Can I mount a dash cam to windshield in Massachusetts?

pinetree

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I'm confused because the law supposedly says you cannot mount it to the windshield in Massachusetts. Is that accurate? What if it's behind the rearview mirror and not obstructing your view? Also, I don't want one to the rearview mirror attachable ones like the vantop brand...
 
Welcome to the forum pinetree.

There are a lot of different laws around in states / countries.
In my country the law are quite ambiguous though some parts say you can absolutely not have anything in your field of view, but you are allowed to have stuff on the windscreen but it is not really specified very much.
In general they say at the bottom of the windscreen is okay, and thats also fine for a NAV unit or maybe a phone holder, Still many put those dead center on the windscreen, and i have often seen local cop programs where stuff like that are not even mentioned.

Filming a accident a while back where the driver ran from the scene on foot ( after posing in front of my side camera ) i said to the cop i have it on camera, he went what camera, i said the dashcaams on my windscreen, he hunched over saying what camera, i said lean over further and look at the top of the windscreen and you will see 5 cameras there.
The cop leaned further and went Ooooooo i see.
A hour later when we met on the station and i brought the footage of the crash + the side camera footage of the driver, they was very happy cuz the driver was a well known " usual suspect" so they could drive to where he live if he was home,,,,, and get a drug test on him, i sort of understood that the guy did not have a license to operate a motor vehicle, and like so many here is a avid drug user.

So the sweet spot of a camera on top of the windscreen and in the middle, if possible in front of the mirror work fine for me, as the layout of my car allow for a whole host of cameras there.
A discreetly mounted camera most people will not see, or if they do just take it for yet another sensor, there is a video on YT where someone get his jeep carjacked at gunpoint, the guys drive around with a Garmin camera right in front of the driver, and that Garmin is a square action camera shaped one that would be easy to spot.


 
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I'm confused because the law supposedly says you cannot mount it to the windshield in Massachusetts. Is that accurate? What if it's behind the rearview mirror and not obstructing your view? Also, I don't want one to the rearview mirror attachable ones like the vantop brand...

This question seems to be coming up a lot lately on DCT. As a long time dash cam owner I'm going to re-post a version of a post of mine from about a week ago in another thread that may be helpful to you. Before I do that I suggest that you look up the actual regulations online for the state of Massachusetts to see what the law actually states.

"Many states have laws and regulations on the books that technically make it illegal to attach items such as signs or devices such as dash cams to your front windshield, certain areas of your windshield or your rear view mirror, but since advent of toll transponders, radar detectors, GPS units, dash cameras, etc., these statutes are simply no longer being enforced in many jurisdictions.

This was the case in my home state of Vermont where I spent the first few years of dash cam ownership worrying that I might get ticketed and fined for the dash cam I first installed, but I noticed more and more vehicles with electronics and other items mounted on their windshields. Technically, Vermont motor vehicle regulations dictate that any device attached to your windshield must be mounted within a 2 inch square located at the bottom right corner of the windshield but nobody did that. Eventually, I started asking random motorists I met who had devices mounted on the windshields if they ever encountered any legal problems because of this and nobody did. Most has no idea there was even a law against it. At one point, I had a matter where I had to submit a number of dash cam videos to the state police and even showed one of them my cameras and they didn't seem to have any problem with my having dash cams. Finally, by coincidence I found myself parked next to the personal vehicle of the local Chief of Police at the supermarket and he had a dash cam mounted on his windshield (a cheap crappy one ). That's when I decided not to worry about this anymore. I've been using dash cams for more than ten years now and these days I see dash cams and other devices mounted on windshields in vehicles all the time yet nobody seems to have any problems and the regulation is still on the books.

I would suggest looking around and observing other cars in your area to see how many cars are sporting dash cams, GPS units, toll transponders etc, and then perhaps talk to other drivers you encounter who do have something mounted in their vehicles. You might even ask a random LEO or two for an opinion. You may well find you don't need to worry about this issue."
 
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This question seems to be coming up a lot lately on DCT. As a long time dash cam owner I'm going to re-post a version of a post of of mine from two weeks ago in another thread that may be helpful to you. Before I do that I suggest that you look up the actual regulations online for the state of Massachusetts to see what the law actually states.
Cool, thanks. I checked out your response in the other thread. That is a good point about the toll transponders as I see those a lot. I also agree the law is probably old and may not even be enforced in certain situations. I may even call my local police department and ask them what they think.

So the only thing I can find on the actual law in Mass. is this:
"Drivers in Massachusetts cannot place a dashcam on the windshield because it counts as “non-transparent material.” Instead, place the camera on the dashboard. Drivers can use a side dashcam attached to the side window if the “total visible light reflectance is not more than 35%."

Of course I think mounting on the dashboard would be much worse as far as affecting visibity as my car is small (honda civic), and also I think the angle would be too low.

I'll probably call the PD and see what they think. Then probably just mount it on the windshield up high behind the rear view mirror...
 
Some have also placed dashcams on the dash, on a little stalk raising it a few inched, but it is not a good location even if they are called dash cameras, i cant say i have ever seen any that was made to be installed on the dash.
But up high in front of mirror, or maybe offset a little to a side of a sensor array is often fine, temporary turn the camera on when you " feel" for where the camera can fit without having anything near it in the frame, due to the wide angle lenses you do need to stay a few inches clear of other things on the windscreen.

The where did you install your dashcam post i linked to of my setup back in the day, it is a good thread to browse thru looking how others dealt with a windscreen layout like your car might have.
And yeah no harm checking in with the PD, after all it is a significant aid to their job so i assume they would welcome any help they can get
Like my car if you have a dotted area you can mount on, that just mean that only the part with the lens is directly visible, just be careful not going too high as i once almost did, resulting in me barely being able to slide the camera off its mount.
 
Best might be to speak with a lawyer; they can also find info on whether this is generally prosecuted there and what penalties might be involved. But most important would be whether having an 'illegal' mounting might affect your use of the footage in Court. The Police either can't or won't tell you that kind of thing.

If you're any good with DIY at all, some thought and a trip to the hardware store to look at various brackets might find you a way to mount at the windshield but not on it.

Phil
 
So the only thing I can find on the actual law in Mass. is this:
"Drivers in Massachusetts cannot place a dashcam on the windshield because it counts as “non-transparent material.” Instead, place the camera on the dashboard. Drivers can use a side dashcam attached to the side window if the “total visible light reflectance is not more than 35%."
I tried to look up the Massachusetts regulations about this and that's all I could find so I didn't mention it. That was because it is still quite possible that there is a more specific regualtion hidden somewhere else in the Massachusetts statutes and I didn't have time to keep searching. In Vermont, the regulation is far more specific and many other states have regulations that are quite similar to Vermont's. I hadn't looked at this in quite a long time so my statement about only being able to place things on a two inch space on the lower right corner wasn't quite right but you'll get the idea if you read this whole thing.

From: The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 23: Motor Vehicles

Chapter 13: OPERATION OF VEHICLES

23 V.S.A. § 1125. Obstructing windshields

§ 1125. Obstructing windshields

(a) No person shall paste, stick, or paint advertising matter or other things on or over any transparent part of a motor vehicle windshield, vent windows, or side windows located immediately to the left and right of the operator, nor hang any object, other than a rear view mirror, in back of the windshield except as follows:

(1) in a space not over four inches high and 12 inches long in the lower right-hand corner of the windshield;

(2) in such space as the commissioner of motor vehicles may specify for location of any sticker required by governmental regulation;

(3) in a space not over two inches high and two and one-half inches long in the upper left-hand corner of the windshield;

(4) by persons employed by the federal, state, or local government and volunteer emergency responders operating authorized emergency vehicles who may place any necessary equipment in back of the windshield of the vehicle, provided the equipment does not interfere with the operator's control of the driving mechanism of the vehicle;

(5) on a motor vehicle that is for sale by a licensed automobile dealer prior to the sale of the vehicle, in a space not over three inches high and six inches long in the upper left-hand corner of the windshield, and in a space not over four inches high and 18 inches long in the upper right-hand corner of the windshield;

(6) the commissioner may grant an exemption upon application from a person required for medical reasons to be shielded from the rays of the sun and who attaches to the application a document signed by a licensed physician or optometrist certifying that shielding from the rays of the sun is a medical necessity. The physician or optometrist certification shall be renewed every four years. However, when a licensed physician or optometrist has previously certified to the commissioner that an applicant's condition is both permanent and stable, the exemption may be renewed by the applicant without submission of a form signed by a licensed physician or optometrist. Additionally, the window shading or tinting permitted under this subdivision shall be limited to the vent windows or side windows located immediately to the left and right of the operator. The exemption provided in this subdivision shall terminate upon the sale of the approved vehicle and at that time the applicable window tinting shall be removed by the seller. Furthermore, if the material described in this subdivision tears or bubbles or is otherwise worn to prohibit clear vision, it shall be removed or replaced.
(b) The rear side windows and the back window may be obstructed only if the motor vehicle is equipped on each side with a securely attached mirror, which provides the operator with a clear view of the roadway in the rear and on both sides of the motor vehicle. (Added 1971, No. 258 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Mar
ch 1, 1973; amended 1977, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.); No. 75 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; No. 112 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2005, No. 89 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)



 
Some have also placed dashcams on the dash, on a little stalk raising it a few inched, but it is not a good location even if they are called dash cameras, i cant say i have ever seen any that was made to be installed on the dash.
But up high in front of mirror, or maybe offset a little to a side of a sensor array is often fine, temporary turn the camera on when you " feel" for where the camera can fit without having anything near it in the frame, due to the wide angle lenses you do need to stay a few inches clear of other things on the windscreen.

The where did you install your dashcam post i linked to of my setup back in the day, it is a good thread to browse thru looking how others dealt with a windscreen layout like your car might have.
And yeah no harm checking in with the PD, after all it is a significant aid to their job so i assume they would welcome any help they can get
Like my car if you have a dotted area you can mount on, that just mean that only the part with the lens is directly visible, just be careful not going too high as i once almost did, resulting in me barely being able to slide the camera off its mount.
Yeah I would think mounted way up there would be ok, I think it would be behind my mirror and out of my view.

I did actually look through that thread a bit.

I will ask the PD I think because they will know if that's something they would give a citation for.

Weird, those toll transponers are given out in MA and I think they just velcro to the windshield
Best might be to speak with a lawyer; they can also find info on whether this is generally prosecuted there and what penalties might be involved. But most important would be whether having an 'illegal' mounting might affect your use of the footage in Court. The Police either can't or won't tell you that kind of thing.

If you're any good with DIY at all, some thought and a trip to the hardware store to look at various brackets might find you a way to mount at the windshield but not on it.

Phil
Ugh a lawyer...

I agree maybe some way to make a bracket to attach it to the rearview mirror
 
Plus I would argue that it's not really my 'windshield' if it's out of view. I mean what about the sun shades that fold down?
 
There are commercially-made mirror mounts; "Blendmount" is probably the best know of those. High quality with a price to match.

You do need a high mount with dashcams or you won't capture things low and close, plus the more forward aim with a low mount will hinder the auto-exposure function. Cam form-factor and what youj're willing to do to your car will be the biggest factors if you can't do a windshield mount. My old van has the trim-strips screwed on; no sweat using an existing screw or a couple small holes left behind. There's also ways to do magnetic mounting to the headliner area. But best is to the windshield, as they are designed to do.

Phil
 
I'm in Massachusetts also, I have a dashcam just beside the rearview mirror in 3 of my jeeps. it does not obstruct anyone's view looking out the windshield. Just mount it in that area
 
No matter what we personally believe is or isn't obstructing our view it really depends on the wording of the statute and whether a state is going to enforce it. For example, the Vermont statute is quite specific about attaching things to the back of the windshield:

(a) No person shall paste, stick, or paint advertising matter or other things on or over any transparent part of a motor vehicle windshield, vent windows, or side windows located immediately to the left and right of the operator, nor hang any object, other than a rear view mirror, in back of the windshield except as follows: (what follows doesn't help us much)

Fortunately, the statute is not being enforced and the Massachusetts statute appears so far not to be enforced either.
 
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There are a lot of laws that need updating to cater for modern life.

I don't know if it's changed but in the UK all 'hackney carriages' (taxis) should, by law, carry a bale of hay in the boot. A bygone law for the horses comfort that's never been changed.
 
When laws are there, but not enforced, and surely not followed by the public, that piss me off eve if i never had any qualms breaking / disregarding some laws.
 
I called the local PD and they said I should call the DMV, however that is pretty much impossible...

But we did discuss things like toll transponders and uber drivers with their phones attached the windshields. The guy was laughing about it. He also said he's never seen a citation issued for something like that.

So I'm just going to get it and go with it...
 
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I'd certainly fit it on the passenger side to avoid any issues with accusation of it blocking your view.
 
Just get something that can install stealthy in your car, in general you do not want to flaunt you have a dashcam, it could well antagonize a bad driver that he will not be able to get away with his poor decisions / driving skill.
Stealth are very high on my list in wants in a dashcam, but as a tester often with many cameras in the car that is not the case, but if i was a regular guy with just 1 system it should be stealth to the max, which it also is in my car with its layout on the windscreen, and mounting options on the rear hatch too.

Offseting a little to either side as something are in the way is no problem i feel, but i have seen some mount almost in the upper corner by the A pillar and that is bad, not least as you do not have any wiper coverage up there.
 
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