Driving in Russia
December 14, 2012 7:44 AM   Subscribe

Driving in Russia. (SLYT) (warning: contains footage of many many car accidents.)
posted by alms (118 comments total) 33 users marked this as a favorite
 
Apparently dash cams are very common in Russia because insurance fraud and corruption is so common:
Dash-cam footage is the only real way to substantiate your claims in the court of law. Forget witnesses. Hit and runs are very common and insurance companies notoriously specialize in denying claims. Two-way insurance coverage is very expensive and almost completely unavailable for vehicles over ten years old-the drivers can only get basic liability. Get into a minor or major accident and expect the other party to lie to the police or better yet, flee after rear-ending you. Since your insurance won't pay unless the offender is found and sued, you'll see dash-cam videos of post hit and run pursuits for plate numbers.
Compilation of insurance scams caught by dash cams.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 7:49 AM on December 14, 2012 [6 favorites]


I saw this the other day. I think my favorite are the helicopter and the jet, because WTF?
posted by bondcliff at 7:49 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


I liked the two guys that get out of their t-boned car and just calmly walk away with an air of "Well, that's that. Laters."
Here it is.
posted by NoMich at 7:51 AM on December 14, 2012 [5 favorites]


Previously.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:52 AM on December 14, 2012


The thing where the cars try to pass slow-moving trucks by moving into the oncoming traffic lane and dodging oncoming cars? That is how my dad drives. Every trip to Russia that I survive feels like a win.
posted by prefpara at 7:53 AM on December 14, 2012


My favourite is the pedestrian nudged out of the way by the car, so he pulls a gun and pops a few shots at the offender.
posted by fatbird at 7:54 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


The pedestrian at 4:50 has excellent reflexes.
posted by echo target at 7:56 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


In Soviet Russia car dri...oh I cant be bothered.
posted by Damienmce at 7:56 AM on December 14, 2012 [4 favorites]


I was expecting abject terror, but after experiencing the highways in China I don't think any road footage can ever truly scare me again.
posted by elizardbits at 7:57 AM on December 14, 2012 [5 favorites]


Favorite bit, mainly for the extremely Russian yelling.
posted by hellojed at 8:00 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


Sick moves!
posted by zscore at 8:00 AM on December 14, 2012


Holy crap is it illegal to *not* drink and drive in Russia?
posted by Mooseli at 8:00 AM on December 14, 2012


I watched this a few days ago. What really wowed me was the truck driver who was thrown through the windshield while still holding the wheel, hit the ground with his feet and walked away.
posted by dunkadunc at 8:01 AM on December 14, 2012 [3 favorites]


I like the forklift thingy driver who hits all those parked cars at 3:24. I feel your pain, dude. I can't fucking drive those things either.
posted by elizardbits at 8:03 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


Holy crap is it illegal to *not* drink and drive in Russia?

If you have the money to bribe the police, you can do whatever the hell you want in a moving vehicle. If you do not have enough money to bribe the police, you will get fined for farting quietly with the windows up.
posted by griphus at 8:04 AM on December 14, 2012 [5 favorites]


Also wtf is going on at 4:00

is it voldemort
posted by elizardbits at 8:06 AM on December 14, 2012 [5 favorites]


PetTip: If your cat is bored with Bird & Squirrel videos, Russian Auto Accidents will fit in a pinch.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:06 AM on December 14, 2012 [3 favorites]


WHATTA COUNTRY!
posted by blue_beetle at 8:06 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


Looks like the guy at 4:00 ran over a downed section of overhead power line for the trams. It was still connected at one end and got caught up in his tires, so it pulled him right over.
posted by echo target at 8:09 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


Includes a horse taking it to the limit!
posted by colie at 8:10 AM on December 14, 2012 [6 favorites]


I keep thinking I have seen the craziest one, then I get to something like this and I start to think Russia is directed by Michael Bay.
posted by fight or flight at 8:11 AM on December 14, 2012 [3 favorites]


And the guy on the motorcycle and sidecar at 3.03 has to be Hans Moleman.
posted by colie at 8:14 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


Previously.

For which see 6:06.
posted by zamboni at 8:16 AM on December 14, 2012


In Soviet Russia……HOLY SHIT! What just happened?!
posted by stltony at 8:16 AM on December 14, 2012


The fire truck that gets cut off and then rams the offending SUV was my favourite.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:16 AM on December 14, 2012


This is just what I needed to see before I travel for the holidays.
posted by natteringnabob at 8:18 AM on December 14, 2012


For at least 25% of these accidents, as far as I can tell, there is literally no cause. It's like the vehicle is just like FUCK EVERYTHING I WANNA BE A BALLERINA.
posted by elizardbits at 8:18 AM on December 14, 2012 [48 favorites]


Every part of this is my favorite part.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:19 AM on December 14, 2012 [5 favorites]


I always live by "beware of the tank in the wrong lane."
posted by Xurando at 8:23 AM on December 14, 2012




For at least 25% of these accidents, as far as I can tell, there is literally no cause.

Vodka is colorless and mostly odorless.
posted by sparklemotion at 8:29 AM on December 14, 2012 [4 favorites]


Okay, the very best one is at the end where the dude whose car is ALREADY in the snowy ditch is filming everyone else sliding into the snowy ditch.
posted by elizardbits at 8:30 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


I guess pouring vodka on a tractor tire could make it fall off?
posted by elizardbits at 8:31 AM on December 14, 2012


I was expecting abject terror, but after experiencing the highways in China I don't think any road footage can ever truly scare me again.

I dunno, I've experienced plenty of the roads in China, and I'd never dare actually drive myself there, but holy shit the stuff in this video makes Chinese drivers look like Oldsmobile owners going to church.
posted by kmz at 8:31 AM on December 14, 2012 [3 favorites]


My friends' comment upon watching this video - 'I love how relatively calm everyone is. The shit is hitting the fan and all you hear a low whistle'.
posted by tatiana131 at 8:32 AM on December 14, 2012


If your cat is bored with Bird & Squirrel videos, Russian Auto Accidents will fit in a pinch.

Read this first as Moose and Squirrel.
posted by DU at 8:33 AM on December 14, 2012 [5 favorites]


I guess pouring vodka on a tractor tire could make it fall off?

Drinking vodka while installing said tire might.
posted by sparklemotion at 8:34 AM on December 14, 2012


Driving in Russia looks like real-life Grand Theft Auto.
posted by KHAAAN! at 8:34 AM on December 14, 2012 [8 favorites]


at :58... listen to what's playing on the radio - FTW!
posted by bricksNmortar at 8:36 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


holy shit the stuff in this video makes Chinese drivers look like Oldsmobile owners going to church.

Right, but here it all happens on nice clear roads and straight highways with flat land on either side, not on roads where one side is mountain and the other side is DEATH PLUNGE.

just say no to death plunge
posted by elizardbits at 8:38 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


Бля!
posted by dunkadunc at 8:39 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


As someone who breaks out into cold sweats if the car goes over 40 and has recurring nightmares about eight lane highways this is basically the worst thing I've ever seen.
posted by The Whelk at 8:39 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


I really, really hope that if this dashcam craze ever spreads to the US, they'll have the sense to add a view of the driver's face.
posted by orme at 8:39 AM on December 14, 2012 [3 favorites]


Words to live by: Behind every jackknifing tractor-trailer you narrowly miss hitting is another one you're gonna hit.
posted by dmd at 8:46 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


Includes a horse taking it to the limit!

I heard this in Jack Black's voice, and for a moment thought it was another kind of video entirely.
posted by davejay at 8:52 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


My friends' comment upon watching this video - 'I love how relatively calm everyone is. The shit is hitting the fan and all you hear a low whistle'.

My initial thought was that was a compilation shot from a single vehicle undergoing an extended and very unlucky Russian road trip while being driven by a couple of bipolar drunks who have learnt to be surprised by nothing.

In fact they could make a pretty good movie by just adding in the requisite scenes to tell that story.
posted by rongorongo at 8:53 AM on December 14, 2012 [3 favorites]


dobbs:
"Here's pedestrians in Russia TRYING to get hit by cars."
Looks like regular pedestrian traffic in Toledo.
posted by charred husk at 8:54 AM on December 14, 2012


Here you go, davejay.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:54 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


I really, really hope that if this dashcam craze ever spreads to the US, they'll have the sense to add a view of the driver's face.

One of my friends does Autocross and has a neat setup in his car that records simultaneously from two front-facing exterior cameras and one rear-facing one, plus another showing the driver. It also does engine telemetry and a GPS position plot.

It's pretty entertaining just to watch recordings of someone going around cones in a parking lot at high speed; if they became common the results from actual over-the-road driving would be awesome.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:59 AM on December 14, 2012


This is why we can't have flying cars.
posted by ceribus peribus at 9:00 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


In Soviet Russia car dri...oh I cant be bothered.--Damienmce

In Russia:

If a car wants to make a left turn, it makes a left turn--traffic, pedestrians be damned.

If someone is going slow ahead of you, go around him. Don't bother checking for visibility or oncoming traffic.

To some drivers, the gas pedal is an on/off switch.

Some drivers are absolute zen masters (when a large object drops in front of them and they skillfully, calmly, and effortlessly avoid it).
posted by eye of newt at 9:00 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


I grew up in Chicago; I live in Los Angeles; I've been driving for 25 years, I drive 20,000 miles a year on average, and I take cross-country trips.

Accidents with tanks and such are very unique in this video, the majority of these just remind me of similar accidents I've seen over the years.

my father used to tell a story about his Rambler station wagon, and how it was a great car until he got rear-ended by a delivery truck; he got out to yell at the driver, completely full of anger and ready to fight, and the driver's seat was empty: the truck's brake had failed, so the truck had rolled down the hill empty.
posted by davejay at 9:05 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


this is what comes from having a national anthem that ROCKS way too hard ...
posted by philip-random at 9:07 AM on December 14, 2012


Meanwhile, in Finland ...
posted by Gev at 9:07 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


Trees hate Russian cars???
posted by samofidelis at 9:08 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


At 7:40 there is a surreal "haters gonna hate" moment.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 9:13 AM on December 14, 2012


Also the plaintive wail of the police car siren at 8:30 is HILARIOUS.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 9:14 AM on December 14, 2012


I've been on roads in Russia, China and Mongolia but NOTHING compares to driving around East Africa. How anyone in the country manages to die of anything but road accidents is mindblowing.

Where I live in Melbourne there's always the go to news story about the "carnage on the roads." I think we're up to 350 people dead so far this year. There was an ad on Kenyan TV while we were there: they're up to 350,000 and climbing just for 2012.
posted by Silentgoldfish at 9:22 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


350,000? What the fuck are these people driving? Combine harvesters?
posted by fight or flight at 9:27 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


That can't be right... that would be almost 1% of the population. This table lists the highest fatality rate per 100,000 population to be around 50, for Eritrea. Kenya is up there, but for 350k fatalities in a country of approximately 43 million people, that number would be over 800.
posted by kmz at 9:33 AM on December 14, 2012


When I lived in Russia in 1993 they had just gotten these new things called gas stations. Like, Western-type places where you could get gas outside and then go into a store to pay and maybe also buy some gum or smokes or other things. We went there to write an article about it because it was Big News, and we found a clean, brightly lit store that sold nothing but...vodka. Not even any mixers. In fairness, there was a tiny little wire stand in the corner that sold wiper blades, but other than that it was all different sizes of vodka bottles for sale and that's it. Russia is the opposite of a public service announcement. one of the reasons I miss it so.
posted by staggering termagant at 9:33 AM on December 14, 2012 [9 favorites]


Some Googling makes it look like the actual number is around 3,000.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:34 AM on December 14, 2012


Like, Western-type places where you could get gas outside and then go into a store to pay and maybe also buy some gum or smokes or other things. We went there to write an article about it because it was Big News, and we found a clean, brightly lit store that sold nothing but...vodka.

Replace Vodka with Beer and you've got Quebec.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:35 AM on December 14, 2012


I saw some crazy stuff in Nairobi in 94 (like a fully loaded matatu sliding sideways into four lanes of oncoming traffic on the Westlands roundabout) but for the most part I didn't think it was too bad. A lot of accidents happened at night, though, because drivers tended to drive with their headlights off (so as not to "deplete their batteries"). And cross-country truck drivers would sometimes park their trucks in the road to take a nap, which tended to be a problem for the no-headlights drivers. But I have trouble believing the 350,000 figure.
posted by rodii at 9:35 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


Vodka is colorless and mostly odorless.

So, most Russians have spent years building up an immunity to it? That explains a lot.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:41 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


Russia is the opposite of a public service announcement.

There's an epic "in Soviet Russia" joke in there somewhere, but I'm not the man to make it.
posted by davejay at 9:42 AM on December 14, 2012


I like the pedestrian at 3:15 that almost gets hit, then kicks the car. "You try to kill me, I put a foot up your ass!"
posted by notsnot at 9:42 AM on December 14, 2012


Yeah, 350k is a crazy made up number, I assume there was something very significant lost in translation somewhere.
posted by elizardbits at 9:43 AM on December 14, 2012


On one hand most people's reactions make me want to visit Russia.

On the other hand it seems that vehicles and obstacles could crash into me from any angle at any moment. Seems dangerous.
posted by cmoj at 9:44 AM on December 14, 2012


also this small contribution from North America
posted by davejay at 9:45 AM on December 14, 2012


I was watching more videos on TwisterNederland and realized: It's only funny if nobody is seriously injured.
posted by dunkadunc at 9:48 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


If you like this sort of thing (and if you're reading this you probably do) /r/Roadcam is a subreddit devoted to them. Here's a good one where nobody gets hurt.
posted by Blue Meanie at 9:48 AM on December 14, 2012 [3 favorites]


Why would anybody ever invade Russia?
posted by benito.strauss at 9:51 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


I once spent an evening watching this reality show about a driving school. It was awful and nerve wracking and pretty much every two seconds some idiot was trying to merge onto the highway going like 15 MPH and was nearly killed, but there were never any actual accidents.

These videos are like the exact opposite. I know there's going to be a horrible accident so I can just relax and wait for it. It's a lot better (for me as a viewer anyway).
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:52 AM on December 14, 2012


On the other hand, the tyre-replacement industry is booming.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 9:52 AM on December 14, 2012


Well, it was an ad. There was another ad proposing that alcohol is the root of all the problems in Kenya but if you drink brand x vodka instead all these problems would go away, so I don't think that advertising is entirely regulated there!

Still, 5 minutes in a matatu (minibus) and I can completely believe that 1% of the population is killed on the roads each year!
posted by Silentgoldfish at 9:52 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


Still, 5 minutes in a matatu (minibus) and I can completely believe that 1% of the population is killed on the roads each year!

Looking for the actual number, I found this article claiming that studies had shown that accidents in Kenya could be significantly reduced simply by adding stickers to the minibuses reminding passengers that they were allowed to tell the driver not to be reckless.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:56 AM on December 14, 2012


Welp. I'm not going to Russia. And if I somehow end up there anyway, not only will I never get in a car, but intend to stay several car lengths from any roads.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 9:58 AM on December 14, 2012


So once I was like, I can't go to Russia, I am not tough enough.

Now I am like, I can't watch videos of Russia, I am not tough enough.

You win Russia. YOU WIN.
posted by pazazygeek at 9:59 AM on December 14, 2012 [6 favorites]


Also, when I was there, there were these seven Armenians in a Lada (not the start of a dirty joke), and they were driving on a main road in Moscow. Unbeknownst to them, underneath the road a hot-water pipe had burst and had eroded all the dirt away, leaving just a thin crust of asphalt over a thirty-foot-deep crater with boiling water in the bottom of it. There were so many people in the car that it was too heavy for the asphalt to support, so it crashed through the street and tumbled into the hole, boiling the seven passengers alive.

Another time, on Tverskaya in downtown, a big truck carrying gas tried to squeeze past a tram in heavy traffic. As the tank of the truck passed the tram, the tram's side mirror ripped a hole in the cheap metal of the tank and all the gas poured out in the road, on the bus, and on the nearby cars. When traffic started moving again a spark came from the tramline, and everyone on the tram died horribly. The next day, there was a picture in the newspaper of a street cleaner lifting up the remains of a charred body on the sidewalk (someone who had jumped, blazing, from the tram) in order to sweep under it with one of those brooms made of birch branches.

This kind of thing happened ALL THE TIME in Russia and was so typical that it was rarely remarked upon. As an American who is used to lawsuits over the lack of Light Ranch Dressing at the Golden Corral, it was really hard to get used to this. Your number could come up at any time, for any -- or no -- reason. I think this is the way most of the world is, actually. You roll the dice and you take your chances. How I wish our pesky government would stop regulating things so I'd have the opportunity to be randomly killed by exploding boilers or falling concrete.
posted by staggering termagant at 9:59 AM on December 14, 2012 [20 favorites]


And actually, this video explains the taxi ride with the Russian taxi driver that took me to my hotel from SEA-TAC . . .
posted by [insert clever name here] at 10:01 AM on December 14, 2012


i suspect you get get rich selling lug nuts in Russia.
posted by HuronBob at 10:02 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


Also, when I was there, there were these seven Armenians in a Lada

Protip: if you are in Iceland and you need a car to get around do not choose the Lada because "you've never driven one before!" cause it will be made entirely of gunmetal, have windshield wipers that get stuck halfway, everything will be Russian and when the car stops dead in the middle of the highway (or on a mountain road with no passing space or railing before the huge death drop down) your car-phobic husband is going to take the time to remember this event in vivid detail to use against you at some point in the near future.
posted by The Whelk at 10:07 AM on December 14, 2012 [6 favorites]


It is pretty safe to say that you should never choose a Lada in any country.
posted by elizardbits at 10:11 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


The first time I visited Las Vegas, back in the 1990s, I rode with a cab driver who was extremely ... efficient. New York cabbies had nothing on this guy. He blazed down crowded side streets at upwards of 60, 70 mph, veering from lane to lane to avoid, by inches, the slower vehicles. He tore through red lights at full speed after a cursory check of his periphery. He avoided traffic on the strip by (yes!) driving the cab onto sidewalks. At one point I started wondering: Is this a put-on? Could I be imagining this? Am I on candid camera or should I be, you know, concerned for my life? Anyway, he got me to my destination, flipped off the meter, stretched his right arm across the top of the passenger seat and turned to face me. Then, with a thick accent and an absolutely deadpan expression on his face, he declared, "I learn to drive in ze Russian special forces."

I tipped him well and got the fuck out of that car, but I never forgot the ride.
posted by Mothlight at 10:12 AM on December 14, 2012 [31 favorites]


Need a cab? Dial 1-800-SPETSNAZ!
posted by brokkr at 10:20 AM on December 14, 2012 [4 favorites]


Why would anybody ever invade Russia?

... and so Hitler's drive to Moscow was cut short when his Panzer IVs became uninsurable due to endless Lada-driving fraudsters speeding in front of the Nazi tanks and slamming on their brakes. And now you know... the rest of the story.
posted by Blue Meanie at 10:22 AM on December 14, 2012 [4 favorites]


My personal American favorite - Flying a Buick
posted by atomicmedia at 10:25 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


USA wise, there's always this driver who must have really been in a hurry to catch a flight at DFW.
posted by kmz at 10:33 AM on December 14, 2012


Vodka is a hell of a drink.
posted by i_have_a_computer at 10:57 AM on December 14, 2012


And these people have nuclear weapons?
posted by dov3 at 11:18 AM on December 14, 2012


Includes a horse taking it to the limit!
posted by colie


The horse was in a crosswalk, so I think she had the right of way.
posted by workerant at 11:23 AM on December 14, 2012


don't

stop

me

now

'cause I'm havin' a good time, havin' a

posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 11:45 AM on December 14, 2012




This is like thirteen straight minutes of that South Park scene where Timmy puts on Kenny's coat and almost gets killed five times in four seconds.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:51 AM on December 14, 2012


Op-pa....BLYAAAAAAAD!
posted by pravit at 12:08 PM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


i'd like to snark about how terrible russian drivers are but there's just been a car accident involving two cars and a school bus right outside my window, so maybe i shouldn't
posted by pyramid termite at 12:34 PM on December 14, 2012


Anyone know the song playing at 0:02?
posted by MechEng at 12:48 PM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


Just looked in youtube comments and found this...
Suck my big fat.... Electro (mecky's one)
posted by MechEng at 12:52 PM on December 14, 2012


This one time, in Russian band camp...
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 1:48 PM on December 14, 2012


In closing, the "fuck you and your sidecar" tap at 3:00, accompanied by the accordion music, is genius.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 2:06 PM on December 14, 2012


Okay, all snarking aside, why are the roads in Russia such a complete hazard? I'm sure it's not just more video evidence because of the dash cams, some of these pre-crash maneuvers look like things I've never seen anyone attempt here. Is there just no enforcement of traffic laws, or no traffic laws period? Is it really explained away as simply as drunk driving? Are the cars just poorly kept up - there were more than a few that it looks like one or more car should have been able to avoid but didn't stop in time or, you know, at all.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 2:06 PM on December 14, 2012


I would guess the first. Russian traffic cops are notorious for extorting bribes from drivers and doing very little else, to the point that their contribution to road safety is either nil or negative.
posted by Nomyte at 3:08 PM on December 14, 2012


This is the best video I have ever seen on the internet, my cheeks hurt from laughing.

Although I have a vague sense I probably shouldn't be laughing so hard at car accidents.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:08 PM on December 14, 2012


Russia: The libertarian paradise. You want wheels that stay on your car? We'll let the free market take care of that.
posted by rebent at 5:10 PM on December 14, 2012


Watching people drive like completely insane idiots, from the point of view of their dashcam, which is designed to protect them but just shows how incredibly reckless and foolish they are, is a bit of a disconnect.
posted by davejay at 5:16 PM on December 14, 2012


If you do not have enough money to bribe the police, you will get fined for farting quietly with the windows up.

My brother did the Mongol Rally in 2006, and his co-driver got done for drunk driving while he was 1) stone-cold sober (in fact, he never drinks at all and 2) being towed. I showed my bro this video, and he said "The russian mindset involves a great deal of fatalism that lends to kind of a devil-may-care approach to things like road safety. I kinda miss it."
posted by KathrynT at 5:22 PM on December 14, 2012


Also I just got to the one where the police siren makes the sad trombone noise as it goes into the ditch and I cannot stop laughing. This has been a shitty day, it's nice to laugh.
posted by KathrynT at 5:25 PM on December 14, 2012


Russia: where turn lanes are suggestions, lug nuts are optional, and Mad Max was a drivers ed video.
posted by quin at 5:41 PM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


I'm surprised no one has mentioned the one at 1:18 where the car is nonchalantly driving down the road with the hose from a gas pump trailing off the side.
posted by alms at 8:24 PM on December 14, 2012


Pssh, alms, the fuel hose wasn't even on fire.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 10:56 PM on December 14, 2012


Russia: The libertarian paradise. You want wheels that stay on your car? We'll let the free market take care of that.

Wheels come off cars and trucks a lot.

-It almost happened to my parents twice just after going to one garage where (I think) the guy's 16-year-old kid was changing tires, and not torquing the nuts beyond finger-tight.
-There's one stretch of I-95 in Maine where I have seen three vehicles with wheels off- go figure.
-I've seen the aftermath of this with semi trucks on a few occasions- truck limping along with its blinkers on, missing one wheel.

And that's not even thinking about trucks shredding tires, which happens a lot more.
posted by dunkadunc at 2:44 AM on December 15, 2012


This video and thread gave me my first eye-watering, pants-threatening fit of laughter since, you know, since yesterday. (Particularly the "350,000" thing.) For that, I can only thank you all.

Driving in Russia, climbing tall abandoned structures without any safety gear in Russia . . . what would Youtube be without the contributions of the former USSR?
posted by Countess Elena at 9:19 AM on December 15, 2012


Obligatory Russian tunnel of crashes (circa 2006)
posted by samsara at 12:25 PM on December 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


Watching people drive like completely insane idiots, from the point of view of their dashcam, which is designed to protect them but just shows how incredibly reckless and foolish they are, is a bit of a disconnect.

Well, I was driving through the city at 80mph and all the lanes on the right were full, so I pulled into this other lane and for some reason there was oncoming traffic in it. So you can see, not my fault.
posted by RobotHero at 12:32 PM on December 15, 2012


My dad kept going "Massachusetts Turnpike!" when he was watching this.
posted by dunkadunc at 12:36 PM on December 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


I think my favorite is the insolent squeal that the police siren makes after being hit at approx 8:30.

Who am I kidding: I can't pick that over the irony of the Queen soundtrack.
posted by chronic sublime at 6:35 PM on December 15, 2012


Lighting strike at 4:16...what!!!?
posted by goodsignal at 9:12 AM on December 17, 2012


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