Unbelievable "dashcam" footage from Russia:
I think what's so jarring is the palpable air of indifference that lingers from one scene to the next. As if this is all just routine. Russian drivers seem to be entirely resigned to their helpless, hapless, and hopeless fate. Ageing cars + poor maintenance + dysfunctional police + reckless driving + vodka = a very bad brew.
Here's the backstory on the rise of the Russian dashcam:
I think what's so jarring is the palpable air of indifference that lingers from one scene to the next. As if this is all just routine. Russian drivers seem to be entirely resigned to their helpless, hapless, and hopeless fate. Ageing cars + poor maintenance + dysfunctional police + reckless driving + vodka = a very bad brew.
Here's the backstory on the rise of the Russian dashcam:
Their numbers have swelled over the past year or so due to the rampant corruption of traffic police and
insurance company officials. The videos provide evidence for traffic disputes both common and not-so-common, from everyday fender-bender quarrels to pedestrians throwing themselves in front of cars for settlement money. After one particularly horrendous accident that killed twenty people, President Dmitry Medvedev made a statement calling on the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate to “take all the necessary measures to impose order on the roads.” That was in 2009 and little seems to have changed.
(at The Dish)
