# Russians and Dash Cams
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 24, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495 "2012-01-24T13:47:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/1 "2012-01-24T13:47:33Z")
Do all Russians/Eastern Europeans have dash cams in their cars or something?
It seems like every time I see a video in which a civilian catches something, like a crash, on a car’s dash cam, said civilian is Russian or Eastern European.
Like this:
> **[Woman Causes Crash](https://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/woman-causes-crash/82220688/)**
>
> They don't even have to be driving to cause accidents.
That’s just one example out of tons I could post if I wasn’t so lazy.
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### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/2 "2012-01-24T14:01:59Z")
In support of your claim, I give you 50 crashes from Russian dash cams:
> **[ItemFix - Social Video Factory](https://www.itemfix.com/?r=ll)**
>
> Social Video Factory
And I’m also in for an answer. I have a camera set up in my track car, but I don’t typically just drive around recording stuff. Maybe the roads in Russia are much more interesting.
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### Author:  [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/3 "2012-01-24T15:01:54Z")
In soviet Russia the cam dashes you!
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### Author:  [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/4 "2012-01-24T15:23:34Z")
Ukrainian Police cars are outfitted with dash cams.
Anecdote: My father recently visited his parents hometown in Ukraine and was pulled over by the police for speeding. His broken Ukrainian was enough to let the officers know that he was foreign and they demanded a couple of hundred dollars in cash to let him go, or he would have to go through the paperwork in Kiev for a couple of days while they hold on to his passport. He stated that he didn’t have that much with him and had to ask his companion for more money. He went to his car and was walking back to the police holding the bills. The police officer chastized him for displaying the money because of the camera recording the proceedings.
I wonder if the civilian dash cams are to capture these types of corruption…although what the citizen would do with the footage, I can’t imagine.
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### Author:  [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/5 "2012-01-24T16:36:03Z")
Smartphones can work as dash cams. Maybe that’s just a really popular thing to do with them there.
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### Author:  [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/6 "2012-01-24T16:57:07Z")
It’s like there’s not 9 working brain cells in the entire Soviet Bloc.
I thought I had it bad. I’ve had cameras [front](http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/videos/?action=view¤t=Movie.mp4)and [rear](http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/videos/?action=view¤t=930annivwreck.mp4)for years, because shit [happens](http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/videos/?action=view¤t=HoodUp.mp4)every [day](http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/videos/?action=view¤t=typicalday.mp4).
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### Author:  [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/7 "2012-01-24T23:18:24Z")
NM
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### Author:  [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/8 "2012-01-24T23:51:05Z")
Is looking over your shoulder considered a rude gesture or something? So many of those accidents were people just pulling out and taking it as a given that the other drivers would stop for them.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/9 "2012-01-25T00:22:26Z")
> [@Dog80](#):
>
> In soviet Russia the cam dashes you!
**Dog80**. In General Questions, we like to let the thread get answered as factually as possible before trotting out the tiredest meme in the world.
Last poster who did this------I went ballistic on his ass. In your case, I’ll just suggest you learn from your faux pas.
No warning issued.
**samclem** , Moderator
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### Author:  [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/10 "2012-01-25T00:28:13Z")
I can’t find the video anymore, but recently I saw one–again, in Russia–of a woman who intentionally backed into a stopped car behind her. As best I can tell, it was intended to be some kind of insurance fraud, and it would hardly surprise me if this were so commonplace there that dashcams have become a popular defensive measure.
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### Author:  [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/11 "2012-01-25T00:43:38Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#):
>
> I can’t find the video anymore, but recently I saw one–again, in Russia–of a woman who intentionally backed into a stopped car behind her. As best I can tell, it was intended to be some kind of insurance fraud, and it would hardly surprise me if this were so commonplace there that dashcams have become a popular defensive measure.
If this is the same video I saw, I don’t think it was intentional, the woman in the BMW just wanted to park in front of the bus and backed up without checking. You would think a BMW X5 would have some kind of backup warning/camera.
I have dash cams on my cars here, and on our car in China. It’s a good thing to have in places where the rule of law isn’t very strong.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/12 "2012-01-25T00:58:11Z")
> [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](#):
>
> If this is the same video I saw, I don’t think it was intentional, the woman in the BMW just wanted to park in front of the bus and backed up without checking. You would think a BMW X5 would have some kind of backup warning/camera.
It’s hard to say since I was just reading body language, but it looked to me like the woman had a very serious attitude shift when the man pointed out his dashcam. I thought this indicated some kind of scam, but it could be she was just aggressive.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/13 "2012-01-25T03:40:29Z")
> [@SanibelMan](#):
>
> Is looking over your shoulder considered a rude gesture or something? So many of those accidents were people just pulling out and taking it as a given that the other drivers would stop for them.
Some of it seems to be a really poor infrastructure in those countries. So blame it on a really poor government.
Many of them show very busy intersections on major roads, but with no traffic control devices (stoplights) at all. That, to me, is astonishing – why hasn’t the city installed stoplights at that intersection?
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### Author:  [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/14 "2012-01-25T06:46:30Z")
I read this on Reddit whilst looking for an answer to the question:
“I asked a friend who lived in Moscow for the last 3 years. according to her it is so cops won’t just take your bribe and then arrest you anyway.”
[http://www.reddit.com/r/self/comments/lmxmn/is\_it\_me\_or\_does\_every\_russian\_motorist\_have\_a/](http://www.reddit.com/r/self/comments/lmxmn/is_it_me_or_does_every_russian_motorist_have_a/)
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### Author:  [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2012, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/15 "2012-01-25T06:55:54Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#):
>
> I can’t find the video anymore, but recently I saw one–again, in Russia–of a woman who intentionally backed into a stopped car behind her. As best I can tell, it was intended to be some kind of insurance fraud, and it would hardly surprise me if this were so commonplace there that dashcams have become a popular defensive measure.
I saw a ridiculous one - also Russian or Ukrainian - in which the car (with dash cam) slowed down to almost a stop to let a pedestrian cross, at which time the pedestrian stopped, looked at the driver, and did a comical leap directly in front of the car. Dah cam very handy there.
ETA : Fantastic question. I’ve wondered the same thing - it’s always, just always Russian when there’s a non-police dash cam involved.
Joe
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/16 "2012-02-25T04:46:50Z")
The answer: it’s because insurance fraud is a growing problem in Russia. Drivers are installing the cams to provide proof of the circumstances regarding an accident.
> **[Watch The Ten Best Russian Dashcam Videos](https://jalopnik.com/watch-the-ten-best-russian-dashcam-videos-5886439)**
>
> With Russians mounting video cameras on their car dashboards in an attempt to avoid the rising tide of insurance scammers, we've been treated to a slew of crazy driving antics captured on film. These are Jalopnik readers' picks for the ten best...
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### Author:  [@nwfall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nwfall)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/17 "2012-08-22T07:21:17Z")
Greetings!
Looks like you need an authoritative answer to your question. I’m from Russia so I’ll try to do it. (And I apologize for my English)
I live in [Perm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perm) - one of the largest cities in Russia. There is an urgent need in a dash cam here because there are a lot of inadequate drivers on the road who ignore the traffic rules. Some of them just have bought the driving license and doesn’t know how to drive correctly, some of them not able to comply with the rules because of a sense of great superiority over the others.
It’s quite often to see a Land Cruiser passing on the red light or a BMW x5 crossing the double solid road markings or cutting you off. Almost nobody follows the speed limit. Car flow slowing down only under the sight of the road cameras speeding again just passing them. Do those drivers know the secret of immortality? Car crash statistics shows they dont.
In case of an accident with an expensive car by it’s drivers fault you could be sure that he knows the right people to make you the culprit.
Here’s an example from real life: My friend stood parked on the roadside. The car in front of him began to reverse. As a result, two large dents left on the hood. The guy said to the cops that this is my friend moved into him from behind while he stood still. The guy lied, despite the fact that his car was almost not damaged.
I’ve found a [good article](http://www.animalnewyork.com/2012/russian-dashcam/) in english which also may answer your question. It truthfully discribes the road situation in more details.
Hope this reply will help since i’ve been writing it for a hour because of my bad English 🙂
If you have more questions I’ll try to answer.
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### Author:  [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/18 "2012-08-22T07:42:58Z")
Welcome to the forum, **nwfall**!
Thanks for providing us with an answer to the question. Your English is really good, but the only way to make it even better is to practice. So why don’t you stick around and participate in any of the other subjects that interest you? We could always use more perspective from your part of the world. Hope to see you around!
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/19 "2012-08-22T07:50:55Z")
> [@elmwood](#):
>
> The answer: it’s because insurance fraud is a growing problem in Russia. Drivers are installing the cams to provide proof of the circumstances regarding an accident.
>
> [Watch The Ten Best Russian Dashcam Videos](http://jalopnik.com/5886439/watch-the-ten-best-russian-dashcam-videos/gallery/1)
Jesus, did you watch the last video in that collection, of the guy on the Yamaha R1? My palms were sweating just sitting in front of my computer.
Welcome, **nwfall**. Your English is pretty damn good.
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### Author:  [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russians-and-dash-cams/610495/20 "2012-08-22T07:58:05Z")
Thanks for your answer **nwfall** , please stick around. And your English is good, thanks for the hour long effort to write your answer.
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