Dashcams!

[britainswomble]

Having already done this........ I will now do it all again; thanks to our totally crap internet.  

 

Do any of you use dashcams? (If this subject was covered during my extended absence the moderators may delete it. I apologise in advance if it has already been covered)

 

 I don't do a lot of mileage; but decided to have one in my car just in case. It removes any doubt you may have if you are called to be a witness to a RTC or any other crime visible in front of your car. (or to the rear if you fit two!)

No doubt you have all seen accidents on Youtube, and had to watch an incident several times before you could actually worked out what really did happen. Worse still if it all takes place in front of you. This was the reason I decided to have one. I hope never to witness an accident; but it's there just in case!

 

Mine was a cheap one from E Bay. £18:75 inc postage; plus the purchase of a 16Gb midro SD memory card. It seems to record about nine hours of footage before it starts to over write itself.

It came with a power lead, USB and HDMI cables.

     The film quality is excellent during daylight, although it does take a second or two to correct the exposure in sudden light changes. Night use depends on how much light you are putting on the road. Road markings show up well, so anyone crossing them to collide with you wont have any defence. 

     No doubt there are better cameras available; but I thought mine was good value for the money.

 

     These cameras have their limitations, although one day they may be advanced enough to record speed and GPS locations. Maybe this is available on the more expensive ones!

 

     I'd be interested to hear your views on dash cameras and whether you think they are a good idea. No doubt a court may refuse to use footage as evidence, but at least you have the evidence to be a 100% reliable witness.

 

     Thanks for reading this post, Regards, Will. 

[Barry]

I'd like to get one if only to record some of idiots that I see on the road, and then watch them again when I get home!!!

I wonder if in 10 years time they would be standard fittings in cars???

[robbo]

As someone who investigates RTC's and has done for many years I would say that they are a great addition and everyone should have one although I have to admit that I haven't got round to getting on myself yet. Anyone who takes statements will know just how subjective they can be, two people can witness the same incident and see totally diferent versions or miss important things entirely. A camera gives irrefutable evidence although it can be a two edged sword and can show up your own mistakes as well.

[Niels]

How about privacy Mike? What happens when I film an accident or a vehicle doing something silly and then post it on Youtube for example? Much like Google's Streetview Like Barry says, maybe they will become standard equipment in years to come. However, I don't know if you would be able to retrieve all the footage yourself when one is installed.

 

I have had three accidents in my life with cars. Only one of them was frontal. The second a car smashed into my side and the third the same thing happened, only on the other side. So the dash cam would have helped in the first accident but prove useless in the other two. You'd need more than one to record your cars surroundings.

[robbo]

As long as you are only filming in a public area and it is not specific and directed then you are within the privacy laws in the UK, you only fall foul if it becomes directed and intrusive surveillance or you are filming a private area or person.

 

Whilst the cameras would not have caught the  other cars it would have proven that you were on the right side of the road and you weren't doing anything wrong yourself. That would be better than nothing as the only way to cover every eventuallity would be to smother the car in cameras covering ever angle............somewhat impractical

[powerrabbit]

I bought one from eBay as well but as yet have not used it, I'm not sure that the windscreen mount arm is far enough away from it to mount the camera. I don't travel that far either, my normal travels only takes me about 10 miles each way, there are occasions when I might do 40 miles but not that often. As for their usefulness in a situation then the answer is definitely, especially nowadays that we are in times of 'claim for anything' culture, public transport use cams covering 360 degrees and footage from them have been used successfully to dismiss fraudulent claims and there being a lot of fraudulent 'crash claims'  on roundabouts and near junctions involving two vehicles working together, back one slams on the brakes and the innocent driver behind.......................you've all seen it on the tv. It's always been the case that if you smack into the rear of the vehicle in front, you are the liable party, with a dash-cam you could prove differently.

[Leakeyvale]

I bought one from eBay as well but as yet have not used it, I'm not sure that the windscreen mount arm is far enough away from it to mount the camera. I don't travel that far either, my normal travels only takes me about 10 miles each way, there are occasions when I might do 40 miles but not that often. As for their usefulness in a situation then the answer is definitely, especially nowadays that we are in times of 'claim for anything' culture, public transport use cams covering 360 degrees and footage from them have been used successfully to dismiss fraudulent claims and there being a lot of fraudulent 'crash claims'  on roundabouts and near junctions involving two vehicles working together, back one slams on the brakes and the innocent driver behind.......................you've all seen it on the tv. It's always been the case that if you smack into the rear of the vehicle in front, you are the liable party, with a dash-cam you could prove differently.

Someone tried that trick on my daughter-in-law.  Kept pulling away at traffic lights with nothing in front and then stood on brakes.  Did that 3 times before giving up and driving off at speed.  She read the reg number but couldn't remember it long enough to pull over and write it down.