We all have fallen for the guilty pleasure of watching other people on video. We catch them at their best and their worst. And cameras are everywhere. Every single thing we do could be caught and immortalized forever on the internet. Some of the best videos and images that we can find are from Russian dash cams. With practically every vehicle on the road having a dash camera, there is nowhere that you can hide or get away from the constant surveillance and it becomes very obvious in the videos that come out of Russia. The nonchalance that appears in every video shows that average Russians are used to being taped and just don’t care. They go about their lives, engaging in all sorts of inappropriate and outrageous behavior. And it’s out there for the entire world to enjoy or marvel at. We’re going to go along the road and see a little bit of it all. From car crashes to fake injuries and everything in between, we’re going to take a journey through the crazy world that lives on Russian dash cams. Buckle up and hang on. It’s definitely a wild ride as we travel through this interesting country.

15. High Flying Car

This horrifying video came out of Dyatkovo where a driver lost control of his car and went flying. Reports came out that the driver lost control after the left front tire blew out. He ended up driving into oncoming traffic before hitting a fence that launched his car into the air like rocket. Unfortunately, the driver did not survive this crash and the passenger was treated for life threatening injuries. This was one of the most terrifying accidents I’ve seen on video and I can only imagine what it was like to witness in person. There are some things you wish hadn’t been caught on tape.

14. Shopping Cart Ride

I wasn’t even sure what I was witnessing when I watched this video. This video taken in moderate traffic starts out like many others, but the ending makes no sense at all. Despite all attempts to find out the backstory on this particular piece of lunacy, it appears that it was a simple situation of drinking and “driving”. This video gives us a very interesting view of a Russian man drunkenly but nonchalantly riding a shopping trolley through traffic on the highway. The half-dazed, almost belligerent look that the man aims at the camera as he sits in the middle of a busy road could be funny if it wasn’t so dangerous. I’m hoping that this is not a common traffic block in Russia.

13. Livestock Traffic Stop

The sight of livestock on the side of the road is not anything new to drivers. We’ve all seen pastures of sedate looking animals grazing as we pass them by. We certainly don’t expect to become involved in a bovine love fest. But this poor Russian driver got an eyeful before his car got too close for comfort. I feel bad for both the driver and the cows. The bull was just trying to have some fun and the cow certainly didn’t want to get plowed into by a car. I love animals, but I certainly wouldn’t want this close of a view.

12. Man Gives Up On Life In The Middle Of The Street

One of the main reasons that dash cameras have become so common in Russia is because of corruption and underhanded methods. Fraud and scams are daily occurrences in the streets. People will go to great lengths to cheat people out of money. One of the biggest scams is to fake an injury or to try and get people to run them over. Some of these scammers could probably get away with it, but this guy is a little too over the top to be believed. About the only thing he could get out of this is an Emmy award for his awesome performance of a human speed bump.

11. Street Brawl 

We see outrageous and childish behavior all over the world, but these overgrown boys took it to an idiotic level. I can’t figure out who the biggest goofball in this video is. Apparently, the driver decided he needed to keep his camera going and laugh at the four men that were beating each other. It started to look like a wrestling match that turned into a schoolyard bully match. The original cause of this fight never became clear, but it got completely out of control very quickly. It was a bit amusing to see three smaller guys try to hold the big one back. It was a bit of a circus.

10. Horrible Driver Hits Two Children

This one is terrible. I’m glad it wasn’t worse than it was and I’m happy that the dash camera caught this insane accident. The driver was going the wrong way down a one way street and hit these two children. Thankfully, due to his low speed, they weren’t seriously hurt. The dash camera, which had been installed for insurance purposes, caught the whole thing. The only real damage was their glasses bouncing off their faces. I hope that the footage was enough to get this driver in enough trouble that he pays more attention to every little thing around him.

9. Cow Being Dragged Away By Farmer

When I first saw this video, I was staggered by it. In this grainy, low quality video, you can see a cow being dragged behind a truck. At first, it appears that the cow is dead, but as you continue to watch, it becomes obvious that it’s still alive. When this video surfaced, it caused a great deal of outrage. The story later came out that the animal had gotten out its pasture and been hit by a vehicle. The farmer that owned the poor creature knew he didn’t have time to go back and get his tractor without risking the cow being hurt further. With the help of a truck driver, they got the cow onto a piece of plywood and very slowly pulled the cow back to the farm where she survived.

8. Knockout at the Crosswalk

The reason for this crazy reaction is unclear, but for some reason, the man in the crosswalk thought he needed to confront the driver. What happens next is completely crazy. As multiple witnesses watch, the driver gets out of the car and suddenly punches the pedestrian. As he drops to the ground unconscious, the other thugs get out of the vehicle to surround him. One even calmly gets what appears to be a bat or a club out of the trunk before they all jump back in the car and speed away without even looking back. Stunned witnesses are left trying to get the man out of the road.

7. Lightning Strikes A Mother And Daughter

This is an unbelievable video in a lot of ways. The sheer power and destructive capability of lighting is well known. The fear and amazement that the drivers who saw this must have felt is jaw dropping. The story behind this bizarre video is that a mother and daughter were trying to take cover from a bad storm. They were trying to hide under a metal umbrella. Onlookers watched in astonishment as a lighting bolt struck both of them. Although they were both taken to a local hospital suffering from severe burns, they miraculously survived the horrific incident.

6. Footage Of A Meteor Exploding Over Russia

In 2013, Russian dash cams all over the country were able to record one of the wildest sights they could. On February 15th, a meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia that created a visible air burst that was seen from locations all over the ground and from satellite imagery. The spectacular videos show an astonishingly bright streak as the meteor tears through the sky and explodes. I wonder what the people in the cars below thought as they watched what looked like a ball of fire come streaking toward them. It probably woke them up more than coffee ever could. I just hope they weren’t trying to drink any at that moment.

5. Well, Hello There Mr. Helicopter

This video cracked me up. I still chuckle when I watch it. But I’m betting that the person who took the video didn’t find it so funny. This poor driver was simply taking a trip down the Rostov-Baku highway when they suddenly found an unexpected vehicle next to them. It has been verified that military helicopters are often flown at low altitude for training purposes, but there is no clear indication as to why the pilot of this particular one was trying to skim the highway. I wonder how many accidents were caused as people got distracted by a very disturbing sight of those rotor blades that close overhead. I bet there were a few people that had to go home and change their pants.

4. Driver Flew Through the Windshield Glass

I have no idea how this man survived the unbelievable destruction that was his truck. The massive impact of two large trucks colliding at the speed had to have been enough to almost give the driver of the car filming a heart attack. Huge pieces of metal and twisted auto parts fly across the road in a crazy storm. At first I thought the man walking around the truck was a bystander. It was only after I watched a second time that I saw it was the driver. How he flew through the window at that rate of speed and still stood up and walked away will remain a mystery to many of us. But if I ever bumped into this guy, I’d buy him a drink.

3. Watch Out for Speeding Tanks?

We know that sharing the road is a regular part of driving. We travel next to cars, trucks, buses and all sorts of other vehicles and we know that things can become very unpredictable. But I’m not sure how I would handle what happens on a highway in Nizhny Tagil. One of the largest main tank factories in the world is found there and there are streets designed to handle these behemoths that intersect the highway. Despite knowing this, I’m not sure how I would respond if I was sitting at a red light and saw a fully armored tank go smashing through a snowbank and speed across the road before exiting through the far snowbank. My response would most likely have been profanity filled.

2. Helpful Motorists

Not all the footage that comes from these dash cams is bad or terrifying. Some of it could be quite be heartwarming. A lot of the video that comes out shows motorists getting out of their cars to help people and animals cross the very busy and very dangerous roads. One of the most inspiring I saw was the video of a man getting out of his car to help an elderly lady get across the crosswalk as cars zoom by. She was too scared and uncertain to go by herself so he parked his car and quickly came to her rescue.

1. Cartoon Animal Thugs

I saved what I considered to be one of the most bizarre videos for last. This one has no explanation that makes any sense. Rumor has it that the footage was possibly staged. But the poor man that was attacked by cartoon characters certainly didn’t feel like it was fake. Video of a man being beaten by people dressed as Sponge Bob, Scrat, Mickey Mouse and Luntik. They jumped out of a car that the driver pulled over and proceed to beat and kick him. The fact that four men were dressed like that is bad, but the driver sitting there laughing was even worse.

These crazy videos are just the beginning of some outrageous views into Russian life. Watching these bizarre behaviors makes me cringe at times. I don’t know how average, everyday Russians make it through each day without getting run over or beaten up by crazy drivers. Although I find the country and the culture fascinating, I can’t help but feel like visiting Russia would be impossible because there is no way to get around safely