Driving in Russia

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Is driving in Russia really that bad, like we see on youtube?

And i am not talking about the insurance job they thing but people speeding, going through red lights, not stopping at stop signs or giving way

How hard is it to get a license, cause it seems like many just get them out of cereal boxes.
 
Interesting thread, I have a lot of creepy stories to tell, but I will do later, I'm going to the university now. See you later today... :sly:
 
I have seen some crazy stuff, but I don't have a dash cam. I hear they are very popular over there.
 
Interesting thread, I have a lot of creepy stories to tell, but I will do later, I'm going to the university now. See you later today... :sly:
If you survive the commute, that is...right? :P

(I realize that living in Paris means I'm surrounded by bad drivers too.)
 
I do not want to go to Russia. It is not the that there are so many crash compilations on YouTube, its how the crashes take place that scare me. There is so much stupidity, and so many "what was going through your head?!" crashes, lots can be prevented.

And then there is just the ones that leave you speechless.
 
Remember that these kind of crashes happen elsewhere, it's just the amount of dashcams means that they're caught on film. I'm sure even the most ridiculous moments have happened in America at some point.
 
I have a question, are there no driving rules, or are they just ignored? I know the Russian authorities are - supposed to be - very strict when it comes to driving under the influence, but is that it?
 
I have a question, are there no driving rules, or are they just ignored? I know the Russian authorities are - supposed to be - very strict when it comes to driving under the influence, but is that it?

Answering. There are traffic rules, and people usually obey them (at least the basic ones).
And if you see loads of crash videos from Russia (or Ukraine, Belarus, etc.) taken by dash cameras, it doesn't mean those roads just consist of crashes, stupid drivers, etc. Because what you see is crashes, and you don't see annoying normal everyday driving, the majority of what those dash cameras actually record.

You see a lot of crashes from Russia simply because a lot of them were recorded. Dash cams (we call them "video-registrators") are very popular there. My family has two cars (Audi Q5 and Fiat 500) and both are equipped with them.
In your country, I guess that police doesn't have fun with blaming drivers on infractions they haven't done. Unlike Russia. If you have a dash cam, you can show a video from it to a cop telling you "You just drove on the red light, you're fined 1000 rubles" and say "No, I didn't, so **** off." It can also prove your innocence after a crash when it's questionable.

But in what you think about Russian roads, there is some sort of truth. They have some specific dangerous traits that can be divided in a few different categories (order by actuality):

1. Stupid/crazy/drunk/sleeping drivers
2. Road conditions (this country has no roads, only directions!)
3. Stupid/crazy/drunk pedestrians
4. Ancient vehicles in bad condition, running by some miracle and suddenly losing their brakes or wheels
5. Drivers who use summer tires to drive on snow and ice. Similar to points 4 and 1.
6. Wild animals (like mooses or even bears). However, I guess it's common for Australia as well, just the animals are smaller.
7. Cargo falling from trucks (Final Destination!).

When I get back home (I'm using my phone now), I'll tell more about each one.
 
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My personal experience of Moscow around 4 years ago…

I arrived at the airport early evening and was picked up by my mate’s driver (Arthur) in a black LWB BMW 750. The airport is a long way outside the city centre and a Motorway takes you past mile after mile of concrete tower blocks right in to the city centre.

Arthur drives absolutely flat out the entire way in to the centre of Moscow. He is inches off the car in front when his way is blocked, undertakes at every opportunity, and hits the 155mph speed limiter on a number of occasions. And he maintains 100mph+ as we entered the city, weaving in and out of the traffic, ignoring red lights, until eventually we reach our destination.

He drives like this the entire weekend, everywhere, all the time (he was on call 24/7 – want picking up from a strip club at 4am and taking to a night club on the other side of the city? No problem, call Arthur :D). And although he drives fast, he drives very smoothly, hardly ever brakes late or unsettles the car. Once I got used to the speed, it was quite enjoyable.
 
He is inches off the car in front when his way is blocked, undertakes at every opportunity...
Yeah, it's a Russian bad habit - going bumper to bumper, without leaving space even for a pedestrian to walk through. "The enemy shall not pass!". I can't really tell what is it caused by. Maybe a barrier for a case of sudden zombie apocalypse? :D There's something psychological. As for me, I avoid doing this when I drive.

I know some people who drive fast but smoothly. But some are both fast and careless, those cause a lot of accidents. Like this. Tunnel crash in Moscow, this May, an example of epic stupidity - the 18 years old kid speeds his Subaru to 170 km/h and enters a tunnel with a traffic jam in it. Luckily, no people were harmed.

Why to speed so much if you don't even see what's in front of you?
In the end of the video, you can hear an angry driver screaming. If the guy in Subaru was alone, not with 3 friends, he could get himself beaten up. :mad:

Does the term 'speed limit' translate well into Russian?
Yes, it does. But it's used by the cops mostly. :sly:

About the license. It's not hard to get it, I got mine half a year ago, I was studying in a driving school for 3 months then passed three tests (Theory, Range and City). But some people don't even bother passing the tests, they just bribe the license (~$400-500) and go driving with no skills. :crazy: This is why there are a lot of stupid drivers on expensive cars.
 
I asked my friend from Russia about why they used dash cams and he told me about a crazy story how a person jumped in front of the car he was in. The car barely dodged the person apparently. Seems as if as people are going for insurance money?
 
I asked my friend from Russia about why they used dash cams and he told me about a crazy story how a person jumped in front of the car he was in. The car barely dodged the person apparently. Seems as if as people are going for insurance money?
To blackmail drivers and exort money from them.

The rogue #1 chooses a car in a low-speed area (he doesn't want to get himself injured, he might also might wear some protecting mail under his clothes. But not all of them are smart, there's a video with one tried to do it on a highway and made himself subject to nominate for the Darwin Awards). Then, he suddenly dives under your car, you brake but you slightly hit him. He goes away, pretending he's alright, even if you stop and talk to him, he'll say "I'm OK", you think it's over and go back to your car.
Meanwhile, the rogue #2 records this with a camera from the pavement. Then, they contact you (they'll find your phone number by your plate, from a database) and demand money, otherwise you'll have big problems for hitting a pedestrian and leaving the scene.
Or, #1 just playing hurt: "Aaarrgh, I'm hurting bad, this is gonna cost you!". In this case, he doesn't even need to get bumped by a car, he (or his partner) just hits your car with something heavy (optionally, knocking the mirror off) and acts like you hit him.

How to counteract? Two options:
1) Have a Saiga-12 on your right seat. :mad: Not recommended, wrong usage can make things only worse.
2) Do not move anywhere, stay on the scene (even if the rouges have left), call the police and report them that you were tried to fraud.

When dash cams got popular, this kind of fraud became less common than earlier.
 
Jamaica is full of awful drivers. I never thought I was getting out of that Chinese ripoff of a French ripoff of a VW Bus alive...

This. Those little buses are terrifying and the way people drive is insane. One of the tour buses killed 3 members of the same British family back in 2011:

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While yes, if alot of peole are using dashcams you will get alot of accidents.
But anywhere else in the world you do not see this sort of thing.
Only is russia.
 
Looks like most of the drivers are either vast asleep or completely lost their eye-sight. :boggled:
I've seen my share of idiocy on the road but nothing as extreme as in these vids.

I believe I saw a bit Japan in there too.
 
1:41-1:50, 3:10-3:18, 3:52-4:25, 4:42-4:52 are obviously not Russia. 6:52-7:03 too, it's probably Japan.
The truck from 6:06 had a brakes failure, the camera car driver said "it smells like brakes". Scary :nervous:
 
I've driven in Florida; Russia's not that bad. ;)

I suppose if more Americans drove about with dashcams, we'd probably have quite the footage to rival Russia. There's some people who do record their travels; cops do it for legal reasons, but most folks that bother, do it for the sake of recording their driving or the places they've traveled.

On the other hand, Miami-Dade County is amazingly dangerous place to drive. It makes a lot more sense if you're new to driving, because you tend to think other drivers are just as clueless. But combine traffic jams, folks that park illegally, people who are in no hurry in the left lane, cars in lousy condition, old folks on medication, flooded roads, drivers who learned how to drive from all other lands, tourists, pedestrians (jaywalkers, street salesmen, and the other drivers who don't realize you actually legally have to stop for those who aren't in abeyance of how to cross a street), typical aggro-machismo, pointless no-turn signage, folks who see a turn signal as a weakness...not much fun.

I took a lot of it in stride over the years, but after visiting most anywhere in America, they don't have that same potent mix. New York City is a tad more frustrating, due to traffic and pedestrians who ignore all No Walk signs; but NYC is quite large.
 
I honestly think it's just due to the sheer number of dashcams in Russia.

143 million people + lots of dashcams = Lots of crash footage.

I reckon that if the same % of people in other countries had dash cams we'd see the same amount of footage (proportionate to the population of said country) as we do from Russia. I should get one for driving on the Isle of Wight; there are some utter morons on the roads around here as some people have genuinely never left the island to drive on actual roads.

EDIT: What Pupik said :P
 
I took a lot of it in stride over the years, but after visiting most anywhere in America, they don't have that same potent mix. New York City is a tad more frustrating, due to traffic and pedestrians who ignore all No Walk signs; but NYC is quite large.
My Mom was in New York last month, and she says that saw more crazy drivers there than she usually sees in Moscow.

BTW, I've told something about points 1 and 3 (stupid drivers & peds), now point 2: Road conditions.
Russian roads can be dangerous even if you are alone on it. There's an old saying: "Russia has two troubles: fools and roads". During the WWII, German tanks used to break down on these roads, and today, they keep damaging German cars. :D

Final Destination: Russian Version
Perm, September 7, 2013. A truck ran over an unsecured manhole cover, the cover unsticked, soared up and hit the windshield of a VW Golf going behind. The driver barely ended up alive (broken arm, concussion, severe bruises and scratches). :crazy:

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And, I've already mentioned in another thread:
Final Destination: Russian Version
A Volvo ran on a piece of carcass sticking out of the road surface!

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The driver was really lucky to have his ass unharmed! And it was a big luck that no one was on the back seat...
Volvos are safe and they'll protect you in case of front or side collision... but Swedes have no idea of how dangerous Russian roads can be! :crazy:
 

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