A driver pulls over, steps out into the snow and helps a stranger. Moments like this, caught on the dashboard cameras that fill Russian cars, became one of the most shared feel-good videos of 2013: a compilation of everyday kindness on Russia’s roads.
The Russian dashcam kindness compilation
In May 2013, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on a compilation of dashcam clips showing “random acts of kindness across Russia”. The scenes are simple and moving. A driver gets out at a busy junction to help a cat across the road. Another stops to help a pedestrian on crutches who has slipped on an icy street. In one clip, a small child who can barely walk wanders onto a highway, and a truck driver stops to carry him to safety.
Part of the compilation’s power was the contrast. In several clips, other cars kept driving past, and then one person decided to stop. Sites around the world shared the compilation as an antidote to the crash videos that had made Russian dashcams famous.
Why so many Russian drivers use dashcams
By the early 2010s, dashcams had become a craze in Russia. The main reason was practical: drivers wanted proof of what happened in an accident. Mental Floss summed up the causes as insurance fraud, including staged crashes, traffic disputes that turned into one driver’s word against another’s, common hit-and-runs and distrust of traffic police. Cameras cost roughly $50 to $200 and record continuously, overwriting old footage, so the last few minutes are always saved.
The side effect was an enormous record of life on the road. Russian dashcams captured crashes, reckless driving and the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, and, as that compilation showed, plenty of decency too.
Kindness on winter roads
Snow and ice raise the stakes of small problems. A fall on an icy pavement, a stuck car or an animal on a frozen road can quickly become dangerous in a Russian winter, which is why a stranger who stops makes such a difference. If you stop to help on a winter road, park well clear of traffic, switch on your hazard lights and wear something bright before stepping out.
Explore more: people helping animals in another compilation; a warm personal moment in winter.
Related reading
- A Car Recovered from an Opening in Lake Ice
- Nickson Gensis’s Typhoon Haiyan Footage from Hernani
- Inside Kamchatka’s Mutnovsky Ice Cave
- Rupee and Joanne Lefson’s Trek to Everest Base Camp
- Sean Swarner: Mountaineering, CancerClimber and a Personal Story of Hope
Sources
- RFE/RL: Russian dash-cam videos of kindness (May 2013)
- Mental Floss: Why do so many Russian drivers have dashboard cams?
- Image: Russian roadside-kindness compilation
Stuff like this happens everyday in Pittsburgh Pa.
ReplyDeleteno matter what..we are the same..we love each others..love world..
ReplyDeleteDear God tonight when I close my eyes to sleep , it will be morning somewhere else . I have no control of what happens , but if I may ask U to please take care of the ones that need U and need help through someone else , please place them in their paths ... Amen !!!
ReplyDeleteEdgar CAyce said that out of Russia would come the hope of the world. After 2000, when all the earth changes start happening, Russia is supposed to be the hope of the world. I can see where there is still hope for us all.
ReplyDeleteA Russian billionaire was interviewed by Charlie Rose. Rose asked him who was the most powerful leader in the world and his response was Putin. I am a fan of his and I do believe Edgar Cayce is right. Russia is hope.
DeleteThis is the way we were created to be. We just learnt to be selfish!
ReplyDeleteLearnt???
DeleteReally.... Got to love internet spelling police.
DeleteDefinition of LEARNT
chiefly British past and past participle of learn
...just normal...what world are we living if these situations looks "heroic" ?
ReplyDeletethere are good people everywhere in the world, specially in front of a camera.
ReplyDeletePeople in general can be cruel,selfish and heartless. But there are still SOME truly good and kindhearted people left in every nationality.
ReplyDeleteGod bless them
ReplyDeleteHow many of you could honestly say they would do the same?
ReplyDeleteХотелось бы чтобы Всем и всегда так везло - тогда меньше горя было бы у людей
ReplyDeleteThis small act, bags lot of effect, when you find yourself seconds away from destruction, disasters, misfortune,calamity or catastrophe(you name it).
ReplyDeleteHaving compassion(plus Wisdom) in oneself is the greatest quality that one can desire for. Rest doesn't matters.
Замечательное видео! Замечательные люди! Замечательные поступки! Желаю всем мира и добра! Будьте здоровы, хорошие люди!
ReplyDeleteGreat video....Great people
ReplyDeleteWOW - there are a lot of Russians with dashboard cameras isn't there?
ReplyDeleteThey have a lot of insurance fraud,so they use the cameras to protect themselves in case of a law suit.
DeleteExtending a hand tyo one in need offering a cup of cold water to a thirsty man or a sandwich to a hungry child is simple...well I am simple and it is catching, pass it along do random deeds of kindness and you will never be alone never be in want.
ReplyDeleteThere are three types of people in this world... those who see.... those who see when they are shown and those who refuse to see. If you live with eyes wide open... you know this.
ReplyDeletetoll,das russische autofahrer auch anders können.......sah bislang immer aufnahmen von diesen crash.cameras.daumen hoch!!!!
ReplyDeletedidn't even cry. IT IS A MUST. If you respect yourself, respect others. That's life.
ReplyDeleteYou won't find this in Mexico.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! :3 I love this video
ReplyDeleteMy Aunt Father and Grandparents were immigrants in 1912
ReplyDeleteThese are not random acts of kindness, these are staged acts of kindness, otherwise there wouldn't be a camera conveniently placed at each "act" filmed. Nothing heart warming to me. If it were an accidental filming it would be more believable, but this is not the case.
ReplyDeleteIn Russia, there is a lot insurance fraud, and most drivers install a dashboard camera to protect them in case someone falsely claims they hit them, etc. Some of these might be set ups, sure, but dashboard cameras are not uncommon there.
DeleteI live in the UK where all respect for the people that built the country has gone, Cow towe rules are the order of the day, if ethnic minorities want it, the rest be damned. Russia has problems like any state but if this is how it looks after its elderly I would move there tomorrow, GOOD ON YOU, and total respect.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteConsidering all these numerous hateful comments, I'd say the world has still got long way to go for peace.
ReplyDeletekindness is in everyone, and it is a joy to give away. fr. john nelson Orthodox church
ReplyDeleteMy God bless all of You. For His Love is still present in a dark world. :)
ReplyDeletesomewhere someone is trying to make this place a better world ....... god bless us all....
ReplyDelete