After nearly being wiped out by an oncoming ****er overtaking on a bend I’m now thinking about using a dash-cam to capture anything incriminating should something similar happen again.

AutoExpress reviews seem pretty good, and the Transcend is now £80. But naturally the hive must be consulted, so any ideas/experiences welcome pls. Ta

I have the road hawk. It’s on hd quality and playback is good. Sits behind rearview mirror out of sight. Not sure why they knock it for lack of screen as I can’t see why it needs a screen.

I’d be interested in seeing peoples views as well. I had a similar incident on the Alston (A686) road on the way back from the Lakes recently. I had to do a full ABS emergency stop and come to a halt so a pickup could complete his overtake, ****.

I think at least two cameras would be required though? One facing forwards and one backwards with a wide angle to capture most things?

Had one of these fitted for a year now. Not had to use it for insurance purposes fortunately, but vid footage looks fine. Not sure why you’d pay more?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221021420031
£36

If you are thinking of using as insurance evidence, check with your provider. Aviva apparently don’t care and not interested in seeing any footage whereas Swiftcover and Adrian Flux (https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/dash-cam-insurance/) offer some discount, so one would assume they would take as evidence in a claim also.

techmoan.com does a lot of reviews of dash cams.

Will ask insurer about using it as evidence. Seems odd that some don’t accept it.

Also keen to use it for showing to police if someone does something blatantly out of order, ie overtaking at stupid speed on a blind corner in a 30mph zone as per last night. No guarantee they’ll do anything about it, but I’d at least feel better knowing there’s a chance that person will get a b******ing.

The insurer might not be but the Police are and their report is going to be taken seriously by the insurance company.

I have been using a Mobius dashcam for about 6 months now. Pretty cheap and the recorded footage is good. A simple unit, so no display or GPS. I have fitted it behind the interior mirror and it works well as a fit and forget unit.

Aviva apparently don’t care and not interested in seeing any footage

Not sure that’s entirely true. Perhaps they don’t offer a discount but I’m sure they would happily receive evidence should it mean they don’t have to pay out on a RTC where the circumstances are disputed by the third party.

Another roadhawk user here, been faultless and quality is good. The auto record feature is also useful in case of a crash.

Presumably any insurance company you might be arguing with would try pretty hard to see all of the footage to assess whether you were a good witness….

Mini 0803 for highest quality footage, it’s decent at night too (£60-£80 depends if you fancy GPS).
G1W if HD is good enough, and it’s cheap (£30 or so).

I installed non GPS 0803 and it’s solid performer, small, hidden behind rear view mirror and it does have lcd screen. For rear view mirror I would go with G1W as it’s cheaper.

Techmoan.com is very good source for info and reviews.

“Presumably any insurance company you might be arguing with would try pretty hard to see all of the footage to assess whether you were a good witness….”

nope my insurance folded like a wet newspaper in an incident without even so much as taking a statement.

ive kicked up hell and got the footage off the bus we were rammed into.

still chasing for the outcome.

I’m happy with a Next Base from Halfords, which costs a bit more though.

One thing I learned, it needed a memory chip, extra expense, this could be worth checking.

What sold me on them was a chap on the Skoda forums who had a plank off an oncoming tipper Transit fall straight into his A pillar. Driver didn’t notice or stop.

Footage was clear enough to read the plate, immediate acceptance from other insurer, car straight off to repair with no hassles.

bookmark

Sucked in by the surveillance society….

I use the Autoguard app on my phone.

if its not zero interaction you wont have it on when you really need it.

you set your phone up with the autoguard app on EVERY JOURNEY you make colin.

if its not zero interaction you wont have it on when you really need it.

This… Hence why I like the automated recording on the roadhawk when it senses too many G. Means if I’m found upside down in a hedge and carted off to hospital it should still have some evidence on the memory card of what happened.

Terry – it switches on as soon as I mount the phone in the cradle. It also has shock sensor/automatic file save.

and your phone goes in the cradle when your popping down the shops i assume?

mines doesnt and jaynes never comes out her bag unless its to check facebook i assume (never gets answered)

hence zero interaction is king.

E-Prance Mini 0803 here. It is really good, really quite small and really cheap. Records automatically, has G sensor and a few more other useless features. Loads of videos on Youtube.

I bought one as my car is invisible to a select few drivers. 😉

So, does everyone have these devices wired into the cars electrical power, so they don’t need batteries?
Or do they need to be removed and charged?

Also, do you leave them permanently in the car? If so, is there not a theft risk from a scrote decided it’s worth nicking?

I’ve considered getting one, but am not sure I would want the faff of mounting it/plugging it in every time I got in and then removing it when I got where i was going etc. Just curious what people do with them…..

Mine is hard wired in, not too fiddly to wire it back to the fusebox with a piggy back fuse. It automatically switches on and records when the ignition is live. It also keeps the wiring hidden away.

I leave mine in place all the time, and often park in dodgy parts of London. The mobius is tiny, and it is tucked up at the top of the screen, plus I have a boy racer top tint so it isn’t really visible from the outside.

@ stumpy – the rubber sticker bit on the windscreen isn’t ideal. I’d prefer something like the weighted base fixing for a satnav sat on top of the dash, easier to remove. It plugs into the usual lighter socket*.

It’s easy to unplug and unclip the camera and recording unit, leaving the wire and mounting behind, but multiple press buttons where you want to hold the gadget are a pain.

*Along with the satnav and phone, so you might need a multisocket device.

As to using a phone, if you were involved in or witnessed a serious RTC, could the police take your phone for evidence?

As to using a phone, if you were involved in or witnessed a serious RTC, could the police take your phone for evidence?

They would want the footage, not the recording device.

I’ve got a BlackVue one – works well and I used it to prove I wasn’t at fault when an oncoming van took out the side of my (stationary) car.

Getting the insurance companies involved to accept the damn footage took 6 months though – but saved me way more than I paid for the camera…

I have one in my van, its a DVR 005 or something but no matter as its out of date/unavailable.

Like many it came with an awful multi-jointed huge suction cup affair, but as my van has a bulkhead I removed the rear view mirror and drilled the mirror bracket to allow the camera to bolt directly on to it. Much more discreet, and the last thing I’d want is to get broken into as something thinks its something worth taking.

Over the last couple of years its captured people stopping on railway crossings as the gates come down, driving down grass verges to beat queues, road rage amongst other drivers, a pheasant launched directly at me by an oncoming lorry, a cyclist over shooting a junction into my path and thankfully choosing to crash into a signpost rather than me (must find that clip, sure I’ve got it somewhere!) and someone who pulled out directly across me who had somehow managed to miss my huge van that had been clearly visible for quite some time.

Last week I stopped behind a queue of traffic and left space for a car pulling out of a school, the driver was distracted and when s/he realised and pulled out, the traffic had started moving again and the car coming the other way slithered past near the kerb and missed the rear bumper by about 12 inches. It was torrential rain and if they’d had hit each other I’d have probably been hit too…I was really glad I’d just stopped and waited, and not flashed or gestured to anyone to go.