I enjoy watching the thousands of dash cam crash videos on YouTube. It is a great way to spend the odd 10 minutes here or there. I actually find them very informative, as most of the accidents are caused by a few often repeated driver errors. I would recommend them for all new and novice drivers.
Most of the UK footage involves near misses and cursing and swearing, the US videos, what they would call “fender benders”, and the Eastern European/Russian videos pure mayhem and destruction. I think it comes down to the standard of the drivers and how well they follow the rules of the road. It scares me how many East European drivers we have on our roads, especially their lorry drivers, and I am always concerned about the safety and standard of the vehicles they drive. At least the majority of UK vehicles have current MOT or DVSA certificate. The vehicles from East Europe, if they have been tested at all, could well have been through the same garage that checks their ox carts!
Most of the US crashes feature Freeway accidents caused by their lack of lane discipline. At least in the UK most vehicles pass on the one side, but in the US it doesn’t matter what lane you drive in, and as a result vehicles can be passing you on both sides, often simultaneously.
The Russian accidents seem to be caused by high speeds in town, undertaking (often along the verge of the road), ignoring traffic lights, blatantly turning across the front of oncoming traffic (often travelling at high speed), joining traffic totally ignoring/blanking drivers already on the carriageway, and tailgating (particularly lorries). Add their snow and ice to the mix and it is a recipe for disaster.
And the number of drivers who slam into other cars, then take off to avoid the consequences, is frightening.
What is scary is how easy cars overturn, even after fairly minor collisions. This is made far worse by the Russian country roads being built raised above the surrounding fields (probably to do with their weather). What is reassuring is how survivable quite serious crashes are, due to the design of modern vehicles and as long as the occupants are belted in. And after watching several thousand clips I can confirm that a vehicle catching fire in a crash seems unlikely, unless it happens in a TV movie!
I have always treated green traffic light like a Give Way sign, always expecting someone to be coming through on the red, I am always aware, while overtaking/undertaking in queuing traffic, that drivers are prone to switch lanes, so never do so at a much greater speed than the slower lane, I am always prepared to give way to joining traffic, and I avoid travelling on the blindside of HGV (if I have to overtake a foreign LHD truck I do so quickly and decisively). Now, after watching these videos, I am even more careful.
And one last thing. If a vehicle ploughs into your path, and a collision appears imminent, aim for where he is now, not for where he if heading!
