Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

I admit that I have been binge watching various road rage videos on youtube. Stating the obvious by reiterating that many people are completely nuts and become unglued over petty things. Anger Management is an understatement. Personally, I have never experienced road rage but don't deny it occurs on a regular basis. All the videos of road rage accidents and incidents makes me inclined to get a pair of cameras; for basic personal safety, traffic stops, accidents, insurance shakedowns and overall liability protection. I am curious to know how many of you have dash cams and/or experienced road rage, or in hindsight, experienced an incident per se where you wish there was video to back yourself up. I used to think one is being melodramatic about needing one, but I definitely see where and when they come in handy. ..... as they say, camera doesn't lie!

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

I've been thinking about it too. I like the back-up cameras and the in the past couple of rental cars we've had, they have these proximity indicators/blindspot warnings on the mirrors. Very cool.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

Given the cheap price of them these days I think they're a wise investment. We have one forward camera (also built-in reversing camera but not recordable). Trouble is the cheap ones inevitably require running wires and using the cigarette lighter but that's a small price to pay.

Reversing cameras are great too, as long as the driver doesn't solely use them (yes, some do). Almost needed new trousers when they go from silent to full siren when a fly decides to land on one of the sensors - well, I assume so, so hit brakes, get out, look at the back, nothing there, scratch head. Only 2-3 times in 4 years so no biggie.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

I bought one at Aldi for $39 AUD (about $32 USD). It saved me $100 and 2 demerit points when I got pulled over for speeding. Cop told me verbally that I was going less than 10k over the limit so the ticket would be $100 and no points. However when he handed me the ticket it was for 12k over - $200 + 2 points! I objected to it and when I went to court I admitted to 8 over and asked the magistrate if he'd like to see the dash cam footage. I happily paid the original $100 and accepted the apology from the cop.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

Living in Houston, the standard of driving and conditions of the road make it a dicey proposition at anytime. After getting my new car my wife brought me a Thinkware F800 Pro dual camera set. Initially I was a bit dubious about doing it myself but after watching a number of you tube videos it was pretty easy. It has so many features that I cant recommend it enough. All wires are hidden. Best thing I like about it is parking mode. So long as you use a fuse tap to put it in a fuse way that is always on, it will take time lapsed video back and front. It detects if anyone hits you while you are parked and away from your vehicle and then saves the footage. It has voltage detection so it doesnt drain your battery.

So far I have not needed it but it is there as an insurance policy for so many unexpected events. Cant recommend enough.

I even saw this unexpected way of capturing your car dealership from robbing you for non-completed work
link

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

I insisted that my son have one in his first car. For his protection, really,.figuring that in the early days of being out on the roads if there was an incident he'd risk being railroaded into accepting guilt or whatever due to sheer inexperience of such an event.

One lesson....especially in the cheaper brands the memory card can be prone to going corrupt and there seems to be no warning about it, so in such cases I'd recommend actually taking it out of the camera now and then and checking the data on it. Otherwise, when you have to event that you need the video, it may not be available!

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

I wish I had prior to hitting an 18 wheeler (their fault) and totaling my truck a couple of months back. Looking into it now!

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

I got one for my birthday last month. This last weekend, I permanently wired it to the ignition so it only runs while the ignition is on.

I narrowly avoided a wreck a few weeks ago when a driver in a traffic jam decided to do a U-turn right in front of me (I was going the other way). At that time the dash-cam was sat at home as it was before my birthday. :banghead:

One reason for the SD card corruption is because normal SD cards only have a life of around 500 re-writes. For a small card recording 24/7, that could be as little as a few months. A high-endurance card will last up to 2000 re-writes.

My camera is UHD and came with a 16GB card which is sufficient for about 1 hour of UHD video. If it ran 24/7, the regular card would be dead in 20 days. I upgraded to a 64GB high-endurance card but even that would be dead in about 6 months. Hence the reason I only run it with the ignition.

My main concern is how it will hold up in the Florida summer heat. I've had a couple of radar detectors fry themselves in the heat. This camera has an operating temperature rating of 140°F. Time will tell.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

We have a cheap one but I hardly use it as I forget its in the glove box. Cant leave it out visible or the car will be broken into and camera stolen. We live in a high theft area. Cars will be broken into if the druggies see a nickel.


I ride my scooter 99% of the time and so no dash and the cameras that are water proof cost too much.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

I am seeing it as another way to CYA.
Good point about the cards - will have to take it into account and look into them more. I guess hard formatting them from time to time will also minimize corruption from general re-writing; but yeah, nothing lasts forever.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

Texas drivers are dicks.

I bought a Garmin GPS one for $150 earlier this year, not much bigger than a GoPro - also manages to withstand the crazy heat when my car's been sat outside in 100 degrees for 8 hours.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

High end ones can transmit virtually real time to a server in a nice, cooled data center somewhere which sorts the memory card issue. Also adds another layer of protection if someone nicks the car/camera. But you have to pay monthly for a data connection, of course.

I wonder whether you could be incriminated in the US though. I recall more than a couple of incidents in the UK where motorcyclists were convicted using their GoPros and video recording of high speeds on their speedometers.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

All similar incidents I have seen/read the dummies had posted the incriminating video online.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

We have had a few in Canada where dash cam/go pro video came back to bite the person, the video can both help you or hurt you depending on what it shows.

Re: Dash Cams - Do you use/have them?
 

I recall one like that, and one where the biker was stopped by the police and "asked" to show his footage.