The most charming, creepiest International Women's Day celebration ever staged by armed police officers

Everyone who's ever been behind the wheel of a car knows the terrifying feeling that creeps down your spine, when a police officer zeroes in and tells you to pull over. All this week, that harrowing experience belongs to women in Nizhny Novgorod, where traffic cops are getting a head start on International Women's Day, pulling over women drivers of all ages, not to hand out speeding tickets, but to pass out flowers.

A public relations official for the city's police department told the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that officers are hoping to catch women off guard with a pleasant surprise, giving them flowers a week before the holiday is traditionally observed.

According to reports, many local women have been quite frightened when pulled over, frantically looking through their cars for their documents and asking nervously what traffic laws they apparently violated. When presented with flowers, instead of a ticket, women are said to smile and show signs of relief.