My understanding of the reasoning behind the dash-cams is that once the free market hit Russia, insurance fraud became rampant. People were stepping out in front of nice cars knowing they could sue. The dash cams are a defensive move.
Russia/Russians is/are crazy in their own way. And a suppressive government is still very comforting to many Russians. Many of them are enraged by all the changes they see today. Communist era nostalgia has held on and grown. Putin is very much in the mold of a classic Russian leader. While his antics seem ridiculous to us, his shirtless most-interesting-man in the world thing plays very well in Russian Peoria.
And the cooperative war on terror that we are waging with our Russian friends makes us all look like assholes. It's a bit like watching "Throw Mama From The Train"