Russian Dashcam Footage a Consequence of Insurance Fears

You can thank a high accident rate for those great meteor images

Some of the most dramatic footage of today's meteor explosion above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk was shot from dashboard-mounted cameras in cars weaving through early-morning traffic with the radio blaring in the background.

What are the odds that drivers would be filming a routine morning commute? In Russia, very good indeed. Dash-cams, as they're known, are ubiquitous in Russia, where bad roads, extreme weather, heavy drinking, and aggressive drivers produce a frighteningly high accident rate. With 38.7 million cars on the road, Russia had 35,972 traffic related deaths according to a 2009 World Health Organization report. The United States, with 251.4 million cars, reported 42,642 deaths — barely one-sixth the Russian rate.