Keeping Car Clean in Moscow: It’s a Dirty Job, but Essential

The coming of summer months means trouble for Moscow’s half a million private motorists.

They can be fined up to 10 rubles ($11.50) by the traffic police if they are caught at the wheel of a car officially rated as not meeting the cleanliness standards.

In winter, when vehicles are soiled by snow-removing chemicals, the police rarely enforce the clean-car rule. They concentrate mainly on insisting that lights and license plates be kept clean.

But in summer, the police keep a sharp eye out for dirty cars.

The problem is aggravated by the fact that washing your own car within the city limits is against the law, and a violation can result in a fine of 30 rubles or more. Doing so out in the country, at a river, lake or reservoir, carries an even heavier penalty--100 rubles or more.

Car-Washing Stations

There are car-washing stations in the capital, but not nearly enough to meet the requirements of the private car owners.

An article in Izvestia, the official government newspaper, estimated that only 1% of the private cars could be cleaned in these stations if they were open 24 hours a day.

“All (the stations) are on the fringes of the city and it’s a one-hour journey to and fro, with several hours of waiting, so that anyone who admits using the station should be fired for absenteeism,” the Izvestia article said.

It all adds up to a kind of Catch-22 situation for Moscow’s growing number of private motorists. Government cars, which far outnumber the privately owned vehicles, can be washed in stations run by the ministry or department to which they are assigned.

But the official stations are open only two or three hours a day, while long lines form at the washing stations open to the public.

“The cops are usually not all that bad,” said a Muscovite who tries to keep his car clean with surreptitious washings at home.

“The police will overlook dirty cars for several days after a rain, but in good weather you really have to keep it washed.”