A major fad in Russia, video cameras mounted on car dashboards -- known as "dash cams" -- have been used to document horrific car crashes, instances of police corruption, freakish episodes like a tank crossing a busy highway, or just plain reckless driving.
(RFE/RL’s Moscow correspondent, Tom Balmforth, wrote about the trend in November.)
The dash cams have even recorded terrifying plane crashes and, most famously, perhaps, a large meteor ripping through the atmosphere in the skies above Chelyabinsk in February, causing widespread damage and injuries.
http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=d0328de45bf7
So it’s refreshing to see a compilation of dash-cam videos that captures -- not moments of terror -- but random acts of kindness across Russia.
It’s hard to choose a favorite clip from the LiveLeak video, which is set to a swelling Hollywood-style score.
Is it the driver who gets out of his vehicle at a busy intersection simply to help a cat cross the road? Or the man who stops his car to help a pedestrian on crutches as he tries to stand up after having slipped in the middle of an icy street? (Although it can't help but be noted that many people drive right on by and don't bother to stop.)
In perhaps the most dramatic sequence, a small child, barely able to walk, is seen stumbling onto a highway into the path of oncoming traffic, his parents -- indeed, any adult -- nowhere in sight. A truck driver stops and rescues the child.
Why not take a few moments to watch this video and restore your faith in humanity?
-- Grant Podelco
(RFE/RL’s Moscow correspondent, Tom Balmforth, wrote about the trend in November.)
The dash cams have even recorded terrifying plane crashes and, most famously, perhaps, a large meteor ripping through the atmosphere in the skies above Chelyabinsk in February, causing widespread damage and injuries.
http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=d0328de45bf7
So it’s refreshing to see a compilation of dash-cam videos that captures -- not moments of terror -- but random acts of kindness across Russia.
It’s hard to choose a favorite clip from the LiveLeak video, which is set to a swelling Hollywood-style score.
Is it the driver who gets out of his vehicle at a busy intersection simply to help a cat cross the road? Or the man who stops his car to help a pedestrian on crutches as he tries to stand up after having slipped in the middle of an icy street? (Although it can't help but be noted that many people drive right on by and don't bother to stop.)
In perhaps the most dramatic sequence, a small child, barely able to walk, is seen stumbling onto a highway into the path of oncoming traffic, his parents -- indeed, any adult -- nowhere in sight. A truck driver stops and rescues the child.
Why not take a few moments to watch this video and restore your faith in humanity?
-- Grant Podelco