It's been slightly over a year and a half since I installed a dash cam in my car. I have no complaints, and zero regrets - Just insert a 32 GB micro SD card, and the camera automatically start doing a loop recording when you turn the ignition key. So no matter what happens next, you will always have audio and video recording of the past 4 hours! Exactly like the cockpit black box recorders of airliners. I actually bought it to document some of my off-road activities in far away areas. But I haven't had the chance, as the arrival of COVID-19 has put all my travel plans into deep-freeze... Still, I have been able to capture irresponsible drivers, a few accidents - But most funny is that I have some incompetent cops recorded as well! However no insurance scams up till now... So I was wondering, how many of you have dash cams installed in your cars? Do you think it's a good thing to have? I personally feel that it's invaluable. So never again will I be driving a car which hasn't got at least one camera installed...
We have one in the pickup truck and it saved a driver from being ticketed when another driver plowed through an intersection hitting her car and claimed that he had a green light. Randy showed the recording to the police officer who answered the accident call and the young woman who got hit did not get a ticket.
I had a Blackvue dash cam installed last year in our pickup, and had one installed in our youngest daughter's car earlier this year. Both have front and rear cameras. Being a little paranoid in today's world is a good thing. Here are a couple of pictures of the installation in the pickup. The units have GPS and record the speed and location as you drive.
Bought a new car couple of years ago,, it had a back-up camera which is useless ! Not fun to watch it and see a flash of dark behind you ! What they should have is back up warning lights with beepers so the idiots know what i am doing ! Thats the closest I get to cameras of any sort !
I was with my lawyer last year. His ride got delayed due to traffic congestion, so I offered to drive him where he needed to go, (since we were more or less heading the same way). The moment he saw that I had a dash cam installed, he told me of a story - There seems to be a new type of scam going around in the city. Which involves dirty cops... It starts when a very attractive young woman politely asks you for a lift, just to the next intersection or the nearest bus stop. Now if you are a gentleman, then you would naturally help the lady out. However soon after you drop her off at the bus stop - A cop car out of nowhere will suddenly arrive and ask you to pull over. When you stop, they will ask you to please step out of the vehicle while they carry out a search - And that's when they will find a packet of drugs under the passenger seat... Now you can go scream all you like, that this wasn't yours. And that lady you just gave a lift to must have put it there. But nobody will believe you. So now the cops will give you a choice. Either go to jail for a few years. Or pay them a hefty bribe immediately (equaling to about half the cost of your car maybe) - And they will forget that this ever happened. So in light of this my lawyer said, that having a dash cam in today's world is invaluable! Specially one which also records the inside view of the driver and passengers - The moment any cop tries to pull you over, immediately take the micro SD card out of the camera, and hide it somewhere. Or if there is enough time, plug it into your smartphone and start uploading it, (in case the cops try to take the camera away from you). But usually when scammers and dirty cops see that your car has a dash cam installed. They quickly start looking for another target - As they themselves don't want to take any chances with you.
I honestly couldn't agree more with you Roy! Better to have one installed and never need it - Then to need it one day very badly, but not having it...
A look on YouTube at the number of accidents recorded on dashcams would convince anyone to get one. But you need one which has a rear view camera too. They are cheap enough.
That's correct. Which is why I too am soon going to upgrade to this model. It has 3 cameras. One for the front, one for the inside view of the driver and passengers. And one for reverse.
In our little town we rarely need one ! Most all were raised here and believe me,, they don`t want you telling their parents what they did ! its just a typical Texas small town ! Judges are all local as well !
You're lucky Mart. But I live in the 6th or 5th largest city of the world, (population over 20 million)... OK, how about for recording and sharing a beautiful road trip journey type of an adventure? Yes I can already guess what you're going to say. But please humor me.
Russia is actually a dash cam crazy country. Which the world realized when that mid air meteorite explosion was caught on camera by hundreds of different dash cams in 2013. Reason why Russians have so many dash cams is because this way they can buy cheap insurance. As now they will have a camera to prove who was right and who was wrong - But more importantly, (exactly like in my country), their police is highly incompetent, never helpful, as well as unbelievably corrupt too, plus downright abusive and extremely brutal also... Russia is actually notorious for dangerous icy roads, and irresponsible drunk drivers as well. That's also why dash cams are so popular over there.
One thing I noticed immediately after installing a dash/cam myself, is that you tend to be a much more careful driver, as subconciously, you are aware that your driving skills are being recorded. It's essential that you have a rear facing camera too. They are quite cheap a 1080 HD camera with a lot of features is only around twenty something quid. Mine isn't hard wired, it runs from the cigarette lighter socket, but I've a twin adapter so I can plug in my sat/nav at the same time.
Don't really require a rear camera all that much. Because the law over here says that if you got hit form behind, it's the fault of the other driver - Because if proper driving distance was maintained, you would have had plenty of warning before driving into the car in front. So any person who got hit in the rear is not at fault. That anyway is what's written in the Pakistan highway codebook. Say for example you are driving around the speed limit of the area. And suddenly an ignorant child chasing a ball ends up running across the read in front of you - Your only option to save the child's life is to now break as hard as possible. Therefore in such an eventuality if your car got hit in the rear by some other vehicle traveling behind you - Fault is completely of the other driver. Because had proper driving distance been maintained, (in accordance with the rules of road safety). Then no collision should have occured. I assume UK driving rules would be identical to this. As we also move around in right hand drive cars. And until 1947, Pakistan was part of the British Empire. So I assume the same driving rules would still be continuing over there too. Anyway I installed these extra side mirrors on my car. So the front facing dash cam now easily picks up both side views also. Therefore a rear camera isn't all that important for me right, (but I will still get one now). Best of all, zero blindspots while I drive now, (thanks to these extra mirrors) - Which I built (as they weren't available) and installed myself, specifically so that the dash cam could also record whatever was happening in the driver's blindspots. So this I believe is more valuable than a rear facing camera. Because most carjackings and drive-by shootings also happen - When armed people on a motorcycle approach you from your blindspot. So now I see everything, and the dash cam too keeps recording all.
Actually, as I said, a rear facing camera is advisable. We all know the law regarding responsibility regarding a "rear ending" accident. However, it isn't simple. The other driver can claim that they were reversed into. There are also countless claims for such accidents where the driver of the car with the rear end damage has just picked the registration number of a car in the vicinity at the same time. Many of these claims where there are no witnesses often get settled on a "knock for knock" basis, as it's the cheapest option. So the innocent party can lose their no claims bonus. With my camera, even when parked and the camera not recording, if my car gets rear ended or backed into, it will start recording.
