Growing up, one of my favorite games was tag. The object of the game is simple.  One person is designated "it," and that person must then run and try to tag one of the other people playing the game.

After reading an interesting article today, it seems I'm not the only one who enjoys playing tag.  In Russia, drivers enjoy  playing tag as well; however, they have a somewhat different version of tag than the one I played growing up.  Apparently in Russia, you're "it" if you're driving a Mercedes, and the object is to tag pedestrians as they make their way across the street.

OK, so maybe it's not necessarily a game, but the Russians, in their vodka-induced haze, have no qualms about mowing down pedestrians the same way Clara Harris had no qualms about mowing down her cheating husband. According to the article, in Moscow alone, more than 14 people are hit by cars every day, and 300 have already died this year. As for the rest of Russia, last year 34,506 people were killed and a quarter of a million were injured in road accidents - that's nearly double the rate in America.

So what reason did an ushanka-wearing driver give for Russia's unorthodox method of driving? "I would like to be polite and considerate and generous. I would love to let the pedestrian pass by me. But who can guarantee that the back of my car will not be smashed the next minute if I stop?  I may even be doing him a disservice if I let him pass my car, because the other cars will simply speed up and hit him."

Tag you're it.

You can check out the full story by clicking here.