The Internet offers endless hours of amusement watching Russian (and to be fair others’ too) car crashes.
Russia seems to be especially well endowed with footage of these startling episodes, as its drivers like to carry a karkam, a small forward-pointing video camera on the dashboard. This is useful if there is an accident: when the police arrive, you have immediate proof (for better or worse) of what happened .
These devices record all sorts of truly extraordinary road incidents, and their owners are not shy about posting them on YouTube for our edification.
This is a typical but not especially gruesome compilation:
It’s striking (or maybe not) just how poorly marked many Russian crossroads appear to be. But there is also no accounting for sheer Slavicised motorised insanity, such as high-speed blind overtaking in bad weather conditions.
Look out for the one where the large black SUV causes and ends up in the head-on smash by absurd overtaking, then quickly speeds away. It’s also notable how passing witnesses to these crashes do not quickly run to help but instead move on their way. The imponderable Russian Soul, hard at work.
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My favorite is of an older gentleman (possibly had been in the Great War), using a crosswalk when he is brushed by a car. The car stops and the old man pulls a pistol out of his overcoat and puts three rounds through the back window of the car which then speeds off into the distance. The old man returns the pistol to his coat and simply continues on his way as if nothing has happened. I realize that in most places this is frowned on, but as a Texan I applauded.
Thanks