Russian drivers are crazy. There's just no way to ignore that fact. Speed limits are a mere suggestion; it's not unusual to pass a car that's doing 40mph on a 25mph residential street while barreling into head-on traffic; and if you haven't hit the car in front of you, you're not tailgating. In spite of all this dangerous driving, few people take one of the simplest safety precautions--wearing a seat belt. Russian law dictates that front-seat passengers must wear seat belts, so people buckle when they drive in areas where police are likely to be. And only front-seat passengers wear seat belts; I've been laughed at for trying to put on a seat belt while riding in the back seat (people remind me that I'm not in America and that it's legal not to wear a seat belt in the back seat). 

There's a joke that Americans buckle up because they're afraid of getting into an accident, whereas Russians buckle up because they're afraid of getting a fine from the police. For me, putting on a seat belt is automatic: I sit down and immediately reach for the seat belt. I don't wear a seat belt because I'm afraid of getting a ticket; that doesn't even cross my mind. Actually, I'm even against mandatory seat belt laws; if you need a law to make you wear a seat belt, maybe you deserve to get into an accident. My self-preservation instinct won't let me ride in a car--much less one driven on Russian roads by a Russian driver--without a seat belt, and I don't need a law to make me think that way. Maybe that's my American upbringing at work.