way road against traffic. The other one is the "No vehicles" sign. It consists of a blank circle with red borders. It prohibits movement in ALL directions, not just one. It's used in pedestrian areas, for example. Bikes can be ridden past the sign. The sign can also be installed at an entrance to a parking lot for staff only. In that case, there will be a plate underneath signifying who can enter it. This sign does not apply to public transport and vehicles marked with a "handicapped" card of the II or I class.

Regulation signs are blue. One of them is the minimum speed limit, which is a blue circle with white numbers in the middle which is the minimum speed limit. You must not go lower than that number, otherwise you will be breaking the law. A regulation sign can also be an arrow sign at a intersection with an one way road. You should NOT go against an arrow of a regulation sign at an intersection.

Special regulation signs are usually blue, except the motorway signs, which are green. The "start of built-up area" is also a special regulation sign. A blue built-up area sign means that you are passing a minor settlement, where the speed restriction of 60 km/h does not apply. However, a white built-up area sign means that it applies, and you should reduce your speed to 60 km/h. Among them is also the "pedestrian crossing" sign. It's a blue square with a white triangle in the middle, which has a pedestrian crossing at a zebra crossing in the middle. It marks a pedestrian crossing which may be signalled or not. At unsignalled pedestrian crossings, pedestrians have the right of way.

Information signs are blue, except for green, which are on motorways. These signs tell you how far are you from a certain settlement.

Service signs are a blue flipped rectangle, with a white top. One of those signs is the "Traffic police station" sign. It consists of the aforementioned shape and design, with the "ДПС" letters in the middle of the white top. This sign tells you that a traffic police station is ahead. You might also find a sign with "полиция" written in the middle. These signs mark a police station, but not all police stations are marked by it.

See also: Winter driving, Animal collisions

• Rail travel in Russia
• Tips for road trips