# Things I am learning watching Russian dash-cam videos **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456 "2013-07-14T04:01:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/21 "2013-07-14T20:11:30Z")
> **[ItemFix - Social Video Factory](https://www.itemfix.com/?r=ll)** > > Social Video Factory No comment! /\* action starts at 0:52 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/22 "2013-07-14T20:29:45Z")
That motorcyclist was clearly a moron. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/23 "2013-07-14T20:33:09Z")
I hate to admit it, but I nearly wet myself laughing when that Russian sidecar (I used to own one!) gets punted off the road! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/24 "2013-07-14T20:47:21Z")
Suicide attempt by Brake Check! ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/25 "2013-07-14T20:59:17Z")
Iā€™ve seen hundreds of Russian dash-cam videos, some strange, some crazy, some moronic, some super lucky but this ā€¦ šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/26 "2013-07-14T20:59:49Z")
I like that the driver checks his car for damage before bothering to head down to the cyclist. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/27 "2013-07-14T21:21:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The whole front of the car caved in isnā€™t direct enough? Yes, but is it because he was in your lane or you were in his? Or did you just ram a stationary object on purpose to get the car totalled because you canā€™t keep paying it? Dash cam from your car showing conclusively that the other guy was coming at you in your lane and had already knocked down a tree keeping you from dodging right, helps with the claim. That it will also catch YOU doing things wrong, well, thatā€™s supposed to be an incentive to not do things wrongā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/28 "2013-07-14T21:44:37Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > here are some to make you feel better. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzBInt4zljQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzBInt4zljQ) A couple of things I learned from that: - It appears commonplace in Russia for wheels to detach from their vehicles and fly about willy-nilly. No big deal, just another tire bouncing down the street ā€¦ - Russian drivers feel they have the right to pass whenever they feel like it. Blind curve? Out of the way, Iā€™m passing. Traffic in the oncoming lane? Hold my vodka and watch this, I can beat him. Nowhere to go but the right shoulder? No problem, comrade, weā€™re making great time - oops, didnā€™t see that truck parked on the shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/29 "2013-07-14T22:12:53Z")
The one that occurs at the 3:54 mark of this video cracked my daughter up. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E-IHur1nQA) ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/30 "2013-07-14T22:13:37Z")
The reason why thereā€™s a lot of Russian dash cams is because of the price difference between liability insurance and full coverage. Majority of Russians canā€™t afford full coverage and go with basic liability. Hence, all the dash cams. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/31 "2013-07-14T23:04:41Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > The thing that strikes me about many of those videos is the apparent failure of the Russian government to provide the infrastructure to keep their citizens safe! > > So many of them show sizable intersections but with no traffic control at all ā€“ not even simple stop signs. In Russia, traffic controls you! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/32 "2013-07-15T00:09:07Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > The one that occurs at the 3:54 mark of this video cracked my daughter up. > > [http://youtu.be/2E-IHur1nQA](http://youtu.be/2E-IHur1nQA) I cal foul on whoever made that video. I only watched about the first seven minutes, but I saw a couple of accidents twice. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/33 "2013-07-15T00:22:07Z")
Is it just me, or do I actually hear these Russians swearing in English when they crash/see something? In that video where the woman pretended to get hit, Iā€™m sure I heard the driver call her a ā€œmad womanā€. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/34 "2013-07-15T00:51:41Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Is it just me, or do I actually hear these Russians swearing in English when they crash/see something? In that video where the woman pretended to get hit, Iā€™m sure I heard the driver call her a ā€œmad womanā€. I know this is ridiculously ethnocentric to say, but I was under the impression that ESL or even just learning English at the same time as your ā€˜nativeā€™ language was pretty common around the world. It wouldnā€™t surprise me to hear Russians speaking a hybrid of English and Russian with each other. ETA, according to [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Russia) German seems to be the most popular foreign language spoken but more then 10% of the people speak English. It is, however, not one of their 27 official languages (I think Iā€™ve only heard of two of them). ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/35 "2013-07-15T01:26:03Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Wow. The physics of heavy fast moving objects is kind of terrifying. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itMdLTd1l4E](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itMdLTd1l4E) I like how the horse was courteous enough to use the crosswalk. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/36 "2013-07-15T02:03:18Z")
Does anyone know, are these unusual occurrences? Are these compilations of the worst of the worst or is this typical Thursday morning traffic? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/37 "2013-07-15T02:57:22Z")
Merged duplicate threads. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/38 "2013-07-15T08:35:57Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I know this is ridiculously ethnocentric to say, but I was under the impression that ESL or even just learning English at the same time as your ā€˜nativeā€™ language was pretty common around the world. It wouldnā€™t surprise me to hear Russians speaking a hybrid of English and Russian with each other. > > ETA, according to [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Russia) German seems to be the most popular foreign language spoken but more then 10% of the people speak English. It is, however, not one of their 27 official languages (I think Iā€™ve only heard of two of them). Well, having been to Moscow more times than I can count, I can tell you that, even in Moscow (the capital city, one of the biggest in the world, with 15 million+ inhabitants), you will be really lucky if you stop someone in the street and that person actually speaks English. Having to learn English at school != having a population that can actually use English (especially if the kids resent being _forced_ to learn the language). As a prime example, take Japan ā€“ English is _mandatory_ in school, but you will be pressed to find one person in fifty who actually speaks good English (and I should know it ā€“ I lived in Japan for 4 years). > [@amarinth](#): > > Does anyone know, are these unusual occurrences? Are these compilations of the worst of the worst or is this typical Thursday morning traffic? Having driven in Moscow, I must say that these look to me as unusual occurrences. Traffic is heavy and some people are crazy, yes ā€“ and you better be aggressive and assertive while drivingā€¦ But it is not the kind of ā€œCar Warsā€-esque world that those compilations convey. However, with everybody and their mother in Russia installing dash-cams, the resulting pool of quite a few millions of cars with dash-cams installed leads to a good amount of crazy incidents being caught ā€œon tapeā€ so to speak. (And my favourite Russian dash-cam videos are the ones taken last February of the meteorite falling near Chelyabinsk šŸ˜‰ ) And now to add something to the thread, on-topic: In Spain, on the road, I have personally seen a couple of people overtaking in ways that would give a cold sweat to the drivers in the videos šŸ˜› In one occasion I saw a guy who, I swear, overtook a truck while another truck was almost over him on the incoming lane and, somehow, managed to pass _between_ the two trucks. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/39 "2013-07-15T12:55:24Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > The thing that strikes me about many of those videos is the apparent failure of the Russian government to provide the infrastructure to keep their citizens safe! > > So many of them show sizable intersections but with no traffic control at all ā€“ not even simple stop signs. ā€¦ Googling around for Russian traffic rules it seems the ā€˜priority to the rightā€™ rule applies; i.e. on intersections where this rule is not superseded signage is not neccessary. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456/40 "2013-07-15T13:14:21Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > A couple of things I learned from that: > > - It appears commonplace in Russia for wheels to detach from their vehicles and fly about willy-nilly. No big deal, just another tire bouncing down the street ā€¦ > > - Russian drivers feel they have the right to pass whenever they feel like it. Blind curve? Out of the way, Iā€™m passing. Traffic in the oncoming lane? Hold my vodka and watch this, I can beat him. Nowhere to go but the right shoulder? No problem, comrade, weā€™re making great time - oops, didnā€™t see that truck parked on the shoulder. Also, a lot of elderly women are pretty convinced the trafficā€™s just waiting for an excuse to mow them down. But big hefty blokes will just waltz out there and stare 'em downā€¦ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-am-learning-watching-russian-dash-cam-videos/663456.md?page=3)