Medvedev car lurches, crowd scatters

Wrong track

The video of last week’s incident — which concluded with the 45-year-old walking out of the car sporting dark sunglasses — came just two months after another web clip showed him somewhat unsuccessfully trying to dance at a party. And like most things in Russia these days, it was read most closely for signs of what this said about Medvedev’s chances of keeping his post in March elections that may be challenged by his senior partner Vladimir Putin.

“Who is this guy to hold the reins of a country if he cannot even drive a car,” said one typical YouTube message from a user named BalticStatesAcademy. “It seems that the president simply forgot to put the car into ‘park’,” the Kazan-Times newspaper that first reported the incident sniped.

The black vehicle had come to a stop when it suddenly lurched in the direction of hundreds of onlookers as the president tried to get out.

A member of his security team managed to help Medvedev stop the vehicle after opening the driver’s door through an open window.

“Careful!” someone could be heard shouting as women screamed and hundreds of people back-pedalled in the face of the president’s quickly advancing car.