Time and time again do we come across news articles and youtube videos of car collisions captured by someone with a dash camera. This however appears to be a daily occurrence in Russia and with a global phenomenon and fascination with you guessed it.. Russians and their Dash Cams. According to this interesting article by the Business Insider, in the year 2011 alone there were 200,000 traffic incidents, ultimately resulting in the death of 28,000 people. In addition, the traffic police in Russian are reported to be the most corrupt officials!
So why do so many Russians have dashboard cameras installed? Well this is also partly due to the increasing number of non-existent safety and road regulation rules. Unlike here in Australia within a federal level road infrastructure that is well coordinated, and within a local state level the RTA or now Roads and Maritime Services in New South Wales manages driver licences, road rules and cooperated enforcement with the NSW Police.
Russia on the other hand is equipped with poor road infrastructure, corrupt police officials and non-enforcement regulations. By their society standards, the extensive use of car cameras / dashcams is a MUST. It is also understood to mainly to dispute car crashes (no brainer), insurance scams, prevent bribery and intimidation from police, and any other possible bad thing that can occur on the roads (just use your imagination). So to conclude, should motorists be equipped with dashcams? Absolutely, although being in Australia and well developed.. we obviously don’t come in par with Russian, however the message is clear.. driving on the road is unpredictable. Protect yourself and your family with your own personal eye witness.
Here are some of the videos captured by drivers who have a dash camera installed onboard. Suppose these might be considered normal events by everyday citizens… or not? 🙂
Interesting article. After watching that second video I can appreciate a need to have a dashcam installed!
Have you seen some of the behaviour aussie drivers display on the roads these days?? Just google bogan driver gone mad.. I think it was a channel 7 program on today tonight, obviously its not related to dashcams but I think no matter where you go, everyone is bound to cross paths with a psychotic driver. Just my 2 cents 🙂