What Are the Most Incredible Things Caught on Dashcam?
Dash cams are everywhere. Uber drivers and taxi cabs use them to document their rides for increased safety. People in some countries use them to prevent insurance fraud by desperate pedestrians. Whatever the reason, dashboard cameras are often recording when something extraordinary takes place.
From meteor strikes to caped crusader capers, dash cams have provided a permanent public record of some truly bizarre moments. Out of all the strange and amazing events caught on dash cam, these are some of the most incredible.
Coordinated Group Robbery
As this driver entered a bridge, their dash cam captured a group of about 30 people. The gathering wasn’t a late-night marathon or a political protest. These people had set up a coordinated attempt to rob the driver. The driver began to realize there was something amiss when he pulled up to a tree blocking the road.
The alleged assailants chopped down a tree to laid in the path of the vehicle. The driver decided not to risk the tires by rolling over the fallen tree. Instead, they reversed their way around the daring group of hoodlums.
Wardrobe Malfunction
Dashboard cameras take video of thousands of car crashes. Whether the driver is intoxicated or attempting to speed past a fellow motorist, accidents happen all the time. In this case, however, the camera caught audio of the driver noticing the person in front of them was changing their shirt.
As the driver entered a ramp, which is not an ideal time to get dressed, they lost control, swerved, and ran right into the guardrail. Authorities stress the dangers of texting, but they never think to warn of the risks of clothing yourself behind the wheel.
Unorthodox Lane Change
Dashcams can be a valuable tool for insurance purposes, but not all of them tell us the whole story. This driver was cruising along the highway at night, and everything appeared normal. Suddenly, a car entered the frame to change multiple lanes — no big deal, except for the fact that this car was upside down.
The good news is, the driver used their turn signal to warn motorists of their pending lane change. The bad news is, since the car wasn’t right side up, they were using the wrong blinker. That, and they were upside down and out of control.
Sewage Truck Explosion
Everything seemed ordinary in this dash cam footage of cars pulling up a red light. There was a sewage truck a few cars ahead of the driver, but its septic tank seemed like it was secured well enough.
Out of nowhere, the septic tank burst, and sewage poured out all over the road. It’s unclear if this was the driver’s fault for not checking the tank’s pressure or the company’s for not maintaining their vehicles. Either way, it was a crappy day for everyone.
Head-on Truck Collision
Many people believe that a good driver can maneuver around obstacles at high speeds. That might be the case for Formula 1 drivers, but public streets are a different matter. The key to becoming a good driver is to learn patience, and the driver caught in this footage clearly didn’t have any.
This dashcam footage shows a reasonably two lane busy road. Out of the blue, an impatient and unskilled driver attempted to pass the cars in front. The result was a head-on collision with a bigger truck caught on cam.
Robbery at Gunpoint
Lyft and Uber drivers are just beginning to realize the benefits of purchasing a dashboard camera, but taxi drivers have understood them for years. This cab driver’s camera was rolling when his fare pulled out a handgun and demanded his money.
The driver pleaded with the assailant, explaining that he had recently started his shift. As the car stopped, a police cruiser pulled up behind them. There’s no telling whether the gun was loaded, but this driver luckily escaped with his life.
Flying Off a Cliff
It happens in the movies all of the time: a car is speeding along a mountainous road with no regard for safety. Usually, it’s Tom Cruise or The Rock trying to catch the villain, but in this case, the guy was merely trying to show off.
The car is speeding through a tunnel. As it reaches the light, the driver misjudges the turn coming out of the dark. He loses control and soars right off of a cliff. Thelma and Louise called, and they want their scene back.
Police Escape
Anyone who’s ever driven to Mexico knows you can’t just speed across the border to avoid charges. Moreover, police cars have come equipped with dashboard cameras to use in prospective court cases for cameras.
This police officer either noticed something in the suspect’s car or discovered illegal substances. Either way, the driver got spooked and chose to leave the scene. It’s probably safe to guess that it didn’t end well for the driver.
Man Chasing a Tire
Car chases usually involve the entire vehicle, but not always. One driver was coasting along the highway in the middle of some moderate traffic. With a large group of cars stopped ahead, the driver slowed down when he noticed a lone tire rolling down the road.
A man, who was dressed surprisingly appropriately in workout clothes, was doing his best to catch up with the rolling tire. As the driver laughed at the man’s misfortune, the passenger wondered aloud whether the man could catch up to it before it struck an unsuspecting car.
Batman Gets a Ticket
In the movies, the Dark Knight is continuously pursued by Gotham City’s police force. No matter how hard they try, the masked menace evades them with little to no effort. The movies fail to explain, however, what happens when Gotham City is experiencing rush hour traffic.
The batmobile was apparently traveling at speeds deemed unsafe by law enforcement. Just wait until this officer tells Commissioner Gordon they caught they caught Batman on his commute.
Hood Ornament
Nearly every motorist in Russia and China have purchased dashcams due to the high rate of insurance fraud claims. YouTube is chock-full of desperate people pretending to get hit by a car to claim some cash. These two Russians were drinking beers in the middle of the road when the driver became rightfully annoyed.
Believing they’re in the right, the two men decide to remain on the road as the driver pulls forward. After multiple warnings, the motorist drives ahead, causing one man to jump on the hood and spill his beer.
Crazy Clowns
Thanks to Stephen King’s It, clowns are one of the most feared creatures on Earth. Deep inside, clowns are no doubt twisted individuals. The only thing they should be doing is selling unhealthy hamburgers.
In 2016, there were several sightings of highly ominous clowns such as this one caught on dash cam. The “killer clown” craze took over the Internet faster than a royal wedding, and then it disappeared just as fast.
Man Riding a Cart
Most people make their regular commute to work without much fuss, but sometimes, whether with the help of drugs, boredom or psychosis, others decide to take actions that end up on internet listicles. This bold young man is of course one of them.
As one driver reached an underpass, a blue-shirted bozo riod a shopping cart in front of his path. What possessed the man to ride out through traffic is unclear, but the driver no doubt didn’t expect a man on a cart in the highway to be a problem he’d have to deal with that day.
Nightmare Fuel
Although clowns are terrifying, they’re at least explainable. Deep down, everyone knows that there’s a person beneath the makeup who’s probably just messing around. What’s far more frightening is when something completely unknown
This car was driving along a dark road when a mysterious object began to glow in the distance. As it came closer, the object revealed itself to be humanoid but with some nightmare-inducing qualities. The driver panicked as the figure devilishly waddled towards his car. Its dark, stringy hair menacingly bounced back and forth in front of its face. What was actually going on here? No one knows.
Flock of Sheep
Some accidents are less believable than others, and depending on where you live, a collision with sheep isn’t exactly likely. That’s part of why dash cams exist in the first place — they serve as proof of even improbable accidents.
The person in this video was driving along a country road, minding their own business, when a flock of sheep suddenly appeared. It’s hard to hit another person in an area this sparsely populated, so at least it isn’t too hard to believe.
Rock ‘n’ Roll
Everyone’s seen those signs warning of falling rocks, but few people have actually seen the danger in action, leading most people to ignore them. It turns out, however, that sometimes, it really is best to read the signs
Imagine driving along a quiet mountain road before noticing a boulder the size of a Volkswagen falling down the cliff. There’s absolutely no time to warn anybody. On top of that, there seems to be a burning car next to the boulder.
Water Main Burst
Floods, fires and sinkholes are usually thought of as natural disasters, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes, they’re entirely manmade, and they can strike even in the densest of urban environments.
This footage isn’t of a monster making its way from the depths below. It’s also not a sinkhole that has opened the Earth to swallow an unsuspecting victim. It’s a water main that burst, causing one car to hit the expanding asphalt before water flooded the once-calm street.
Snowstorm Pile Up
People who live in Southern California or tropical climates don’t know how good they have it. Ok, most of them probably do. They usually enjoy sending condescending photos and messages about their warm and sunny experiences in the dead of winter.
Scenes like this car accident are a common occurrence in much of the northern United States each Winter. Drivers are either ill-equipped to handle snowy conditions or over-analyze the situation. As soon as one car strikes another, the situation snowballs into a massive multi-car pile up. To be fair, however, those same people from fairer climates tend to panic at even an inch of snow.
Lightning Strike
Not only does lighting rarely strike the same place twice, but it’s even more difficult to catch it on camera. Most photographers wait for hours to find a bolt of lightning using a specialized camera with a high frame rate. Sometimes, however, people get lucky.
It was a stormy evening when this driver captured a fearsome bolt of lightning strike the unsuspecting driver in front of them. Thankfully, the vehicle likely protected the driver from death by electrocution, leaving everyone to walk away with an amazing story.
Tornado
Chasing storms is not only a popular pastime in tornado-prone areas, but it can be also a lucrative career. Scientists can spend days following a storm to record vital meteorological data. However, that doesn’t mean it’s wise or remotely safe to find yourself in a storm like this one.
The video from this dash cam is a nerve-wracking and pulse-pounding experience. Debris is flying everywhere, other drivers are struggling to maneuver and the viewer is left to pray the driver managed to escape.
Wildfire
As global average temperatures rise, wildfires are becoming more common each year. Following prolonged droughts, dried brush becomes susceptible to even the tiniest spark or flame. Winds only serve to fuel the fire into a massive inferno that can put forests and neighborhoods at risk.
What looks like a hellscape is a neighborhood that sits on the edge of the woods. The burning trees are only the vanguard of the larger firestorm. While roads can sometimes act as a fire break, it’s not clear if this one is big enough for the job.
Junior Driver
Police officers have to deal with crazy drivers daily, and pulling people over is part of their routine. On occasion, someone attempts to evade an officer, leading them on a high-octane chase. The incident is typically over when the suspect runs out of fuel or crashes the car.
This suspect knew his way around the neighborhood, but it wasn’t enough to help them get away, perhaps because his legs were so short. The police were stunned when they discovered a seven-year-old behind the wheel.
Hurricane
Coastal cities are sitting ducks when gale-force winds begin brewing offshore. Their only hope is to board up windows, stack up some sandbags and hunker down. Only a crazy person would drive around after the announcement of a hurricane warning.
Sure enough, someone was crazy enough to stick around when a hurricane reached shore. The poor moped rider in this shot has to maneuver around flying roofs and tree branches while praying no flying debris hit them.
Tsunami
When it comes to natural disasters, every part of Earth has something for its denizens to dread. For those living along the coast, they not only have to worry about hurricanes coming from the sky, but also shifting tectonic plates under the ocean.
An underwater earthquake is terrible enough, but its aftereffects can be even deadlier — massive waves that can completely destroy highly populated areas. Tsunamis are frightening because they come out of nowhere and take everything back with them into the ocean.
Insurance Fraud
Dashcams are extremely common in Russia and China. In countries that have high poverty rates, the population becomes desperate. Whether they are unable, incapable or refuse to find a job, some people hope to strike it rich by winning a personal liability lawsuit.
Dash cams have become common as a result. This guy went all out when he jumped on the hood of the car repeatedly before the driver pointed to the camera. Looks like he picked the wrong driver to scam.
Return Flight
Flying is safer than driving, or so they say. However, don’t tell that to the travelers on this flight that took off from Taipei Airport only to attempt an emergency landing. This car was in the right place at the right time as the plane approached the overpass.
As the aircraft began to tilt, the wing clipped the street before landing in the river below. The reason for the near disaster was the plane’s engine flamed out soon after take-off. It didn’t reach a high enough altitude to give the pilot time to make a safe landing.
Air Drop
Don’t get the wrong idea from these videos being back to back. An airline accident is 200 times less likely to happen than a crash on the road. In fact, the Economist estimates that the likelihood of being involved in a plane crash is one in 5.4 million.
Nonetheless, accidents do happen. In 2013, this camera caught the incredible sight of a cargo plane in Afghanistan falling straight down from the sky. The 747 stalled upon takeoff before it immediately fell back to the surface.
Rocket Launch
Thanks to Elon Musk’s private space company, SpaceX, humans have developed a renewed interest in exploring the cosmos. The company has been responsible for some innovative advancements in rocket technology that have improved the chances of a human-crewed space flight to Mars. However, the company doesn’t always disclose its launches beforehand.
Drivers in Southern California were stunned when they saw an unidentified object flying in the northern sky. A few accidents occurred as motorists stopped paying attention to the road. Some drivers pulled off to the side so they could capture what turned out to be a rocket launch.
Crosswalk
With a straightaway this long, it can be tempting to increase a car’s speed and build up that adrenaline. However, the crosswalk is clear with bright white and yellow paint. The driver with the camera followed the laws that typically give pedestrians the right of way. The pedestrians felt a false sense of safety.
As they crossed, a speeding driver ignored the crosswalk and almost hit one of the pedestrians. She was inches away from what could have become a tragic disaster. They probably had to change into different trousers.
Meteor
Motorists usually purchase dashboard cams for video accidents that happen on the road. Hardly anyone expects to capture footage of a would-be disaster that comes from outer space.
On February 15th, 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteor entered the Earth’s atmosphere above Russia. The 20-meter near-Earth asteroid flew across the entire southern Ural region of the country. Due to Russia’s high usage of dashcams, thousands of videos of the rare astronomical event were uploaded to YouTube by the end of the day.
