Why almost everyone in Russia has a dash cam
Do a search for “Russia dash cam crash” in YouTube — or even better, Yandex.ru, the county’s equivalent of Google — and you’ll find thousands of videos showing massive crashes, close calls and attempts at insurance fraud by both other drivers and pedestrians. And Russian drivers are accident prone. With 35,972 road deaths in 2007 (the latest stats available from the World Health Organization), Russia averages 25.2 traffic fatalities per 100,000 people. The U.S., by comparison, had 13.9 road deaths per 100,000 people in the same year, despite having six times more cars.
A combination of inexpensive cameras, flash memory and regulations passed by the Interior Ministry in 2009 that removed any legal hurdles for in-dash cameras has made it easy and cheap for drivers to install the equipment.
Blowback
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So, nothing’s changed, then?
OldEnglish on February 17, 2013 at 5:13 PM
If I still lived in a big city, I’d have a dash cam too. Anyone wants to mug me, they go viral on YouTube.
petefrt on February 17, 2013 at 5:25 PM
except now they’re pointing out of the car and not at the occupants.
Lost in Jersey on February 17, 2013 at 5:28 PM
As a collective, the Russians are some of the most corrupt people on earth. As a culture, like the Nigerians, scam is part of their DNA.
Ever been to one of those Russian owned gas stations?
keep the change on February 17, 2013 at 5:29 PM
Ya know,
I was wondering what I’d do with that “old” camera….
Heck, I’ve even got an old cellphone with a camera around here…airplane mode and video.
ProfShadow on February 17, 2013 at 5:30 PM
I got a kick out of the non-reactions by the drivers on the meteorite clips. “So the sky has exploded again. This shall not make me late to the zinc mine this time”
forest on February 17, 2013 at 5:33 PM
How long before Congress mandates them?
agmartin on February 17, 2013 at 5:48 PM
Haha
BallisticBob on February 17, 2013 at 6:09 PM
Bought one on Amazon, wondered why the default language in the menu was Russian. Now I know.
slickwillie2001 on February 17, 2013 at 7:01 PM
Работает хорошо, не так ли?
petefrt on February 17, 2013 at 7:50 PM