I was looking at some of those Russian car dash cams on youtube that they say are almost mandatory there for liability reasons and was wondering if anyone had done this on their jag? Maybe there's a kit at Frys Electronics or some other place online?

 

Mount a Go-Pro by the rear view mirror?

 

The helicopter looked dangerous enough but the approaching jet was something different.

One country I'll not be driving in.

Graham

 

hahaha! The wreck at 5:35 where the two guys in the white car calmly get out and walk away leaving their POS car in the road is hilarious.

 

I have been watching these for years and I have only two comments.

1. Do they even require them to pass a drivers test and show that they can drive a car/truck/bus/motorcycle/bicycle/tractor/helicopter/jet plane over there before they let them loose on the public? (also seems like they should license the pedestrians over there as well)

2. If I am ever kidnapped and forced to go to Russia, the ONLY vehicle that I will get into would be a tank, preferably an American tank. (if they drive tanks like they drive cars, they are lucky that they never started WWIII)

 

If it wasn't happening on public roads I'd say it looked like an old time Demolition Derby! I've been to Russia a couple of times (Moscow and St. Petersburg) but relied on public transportation, which is actually quite good. In fact, some subways stations are actually works of art, if you like old time communist propaganda art, but interesting never the less.
Mark

 

That was the best. Can you blame them?

Also, check out the ContourHD camera. That's probably what some of those were filmed with. GoPro too.

 

I think the major reasons it's like that in Russia is that the police don't seem to be much as far as enforcement, maybe they're not paid much?, and I think I read somewhere that heavy drinking is pretty prevalent in Russia. A lot of the other accidents could happen anywhere really. But yeah the helicopter and fighter jet so close to the road is pretty crazy. If you type in Russian Meteor 2013 you get some amazing captures of it from these cams!

 

To get back to your original question, I've been using a Dash Cam for a few months. There's a range of these available on eBay in the UK from £30 - £50 ($46 - $77) and it must be similar in the US. This is the one I chose:



The Cam is approximately 4in x 2in x 1in and attached to the screen below the rear view mirror, isn't a distraction when driving. This one is 12mP and 1920 x 1080.

Here's a still from a clip taken on a wet afternoon last year as it was starting to get dark. Reasonably sharp image which is sufficient to give clear registration plate detail. You might think driving on the left looks even more dangerous than Russia!



I've checked again today to find cam cost has come down and quality looks to have improved since I purchased mine.

Graham

 

Thanks Graham. I think if I parked mine on the street I'd be more willing to go for it but I think I'll hold off, I'm not in Russia after all!

 

I always wondered why the Russians had all of these cameras.

I figured it was because there were so many of these incidents that they felt that they just had to get it on video or no one would believe them.

I wonder if they have TV shows there like we have "America's Funniest Videos", they might have, "Everyday Driving in Russia"?

 

At CES this year I went shopping for new car DVRs, the best I found was out of China by ThinkWare called the Black FXD700. It even had a light on it like the one on the front of that old Knight Rider Firebird. Due out mid year:

THINKWARE

 

I have just bought one of these
Less than $45 amazing quality. Meant for model aircraft, so it's tiny.
manual here
All the set up details here

 

Search out franksm2001 on YouTube (me !)

I have a pair of Blackvue cameras in my '8. The front is wired into a feed in the overhead console. The rear into one of the many available feeds in the boot area.

Let me know if you need more info like wire colours, etc. They are easy to install and great 'additional insurance'