2014 Year of the Dash Cam?

DashCamMan

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2013 also had Staples and Canadian Tire here in Canada selling cams for the first time as well. Hopefully the trend continues. Need the distribution part of it as well to spread the word.
 
Excellent point about them being available in retail stores. Seems like Costco is selling a Roadhawk model called Astak in the US. Another positive sign.
 
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It does seem like we're on the edge of dash cams going mainstream. However, I think the biggest hurdle to standalone units is how to power the unit. Using a cigarette lighter power adapter and wire looks ugly to most people. And a dash cam really needs to be mounted higher up, so a dangling cord would be worse. The solution would be to hard wire a power cable but most people wouldn't be bother to do this.

So I think the most likely trend is car companies will integrate cameras and recorders into the vehicle instead, but this might take a while.
 
It does seem like we're on the edge of dash cams going mainstream. However, I think the biggest hurdle to standalone units is how to power the unit. Using a cigarette lighter power adapter and wire looks ugly to most people. And a dash cam really needs to be mounted higher up, so a dangling cord would be worse. The solution would be to hard wire a power cable but most people wouldn't be bother to do this.

So I think the most likely trend is car companies will integrate cameras and recorders into the vehicle instead, but this might take a while.
Not too sure main stream car manufacturing will get into installing dash cams.. Legal reasons, as some states do not allow recording of say a police officer.
 
Yeah lots of time to sell dash cams before that happens :)
 
if they all decided to do it tomorrow it would still take 10 years before they did it in every model, they always stop at the top model and slowly filter it down through the range
 
Not too sure main stream car manufacturing will get into installing dash cams.. Legal reasons, as some states do not allow recording of say a police officer.
That's a good point. There probably are a lot of legal issues that companies need to consider.

However, in the U.S. I think the restrictions on recording typically only involves recording audio due to wiretapping laws. Various states have one party or two party consent laws. But generally speaking, the right to record a police officer or public official is protected by the First Amendment. This is recognized by both the U.S. Court of Appeals and the Justice Department:

http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/recording-police-officers-and-public-officials

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/05/doj-supports-right-to-record/
 
I have seen dashcams at sale in some Danish hardware stores, i dont expect Danes to take them to Heart ( not the way i am hated for having one )
I know of 3 - 4 Danish users from youtube and these forums.
 
It does seem like we're on the edge of dash cams going mainstream. However, I think the biggest hurdle to standalone units is how to power the unit. Using a cigarette lighter power adapter and wire looks ugly to most people. And a dash cam really needs to be mounted higher up, so a dangling cord would be worse. The solution would be to hard wire a power cable but most people wouldn't be bother to do this.

So I think the most likely trend is car companies will integrate cameras and recorders into the vehicle instead, but this might take a while.

Why can't it be like a radar detector where it comes with a cig lighter plug and an optional hard wire kit if you want to purchase it?
 
My feelings are that we won't have "a year of the dash cam" for the US market, but it's more of a long period (many years) of increasing sales.
 
My feelings are that we won't have "a year of the dash cam" for the US market, but it's more of a long period (many years) of increasing sales.

I think the US can have a year of the dashcam once insurance companies start realizing the effectiveness of them and start giving discounts.
 
Not too sure main stream car manufacturing will get into installing dash cams.. Legal reasons, as some states do not allow recording of say a police officer.
They are ALREADY being put in cars from the factory, and several court cases have shown, a police officer who pulls you over is in public, and has no reasonable expectation of privacy.
 
My feelings are that we won't have "a year of the dash cam" for the US market, but it's more of a long period (many years) of increasing sales.
I agree Bob, many may have had experiences that a dash cam would have helped yet still don't know they exist or where to get one. Many see the wild Russian cam videos and think they're not needed here. A lot of people I tell, think they aren't necessary because of our no fault insurance. This year I think they will be more recognized for sure, especially with big names making models.
 
Company I used to work for before retirement all company vehicles had a camera installed that could not be switched off. All I know is it saved the company a lot in insurance claims and pay-outs plus evidence for theft and vandalism. Also they were used as part of the good driver bonus payments (no speeding safe driving delivery on time etc.)

dpick1947
 
Why can't it be like a radar detector where it comes with a cig lighter plug and an optional hard wire kit if you want to purchase it?

we're supplying our cameras with both so you can either hardwire or just plug it in
 
I think the US can have a year of the dashcam once insurance companies start realizing the effectiveness of them and start giving discounts.

Insurance companies are looking at them, I've been contacted by a couple of the smaller ones already, they might not rush into the market with it but they are aware at least
 
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