Why I've added a 3rd cam to my car. Psycho driver.

[RCPilot]

Unfortunately my front dash cam was unplugged so I only have video from the rear. But even if my front camera was on, you would not have been able to see his car swerving over as if trying to hit my car. So now I have a front and rear facing camera, PLUS another camera mounted in the back facing the front to be able to catch what happens on the right and left side when the other car is right next to me.

Long story short a Prius cuts me off and I honk and slam on the brakes. Prius cuts further ahead of me, blocking the fast lane, and comes to a complete stop while vehicles behind us are approaching us at 70mph in the dark. I peel out of there going into the shoulder to get around him. I think the driver must be some senile old man that panicked and stopped when the realized he almost hit me. Minute or so later same Prius catches up again, gets next to me and starts swerving into my car. My wife is freaking out because the driver looks like a gang member. There is traffic in front of me so I can't pull away. He cuts in front of me again and slams on his brakes coming to a complete stop. He opens his door and starts to get out of his car. This made me believe the guy is a total nut job because 1) There are 3 people in my car and this guy by himself is coming at us. 2) He is stopped on the freeway fast lane with traffic driving by at 70 MPH and he still doesn't mind walking out of his car into the freeway. Fortunately I had room to again get around him in the shoulder and lose him. The 2nd time I accelerated quite a bit faster where he had no chance to catch up. I was really bummed to realize my front cam was off and only got the rear video which was not great since it is an old camera. My wife freaking out and rambling a hundred questions was pretty comical once it was all over and we watched the video. Enjoy!

BTW, anyone else using a 3 cam setup to get video of the side of your car? If so, what is your setup?

 

[RCPilot]

New 3 cam setup. For now I have 2 old Mobius Actioncams in the rear until a find something small and better to replace them with.

 

[Sabe]

He must be a member of that infamous environment friendly prius gang, they have green unleaded bullets too

 

[RCPilot]

Haha, being Southern California, that very well may be true!

 

[SawMaster]

I've got 4 cams running in my workvan and because of it's length will need 2 more to obtain full coverage. Your 3rd cam placement can give you good coverage in most cars and I plan to do some experimenting along that line later on with a 7th cam Right now mine Mobius in front, G1W-S in the rear, and a pair of cheap G1W-HC's covering my sides. Al are adequate for their jobs and reliable but of course I'd like to have better cams

One cam in front can prove you did no wrong but IMHO with the way people drive today, you can't have too many cams or too much coverage. Gee, I sound like a dashcam salesman there don't I?

Phil

 

[Dashmellow]

BTW, anyone else using a 3 cam setup to get video of the side of your car? If so, what is your setup?

I use a 4 camera set-up, currently an SG9665GC and three Mobius cams.
I would not roll without four cameras and full 360º (+) coverage at this point.

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...m-for-your-car-doors.12675/page-9#post-310270

 

[Deleted member 46308]

I've got 4 cams running in my workvan and because of it's length will need 2 more to obtain full coverage. Your 3rd cam placement can give you good coverage in most cars and I plan to do some experimenting along that line later on with a 7th cam Right now mine Mobius in front, G1W-S in the rear, and a pair of cheap G1W-HC's covering my sides. Al are adequate for their jobs and reliable but of course I'd like to have better cams

One cam in front can prove you did no wrong but IMHO with the way people drive today, you can't have too many cams or too much coverage. Gee, I sound like a dashcam salesman there don't I?

Phil

7 cams

 

[Deleted member 46308]

I use a 4 camera set-up, currently an SG9665GC and three Mobius cams.
I would not roll without four cameras and full 360º (+) coverage at this point.

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...m-for-your-car-doors.12675/page-9#post-310270

And you are getting more

 

[Dashmellow]

And you are getting more

A little bit is no good.

Enough is OK.

Too much is just right!

 

[TonyM]

I had 6 in the car last week, though they were all front facing! I'm thinking of getting a couple of those little cube cameras for the side windows, providing they can auto record when the power is on.

 

[Dashmellow]

I had 6 in the car last week, though they were all front facing! I'm thinking of getting a couple of those little cube cameras for the side windows, providing they can auto record when the power is on.

It might be fun and interesting to try re-aiming a few of the Mobius cams you have mounted on your custom cheese plate rig so they face sideways and backwards.

 

[Gibson99]

sheesh now i'm gonna have to make time to come up with a new solution for our cars... the 2-channel setup in my wife's car started flaking out, so i removed it and put the a119 from the rear of my car into her car as the only cam. now each of us only has one cam facing forward.

i have an old a118 and a118c sitting in my drawer so i guess i need to install them as rear cams. i had some a-hole actually follow me all the way to church a couple weeks ago and then make threats to me and accuse me of "tryina wreck my sh*t"... i mean, how DARE i gently apply the brakes to slow down for something in front of me? it's not my fault you were tailgating so close (at 50 mph) i couldn't see your hood.

i've seen a few russian dashcam vids where people got out and tried to confront the cammer similar to yours. the person who had got out left their door open to try to block the cammer, but the cammer just drove straight through the door. most car/truck doors are pretty flimsy and will fold right up if you push them even by hand - the stop isn't meant to hold more than about twice the weight of the door, and a car can certainly push a LOT harder than that. yes, it will scratch your car some, but it will get you out of a sticky situation relatively unscathed. obviously someone crazy enough to stop in the middle of the freeway (twice!) doesn't have all his marbles, so you can't be sure of his intentions, so it's best to get the heck out of there.

 

[TonyM]

It might be fun and interesting to try re-aiming a few of the Mobius cams you have mounted on your custom cheese plate rig so they face sideways and backwards.

I have two small kids in the back of the car, so that kind of limits where I can place the cameras. First, I don't really want to be filming them. And second, I don't like having cables and little cameras with buttons and flashing lights within their reach.

 

[Dashmellow]

I have two small kids in the back of the car, so that kind of limits where I can place the cameras. First, I don't really want to be filming them. And second, I don't like having cables and little cameras with buttons and flashing lights within their reach.

Well, I was only suggesting the idea of turning a couple of the multiple cams currently mounted on your front windscreen sideways at an oblique angle to face out of the driver's and front passenger's windows. I wasn't suggesting putting cables or cameras anywhere near the back seats. Obviously, if you don't wish to film your kids in the back seat it would be best to not go with the backwards facing cam suggestion.

 

[TonyM]

Well, I was only suggesting the idea of turning a couple of the multiple cams currently mounted on your front windscreen sideways at an oblique angle to face out of the driver's and front passenger's windows. I wasn't suggesting putting cables or cameras anywhere near the back seats. Obviously, if you don't wish to film your kids in the back seat it would be best to not go with the backwards facing cam suggestion.

You mean something like this?

 

[Dashmellow]

Yes! That's exactly what I was suggesting. (except facing towards the side windows) I love this SmallRig cheese plate you've got and am think of purchasing one to add to my camera mounting toolbox. I have a small block of mahogany just about that exact same size that I've used to mount multiple Mobius cams for testing using VHB tape but the cheese plates really seem to be the way to go.

If this scheme is at all viable, hope you'll post a few screen shots.

 

[TonyM]

Yes! That's exactly what I was suggesting. (except facing towards the side windows) I love this SmallRig cheese plate you've got and am think of purchasing one to add to my camera mounting toolbox. I have a small block of mahogany just about that exact same size that I've used to mount multiple Mobius cams for testing using VHB tape but the cheese plates really seem to be the way to go.

If this scheme is at all viable, hope you'll post a few screen shots.

How about this?
I'm out and about in the car, trying these different angles. I'll check the recordings and post something later.

Yes, I'm enjoying using the cheese plate. I'd originally intended to screw fix the cameras to the plate, but I find VHB tape is easier. Plus it allows me to fix cameras on both sides of the plate at the same time.

 

[Dashmellow]

I was going to ask what type of double sided 1/4-20 screws you were using that allow you to mount the cams directly against the plate like that, so thanks for the explanation. Then again, now that I look a little more carefully at your photos I see the screw holes on the bottom of the M2 cams so that should have been a clue right there.

 

[flank]

360 cam is what ya'll need.

 

[Dashmellow]

360 cam is what ya'll need.

No it isn't!

360º video like that is disorienting and confusing. People who use dash cams and who are serious about it require legally actionable evidence they can show to law enforcement, present in a court of law or use to settle an insurance claim, not some gimmicky crap like that.