Why did you buy a dash cam?

[yogibear0810]

Hi everyone

I’m thinking about buying a dash cam for my car, people I speak to about it say I’m being over the top and a bit strange for wanting to record my journeys. How common are dash cams, if you’ve got one what made you buy it?

Thanks

 

[robertthegreat]

Say your at the traffic lights they turn to green and the car in front selects reverse instead of a forward gear boots it and bangs into you then tell the cops you ran into him. That is one reason to have a dash cam. There are many more things that happen and you are covered. It not all about videoing your jouney to see if it was nice.

 

[Sabe]

I think it's like seat belt, you use it every day hoping you will never need it, but if that worst thing happen you are happy you got it.
In finland we have this funny court system, you can say what ever you want in accident situation on the road ( like i am guilty to this accident), but afterward you can deny it just by saying that you were so shocked by this accident that i don't know what i was saying.
So, if worst happen, video evidence is priceless.

 

[USDashCamera]

I was a delivery driver for years and years ago I wanted a dashcam and tried using a Sony cybershot but it was too tedious to erase footage every day and to mount it and turn it on and off all the time.

I got a dashcam app but my phone would over heat after using it too long.

Finally last year I saw dashcams were full HD and affordable.

 

[I Killed It With Fire]

Honestly in my province there is little "legal" use for a Dashcam, we have a full "no fault" mandatory insurance system here. So no matter who is at fault, my insurance pays for my damage, yours pays for yours. One cannot sue (or be sued) for road related injuries or damages in Quebec. The only thing being "held responsible" can change here is the non-payment of the deductible or receiving a ticket for an infraction. So in that vein, a dashcam changes little to how an accident is treated.

I bought my first dashcam years ago as some kids decided to use the front bumper of my car as a skateboard ramp in the parking lot at work. A nice flashy visible camera took care of that problem.

Also I liked to drive down to Florida and I knew that in the US the insurance system is very different, and can change from state to state. Call it cheap insurance. I no longer drive down (quicker to fly!) but I kinda got used to having a dashcam.

Pat

 

[USDashCamera]

Ive been told my state is a no fault state yet every single accident I've been in ended up being 100% fault on one driver (4 times the other driver, once I caused one tho on ice, but just a parking lot fender bender). Every time people tell me even if it's the other drivers fault my insurance will still have to cover partial because "just being involved e gives you some fault" but I've never had a split liability.

 

[Sabe]

We have bonus system in car insurance, if other party is guilty then i don't lose my bonus, if accident is my fault then my insurance price goes up 20% per accident, it takes couple of years to get bonus back where it was.

 

[I Killed It With Fire]

I've been told the "No fault" systems can vary wildly from one state/province to another USDashCamera

In Quebec the system is truly "no fault", with mandatory private insurance for all vehicles plus we all pay a mandatory provincial insurance with our licenses and registrations which covers cases where non-drivers are involved in traffic accidents (like for example bicycles or pedestrians).

The down-side to a full no-fault system is that one cannot sue a driver for any reason, including gross negligence (like drunk drivers).

 

[Number400]

I got dash cams because I try to follow the rules of the road and many drivers do not. I want a record of anything bad (or good) that happens to me or directly around me. Might be helpful for me, my family or to help get justice for a stranger. I believe that far too many people drive with impunity and it's only making travel by car, foot or bicycle very very dangerous.

 

[Gibson99]

I've been told the "No fault" systems can vary wildly from one state/province to another USDashCamera

In Quebec the system is truly "no fault", with mandatory private insurance for all vehicles plus we all pay a mandatory provincial insurance with our licenses and registrations which covers cases where non-drivers are involved in traffic accidents (like for example bicycles or pedestrians).

The down-side to a full no-fault system is that one cannot sue a driver for any reason, including gross negligence (like drunk drivers).

that sounds... not good. how often do you hear about retaliation against people who were grossly negligent, like drunks?

I got my dashcam for times like this:

I was clearly not at fault. when reviewing the full video (this one is cut down) i counted SIX individual markings/signs that said left lane was left turn only and my lane was left or straight. the guy in the truck didn't deny it at the scene for the police report, but now he's changing his story and i'm being called as a witness in his case. I was asked to bring any evidence or documentation I have regarding the case... well, video evidence is pretty hard to deny.

 

[russ331]

...if you’ve got one what made you buy it?

My girlfriend was the victim of the classic rear end shunt (aka 'slam-on') insurance scam, similar to that shown in this short video...

A dash cam would have proved her innocence. The absence of video evidence meant she couldn't recover her policy excess, & the scammer succeeded in their claim & escaped prosecution.

I decided to try not to fall victim to a similar incident, so I installed a camera.

 

[Gibson99]

Actually let me restate myself. I originally got my dashcam to do this:

I wanted a gopro like some other drivers had, but couldn't justify spending $300+ for what amounts to being just a toy. then one day someone sent me a link to a russian crash video collection, and about halfway through watching that video it occurred to me i could use a dashcam to record my racing. I started reading up on them and watching review videos from folks like techmoan, and decided to spend $50 or so on a cheap 2-channel f70/i1000 - i figured that even if it turned out to be a bust, i wouldn't be out too much cash, and i could also have it in my daily driver as cheap insurance. I didn't need high resolution at the time since all i cared about was reviewing my race lines, but after a while, and a few parking lot shunts on my wife's car, i invested in some better, full HD cameras. now i have an A118 in my daily driver and my wife's car has the CF-100, hooked up for parking mode so next time someone hits her car, we'll have some chance of making the other party pay for it instead of paying out of our own pocket. the F70 will soon be permanently installed in my miata (race car) now that I have full HD cameras in the daily driven vehicles. and since I know the F70 won't capture license plate numbers in the video, if anything happens i can try to simply say the license plate numbers out loud. if i remember, of course.

 

[jokiin]

Hi everyone

I’m thinking about buying a dash cam for my car, people I speak to about it say I’m being over the top and a bit strange for wanting to record my journeys. How common are dash cams, if you’ve got one what made you buy it?

Thanks

if you just wanted to record your journey it's probably an indulgence, given you're in the UK though where crash for cash scams are rife it's fast becoming a necessity, just to protect your own interests

 

[wozzzzza]

I’m thinking about buying a dash cam for my car, people I speak to about it say I’m being over the top and a bit strange for wanting to record my journeys.

who cares what others think, if it saves your butt just once, then stick it up them that think your strange.

 

[Gibson99]

who cares what others think, if it saves your butt just once, then stick it up them that think your strange.

when i first talked to my wife about getting a dashcam, she said "we don't live in russia" and laughed a bit. but once i showed her some of the close calls i'd recorded with mine, she wanted one, too. and like i said, her current setup actually has 2 cameras and runs 24/7 so if someone hits her car while she's away, hopefully it'll get a license plate number or at least an idea of the make/model/color of the vehicle that hit her. this is because her car has been hit three times in parking lots so far. the first one she was in the car so she got that guy's info but the 2 most recent they didn't leave a note. and they happened AT CHURCH!!!

but now she's a bigger dashcam advocate than i am. funny how people's opinions change when presented with evidence. for the price of a good quality cam, it only takes one incident to make the cam pay for itself. and with all the fraud and stupidity on the roads today, there's no reason NOT to have one anymore.

 

[DT MI]

I look at the dash cam the same as I look at insurance (of any kind). You don't need it until you need it, then you really need it.

 

[country_hick]

I have not yet bought one.

The reason I am looking onto buying a dash cam (probably several of them) is in case of crashes or cops.

I almost got hit driving an extended cab dually diesel with that is just over 20 feet long. Some idiot from a side road with a stop sign did not see my truck. If I do get hit I can prove what happened.

If a cop pulls me over and acts badly I can prove that. It has happened before. College town cops are impolite at best.

I would like 4 cams or at least lenses. That is one for each corner of my car or truck.

The thing that bothers me is so much cheap unreliable crap is out there. It is not wise to buy a cheap knockoff and have it fail when you need it to work the most.

 

[USDashCamera]

I have not yet bought one.

The reason I am looking onto buying a dash cam (probably several of them) is in case of crashes or cops.

I almost got hit driving an extended cab dually diesel with that is just over 20 feet long. Some idiot from a side road with a stop sign did not see my truck. If I do get hit I can prove what happened.

If a cop pulls me over and acts badly I can prove that. It has happened before. College town cops are impolite at best.

I would like 4 cams or at least lenses. That is one for each corner of my car or truck.

The thing that bothers me is so much cheap unreliable crap is out there. It is not wise to buy a cheap knockoff and have it fail when you need it to work the most.

i have 4 cameras, one in each direction. right now there really arent any affordable options. there are some dedicated 4 channel systems but they all have low quality video (to todays standards). @niko has a dedicated 4 channel system, the icaro. I use two 2-channel systems, but again, it costs A LOT. with the dedicated external back up batteries I have hardwired (because my car battery doesn't stand up to the freezing temperatures of Miinnesota winters to record while my car is off and parked in public) I spent nearly $1000 to get front and rear 1080p with left and right side 720p cams. I use a blackvue dr650 and dr550, with the front cameras in back, and both "rear" cameras in my side windows.

 

[abarth]

I like tech. and photography is my hobby. and I like cars. and I like security. those all came together here.

and I drive a bit aggressive but not dangerously. I always let people merge but california has a bunch of dis-courteous drivers who believe using a turn signal is optional. I used to be a bit of a rager but now I let a lof things go because I'm a but more mature and it's also good to know that my DashCam keeps me honest.

 

[albertson]

I agree with the comments above. Twice I have been following a car when a driver coming from opposite direction turned across traffic and smashed into the car I was following. This was at a stop light intersection where it would have depended on the color of the light to determine who had the right of way. It was only because I was willing to stop and be a witness that the police had the truth. I felt I may not be so lucky to have a witness following me. I bought a dash cam to record the truth.
A year later I was waiting at an intersection and the cross traffic had the green. A van turned across in front of a truck and had a head-on crash. A pedestrian there told the police that the truck ran a yellow light. That is what they thought had happened. My dash cam video showed the light was still green when the truck passed into the intersection. The light didn't turn yellow until about the time they crashed. Without the video the truth is not recorded.
My son's car has been hit twice while parked. The deductible for either of these damages would have paid for a very good dash cam.

I do not need a crash to know that seat belts are worth the effort. Same with the dash cam. Its a matter of recognizing the risk and being prepared.