Petition the car manufacturers to incorporate dash cam systems.

David-ogopogodude

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I have always wondered why there isn't an online petition ( change.org ) to wake up the car manufacturers to incorporate ALL new vehicles to have (at least optionally) a car dash system.

We all know that a dash cam is as much a safety device as a seatbelt, or an airbag. Consumers should at least be able to consider a car dash cam as an option when buying a new car. This would be much better in terms of having the cam more "incorporated" into the vehicle's dash.

Mazda, and Ford seem to always be the 1st to do something new, like letting the car's computer do the parking, etc. These two manufacturers would be the best to petition.
 
I would have to say pass on this one if it was out. I have read the online reviews of the dash cam/data tracker included with the new Corvette. The press is impressed with 720P resolution and that you can get 13 hours on a 32GIG SD card. To me those specifications are a year or so old compared to what is available from the dash cam manufacturers. If you get the car manufactures to implement something like this they will use old tech and over charge for it to boot. Just my $.02
 
no thanks. people like options, not mandates. and just like built in navigation on most cars today, they'll always be a few steps behind the current tech unless manufacturers adopted a standard for making these things modular (won't happen). chances are that your smartphone or portable GPS has a better interface and hardware than that navi built into your center console. same thing with cameras.
 
I'd have to agree. What I like about the aftermarket dash cam world is I'm the one who installed it, I know where it's drawing power from, I know what to look for if I'm having issues and in the event it's faulty I can simply unplug it and plug up a new one. No need to go spend the day at the dealership waiting for them to diagnose and then charge me up the bum for fixing it. Less is more.

Adding things like a back up camera, dash cam, stereo system, window tint etc. etc. AFTER you purchase the vehicle doesn't cost as much as when it's dealer installed.
 
thanks for your input, people, ... Remember, a car dash cam does not HAVE to be always on, ... it could be like an airbag where certain vehicles can turn it off.

I'm from Canada, ... and I believe that most of the above replies are from USA where mandating something down the throats of citizens is not looked at with passiveness. Theoretically, if it was mandated as law, that ALL new vehicles (coming into Canada) HAD TO HAVE dual channel camera systems, ... 99.9% of canadians, would accept it with no uprising. In USA, this would be the reverse.

I'm personally into Mazda & Honda/Acura products. If one of these manufacturers offered (as at least an option) then this would be the tipping scale for me to purchase.
 
I read recently on an expat forum where Toyota wanted over $1000 to update the maps on a built in, factory nav system, on an SUV in a SE Asian country.

Think I'll stick to aftermarket stuff I can tweak, sometimes fix, or afford to throw out.

If Dash cams are required on new cars, do you really think the cops are not going to routinely trying to get access to the data? Via a search warrant, or whatever?
 
sure, the cams we are currently installing are under our operation but you can't speak of what the guvment and/or manufacturers will do. i ALWAYS use my seatbelt but i really dislike the loud beeping of my car when i put the key in before i wear my belt.
 
I'd have to agree. What I like about the aftermarket dash cam world is I'm the one who installed it, I know where it's drawing power from, I know what to look for if I'm having issues and in the event it's faulty I can simply unplug it and plug up a new one. No need to go spend the day at the dealership waiting for them to diagnose and then charge me up the bum for fixing it. Less is more.

Adding things like a back up camera, dash cam, stereo system, window tint etc. etc. AFTER you purchase the vehicle doesn't cost as much as when it's dealer installed.

I agree with you, hate the idea of having to take the dashboard apart to source the problem of a OEM dash cam and paying dealership prices to replacing one.
 
I for one am OK with it being standard law to have them. It sure would cut down on deaths and accidents. What I'm against is Dealerships making money of it and charging astronomical amounts for the system and also to troubleshoot and fix it. Some states in the US require admissions tests for Vehicles, if it were monitored in that sort of way where you have x amount of days to install the camera system of your choice then I'd be on board. It would just take A LOT of time and effort to work out the details.
 
I'm Canadian and I'm not for govt. mandating car manufacturers to have it. If Govt. even suggest it will not get my vote in upcoming election. I've enough of Govt. knows best and is good for you propaganda. Give me my choice of what I want and can afford.
 
No way would I want a mandate requiring manufacturers to incorporate dash cams in vehicles. They would cost many times what they are worth, have lower specs than we all know are available and might even eventually be designed to invade our privacy in a manner similar to the current black box technology in all vehicles that records our speeds and braking pressures, etc.

The notion that, "We all know that a dash cam is as much a safety device as a seatbelt, or an airbag." seems a poor metaphor. I don't buy that. A video of an accident is hardly the same as a safety device that prevents bodily harm. To me a dash cam has more of a relationship with my insurance policy than my seat belts.

Recently, the headliner compass and temperature gauge display in my Toyota Tacoma failed. I've learned that this is a very common failure but rather than stand behind it Toyota wants well over 400 dollars to replace the unit. It turns out that these units are failing because of poor soldering on two resistors on the pcb. Replacing the resistors will take about ten minutes of my time including removing and replacing the component from the vehicle plus the cost of two resistors. I can only imagine what a dealership would charge if someone had a problem with a factory installed dash cam.
 
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Once dashcams become universal, it's only a matter of time before authorities define technical offences that make them work against the owner. They could for example use a variation of Lane Departure Warning System to fine you if you drift around in your lane too much. It could even be against the law to cover up the lens or have a non-working camera.
I hate technical offences that act as an indirect measure of how safe driving is. Authorities love them, because they're cheap to implement and rake in money. They have no interest in the old saying "measure what is important, don't make important what you can measure."
It's just lazy. The over reliance on speed cameras is the best example. As their use has grown, the number of police actively watching for dangerous driving has gone down.

I recently got a dash cam, and enabled the GPS speed recording, because I drive daily for work and I stick to the speed limits (aside from inevitable human errors.) I gave up the fight against unreasonable speed limits long ago. You can't win nowadays, so either stay under the limit or be ready to pay fines and get points.

I'm happy with the way things are now with regards to dash cams. But I don't look forward to the day when my dash cam is in reality Big Brother's way of monitoring me.

So while I look forward to the time when dash cams are common and serve truth and justice, I don't expect that golden era to last long.
 
My initial reaction is that I'm not in favor of more regulations by the government imposing such a degree of "nanny state" oversight.

That aside, this issue would pose interesting challenges. For example, in the US (from wikipedia),

"The Fifth Amendment (Amendment V) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights and protects a person against being compelled to be a witness against himself or herself in a criminal case. "Pleading the Fifth" is a colloquial term for invoking the privilege that allows a witness to decline to answer questions that might incriminate him or her, without penalty or it counting against him or her. A defendant cannot be compelled to become a witness at his or her own trial, but if he or she should testify, he or she is not entitled to the privilege, and inferences can be drawn from a refusal to answer a question during cross-examination."​

As much as I want the "wrong do-er" to be accountable for his or her own behaviour and actions, would the "wrong do-er" be compelled to provide their own dashcam evidence in a criminal or other legal situation?

Of course, so-called privacy advocates might have problems, too.

And, just like some police body cams, it would seem like dashcams could be turned off, too.
 
My last car had a casette deck that never saw a tape. This one has a cd player that has yet to see a disk. I'm on my third gps. IMHO cars take too long between design and build and stay on the road too long to keep up with ever improving electronics.

Instead, I suggest creating convenient standard power connections and mounting features that enable the owner to swap, upgrade and equip as desired.

Many cars have usb outlets. Superceeding the 12v plug evolved from a cigarette lighter to something similar to my laptop's power plug would be a start. Locating one or two near the winshield and the back side of the mirror would be nice.

A theaded insert similar to the one on my camera would help.

On the flip side, while I've never used one yet, I do appreciate my current ride's six airbags. I suspect the next will have ten.

With respect to recording data, I understand now most cars stateside maintain via diagnostics the most recent 5 minutes of engine rpm, throttle, breaks, speed, seatbelts and the like. This info was used a couple years ago to set the record straight on a speeding NJ politician quite contrary to his desire.

As to big brother, thanks to places like this, high quality affordable electronics, and public pressure, we can watch him too.
 
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Whilst I can see where the supporters are coming from I am in the 'no' camp. Not due to the above reasons for the 'no' side of the argument but more for the logistics side.

At the moment so many countries, states, principalities etc all have different laws governing recordings. This means that in country A you are allowed to record audio and visual of whoever you want but in country B you can only record visual but no audio without permission. At the moment in the aftermarket area, the onus is on the driver as they have installed this and they are now deemed responsible for its use. However, if it is in a car some people may not want it nor know how to use it and as such are being held responsible they have no interest in. Until laws become standardized I saw it as implausible.

Just my 2cents.

Kind regards,

Dan
 
Highly doubt this will happen. Too much privacy concern and as cars becoming more "connected" to the worldwide web... More hacks are coming.
 
As for dash-cams, it won't work. It takes at least a year (usually several years) to design how something is dealt with, have it tested and approved by the government, to build it into a car, then to get that car to you. So a 2012 mid-level model might have a 720P cam (or even a 480P one in an economy model) which was good for it's time but is now obsolete, and you'd be stuck with that and nothing else till the car was scrapped. If you went to court with evidence from the better aftermarket cam you installed, some slick lawyer would successfully argue that since it isn't the 'government-approved' stuff, you can't use it as evidence. And if the factory-supplied one didn't show what your good cam did, you'd be screwed. And what of the places where dashcams are restricted or prohibited- are you going to build a special car for those markets without the cam? Who would pay for the logistics of that extra effort? And we already know how slow dealer service can sometimes be- would you like to have yet another item that could break which only they are allowed to service, keeping you and your car separated for days on end? You can't legally operate it with mandated equipment not working. The dealers would all be against that too; they have enough service headaches now.

I do think all cars should have good dashcams; I just think there are better ways to achieve this than mandating it.
Phil
 
I called my insurance company while I was looking into getting a dash cam just to see if they offer any type of rate deduction, but alas. They do not. Whoever mentioned insurance companies is onto something. It is then still optional, but with a bit of motivation. However after reading the post about how dash cam videos are rarely helpful in claims it makes sense why a discount isn't offered.
 
Not to sound egotistical but I, myself, am an excellent driver. The whole point of car dash cams is to "catch the other guy" doing something moronic enough to be caught on video. This is what is looked at when video content is required as evidence. If a video clip shows that the entire flow of traffic is going (slightly .. or even moderately) above the speed limit then this is really not looked at ... but instead the nutty driving behaviour of the moron that caused the accident.
If any members have a police officer as a friend (like I do) they will state, that they rarely pull over somebody for speeding if everybody else is doing it, as it keeps the traffic flowing (unless the police are doing a fixed allocated intense road speeding program for the day. But a cruiser driving along with traffic is really looking for oncoming traffic violators etc.
 
I still remember when seat belts started to become mainstream as mandatory. The province of Alberta was the last province to mandate seat belts. Albertans at the time, were like americans, ... (the attitude in the 70's was: "there was no way in h*** that the provincial government was going to make ME wear a seat belt" ... And of course, given time, and studies on reducing injury, ... Albertans had to go with the rest of the world on wearing seat belts).

We all kinda know that someday, car dash cams WILL happen in all new vehicles. It is just a matter of time. I predict probably the year 2025.

Imagine the streamlining of the investigation process (police) as well as the judicial system being less clogged with cases. Lawyers thrive on ambiguity and lack of evidence, hearsay, unreliable witnesses, etc. A video clip certainly will tell way more than a thousand words (that a picture offers).
 
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