Corruption.

* Pedestrians are corrupt -- they throw themselves in front of your car then sue for damages.

* Other motorists are corrupt -- they lie about the accident facts

* Cops are corrupt -- easily bought off and bribed (or tapped through nepotism)

Terrible roads, terrible cars, terrible drivers, a lot of alcohol, and terrible insurance companies mean that people want dashcams to try to help present their side when there's an accident.

Youtube is full of really scary Russian dashcam videos.

As other people have stated, insurance fraud is a very real risk and dashcams help protect drivers from scammers. Here is an example of what they're dealing with: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjj-1L6qeOc

People stop right in front of you on the motorway so you would crash into them,and then sue for damages. If you manage to stop in time,they will reverse into your car, and then they will lie about you hitting them. Dashcams prevent all of that,and from what I heard at least half the drivers in Russia now have them.

I believe it is a defense against deliberate accident and injury extortion.

If the crazy shit that is caught on dash cams was going on every day I'd have one too.

Here's why from Mashable.com http://mashable.com/2013/02/15/why-russians-have-dash-cams-c...

Insurance companies charge you less if you agree to install a dash cam.

Useful in the event of a meteorite crossing the street.