Traffic police across the country will give a free pass to women drivers who commit minor traffic violations on Wednesday in honor of International Women's Day, a senior police official in Russia said Monday.

"Traffic policemen will not darken the holiday for 'driverettes,'" Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said at a news conference. "On this spring day, representatives of the fair sex will not be punished for minor traffic violations."

Traffic police in some regions already have a tradition of letting women drivers get away with infractions on the March 8 holiday, Chekalin said.

"In some places they congratulate the women drivers, and in other places they even give them small presents such as festive postcards with the traffic police insignia or small bouquets of flowers," he said.

This year, traffic police in Nizhny Novgorod and Krasnodar will present women they pull over with flowers rather than traffic tickets, RIA-Novosti and Interfax reported.