I don't get dash cams at all and this felt like an STW sort of question, why do people have them?
Do any STWers use them, have they been useful?
So that if we are involved in a hit and run again at least I'll have the ****s reg number and not have to take the hit of a written off car on my insurance again.
They can help make it a lot easier to settle who’s at fault in an accident. Effectively they’re an extra insurance policy
Dark web forum, where car drivers boast how they use their metal boxes as offensive weapons against cyclists, who won't use the cycle paths. 😉
If you dot see the need for one then I guess you've never had someone crash into your car and then try to claim it was actually you that hit them.
I had that happen a few yrs back and it was an utter ball ache to sort out.
I also had a woman reverse into me, before driving off like a woman possessed. When I caught he up and flagged her down she claimed she didn't realise she'd hit me (she shunted me back about a foot) but said she thought she'd bumped into the kerb (in a car park with no kerbs). Chinny reckon...
A guy on briskoda had a plank fall off an oncoming Transit tipper straight on to his A pillar and windscreen, making a right mess of his car. The other driver hadn't even realised it had happened and was long gone. Footage was clear enough to read the numberplate, other insurer immediately accepted liability.
I bought one after that.
Our (council) fleet of minibuses all have them in now.
Doesn't bother me.
As people make false claims, they lie after the collision so the innocent party gets the blame or part of it but in my case as Owen Pugh denied all knowledge of driving into me Golf that was only a few months old ripping up the full driver’s side of the car.
I don’t get dash cams at all and this felt like an STW sort of question, why do people have them?
That’s a trick question, right?
I have one after a parked car pulled off without indicating /looking right into my pasengers door while wife was driving. We had a witness .... She had no one with her. Yet managed to produce a car full of witnesses that said wife drove into her .
My dad was driven into on his motorbike by a French van driver who came round the corner while on his phone on the wrong side f the road
He got out of his van and said to my dad's mates who were following "typical British always on the wrong side of the road he hit me etc
Lucky the lads had cameras(with GPS data) in their bikes and showed the police after the van. Driver had given his statement.
Van drivers insurance is still paying for his medical treatment and that's been 2 years. Dad no longer able to work at his job.
We came within a couple of feetof being hit head on 3 days after buying the big red bus. 2 miles from our house a car came round the corner on the wrong side of the road at speed. I managed to stop he managed to swearve. Passed that one to the police
People are just out to look out for them selves these days and will tell people what ever costs them least. **** the other guy.
For geniune incidents I can see their usefulness. The people promoting them or users with youtube channels appear to have a lot of incidents, or are incredibly bad at planning ahead and keeping out of trouble. I suspect a lot of people that buy them may be of a similar bent not realising that half the trouble may be their own driving skills.
OP, if you're having to ask the question then they're quite clearly not needed.
You never know when a meteor is going to fall from the sky...
I must admit, I'm more tempted to get a dash-cam than I am to use a bike camera.
Last week I was PROPERLY pulled out on by a woman coming across a dual carriage way junction. No time to brake, blow my horn or anything. I just shot the closing gap, (and shat my pants) the sticky out edge of the rear bumper of my van clipped the front of her Clio.
We both stopped, I was ready to give her the hairdryer, treatment, except she was already blubbing when she got out of the car, and about 6 months pregnant! I had to wait with her for 10 minutes before she was calm enough to continue her journey.
So that's another reason why.
edit - that meteor footage is mega! The con-trail is awesome.
If I'd had one a couple of years back when some fool pulled into my path on a dual carriageway I'm certain he would have been found liable rather than the split liability it ended up being. Several hundred quid that cost me, enough to buy a few decent quality dashcams.
Been thinking of getting one for a while, not had any incidents really but guess they're the sort of thing that you don't need until you do and then you're sorry you didn't get one beforehand!
No doubt there is a world of info out there but what's the reasonably priced, convenient, reliable camera of choice these days?
Years since I bought mine but http://www.techmoan.com/what-is-the-best-dashcam/
I bought a £60 front and rear for my van and at last I can see what's behind me. Brilliant for reversing too. I bought an HP branded one for £50 for the car and the images on that are excellent. Both from Amazon this week.
I have one.
I live in a country in the Middle East that has terrible drivers and also rigs the system against expats if they are unfortunate to get into an accident with a local. It's for peace of mind as hopefully the police aren't that corrupt that if the accident is recorded in 1080p that they can't see the truth.
Also, for 20 odd quid delivered, albeit with a 3-4 week wait, why not.
I have used one of these for 3+ years in the front window of a car in 45 deg heat.
Just get one. Does everything automatically and I don't even notice it's there.
Thanks for the replies, that's interesting info. Definitely got me thinking about getting one. Are they easy to install?
Not necessarily easy to install invisibly without wires everywhere. My advice would be to go to Halfords and get one, they can hard wire it in for £30 which seems like a damn good deal to me. I did my own but only because I knew the car and knew I could do it.
What are people doing for rear cameras?
Some come with an extra little camera for the rear. That I'm not convinced of the benefit. Even if someone clacks you from the back, the front camera still proves you weren't doing anything stupid.
Why? If it's anything like the guy in the white Hyundai around here it means you can put warning stickers on your car and then go looking for an argument by driving badly yourself.
I bought one after a spurious claim where someone drove in to me on a roundabout, he entered the roundabout at the junction after me, was in the incorrect lane and hit me as he tried to continue round as I exited. Very very minimal damage, from a 10-15mph coming together, a scrape on my car that wasn't through the paint and a tiny dent in his wing. Fortunately I took photos as about 9months later I was the subject of a £16k claim for a written off car and £15k for physiological truma and flashbacks.
Fortunately the photos proved his car wasn't a write off (subsequently agreed £600 damage) and ended up with a £9.5k claim against me as Zurich insurance company and Keoghs solicitors would not fight it at all (and were quite frankly awful) even though the photos showed that the damage to the car couldn't have happened if the accident occurred the way he claimed.
Had I had a dash cam at the time it would have been a simple matter.
Since I've owned one I've used it for two insurance claims, neither of them mine; both when I have been behind vehicles which have been involved in hit and runs and I've stopped and given the victim driver the footage.
I have a front and rear on the car and a front facing on the van.
Love my in-car tech so I've gone for Blackvue which can Wi Fi straight to my phone.
After being hit by an uninsured driver years ago, I wanted something to back up my statement if anything happens. That accident years ago, he ran into the back of us so 100 % his fault but it was still a nightmare to sort out so I dread to think how much hassle it would be if liability was being argued.
A lot of those Dashcam You Tubers go out looking for trouble. Most of them don't display their speed on the footage.......
in terms of installation, I just fitted mine to the windscreen then ran the wires by lifting the roof lining slightly, then down the door rubber, under the passenger seat to the Cig Lighter socket. This won't work for everyone if the Cig Lighter is on the dash etc.
Why? If it’s anything like the guy in the white Hyundai around here it means you can put warning stickers on your car and then go looking for an argument by driving badly yourself
I though you had an S-max?
it must be a must with the amount of reckless drivers around nowadays, actually felt vulnerable without it, quite sad really.. how they passed the driving test baffles me
My Dad always drummed it into me that you only start to learn to drive once you’ve passed your driving test and start out in the car on your own for the first time. Never a truer word said. I’ve never felt compelled to have a dash cam. The couple or so minor bumps and scrapes i’ve had over my driving career i’ve found sorting things out with the insurance companies to be quite painless, both when my fault and others fault. The only reason i’ve contemplated getting one is for the functionality where they detect if your car is bumped in a car park and scarper when you’re away from your car, so the detect the bump and save the precious 10 seconds or so of footage.
they’re cheap though so I guess you may as well have one than not just in case.
I think the lady who was sat on the side of the road after a van had hit her car and sent it spinning The van driver didn't stop he carried on. Luckily for her, one of my work colleagues caught it on his dash camera, maybe that's why .
I wish we had one 6 months ago in our 4 month old car. Someone ran in to the rear right side of said car whilst Mrs ws was doing all of 5mph in her lane with solid white line to right. Reported to insurance company and they immediately said it' 50/50 as you can't prove you weren't moving in to the lane to the right.
Caused no end of shit and around 6 hours on the phone the day after it happened. It was only through the decency of the other chap who admitted full liability that it didn' go 50/50.
My Dad always drummed it into me that you only start to learn to drive once you’ve passed your driving test and start out in the car on your own for the first time. Never a truer word said. I’ve never felt compelled to have a dash cam. The couple or so minor bumps and scrapes i’ve had over my driving career i’ve found sorting things out with the insurance companies to be quite painless, both when my fault and others fault. The only reason i’ve contemplated getting one is for the functionality where they detect if your car is bumped in a car park and scarper when you’re away from your car, so the detect the bump and save the precious 10 seconds or so of footage.
Even if you're a perfect driver, it can still be worthwhile. I drove cars and rode motorcycles for years, never had an accident as an adult driver, never had to make an insurance claim. Then last year someone simply drove straight down the middle of the road an into me head on.
Fortunately I had a digital SLR in the van with me and took around 50 images of the scene showing pretty graphically that I was right over to the lefthand side of the road and there was plenty of room to pass. The other driver said she didn't remember anything - I think she was texting fwiw.
It took around six months to sort out liability with her insurance company barefacedly denying liability. Our van was a write-off. I went out and bought a decent dashcam next day and feel exposed without it now. I don't post footage on Youtube or any of that rubbish, but if the same thing happens again, hopefully having footage will make it easier to sort out.
Being a 'good driver' with decent roadcraft etc makes no difference when someone is determined to drive into you and crosses onto your side of the road to do it. It's not something you can anticipate unless you're psychic. And even if you could, there's not much you can do about it. It's the reason I stopped riding motorcycles.
Anyway, my take would be that never having had an accident doesn't mean you won't have one. There are some proper idiots out there and that's before you factor in the lying, uninsured, drunk, phone-using fringe.
Why wouldn't you use a dash cam?
Surely it won't be long before all new cars come with a dash cam .It just makes so much sense .
Ah the driving god's have arrived .
Surely it won’t be long before all new cars come with a dash cam .It just makes so much sense
I totally agree . My car has a reversing camera and so it wouldn't be hard for manufacturers to have it on permanently hooked up to an SSD. Much in the same way that having a camera at the front could do the same .
To get truly burnt, and smited by the "making progress" brigade I'm all for cameras, GPS, etc limiting car speeds to the road's speed limit.
Ah the driving god’s have arrived .
If that's aimed at me, all I can say is that I'm a far from perfect driver or a driving god or whatever, I've always just been careful and a bit lucky. Sorry if my post was misconstrued in that way.
The point I was making is that even if you're very good at driving defensively, you can still get taken out by someone driving into you over the centre line, changing course with no obvious warning signs or whatever, which makes having a dash cam a pretty good idea.
I’m getting one so I can drive round Russia and film crashes, subsequently sending the footage to a reality tv channel for Tony Hawkes to do a hilarious voice over on.
Sorry if my post was misconstrued in that way
I don't think you have any need apologise. It was only a matter of time before someone rolls out the de rigueur "driving gods" crap as soon the topic discusses anything car related.
it wasnt aimed at you.
Im pro dash cam. Im as confused as anyone at why you wouldnt have a dash cam in this day and age,,,,,
it wasnt aimed at you.
Oh - colour me gutted 🙁
Wish I had one last week when somebody smashed into the rear of my brand new van. Guess what I'll be getting once it's repaired.
Normally the person who rear ends another is found liable. The odds should be with you arguing that one.
We have them fitted to our cars. I’ve used mine to send video clip on two different van drivers who I’d witnessed driving like idiots cutting other road users up on my regular commute. One driver I never come across again, the other was much more considerate to other road users. Also provided footage for another driver who was side swiped by a truck on a roundabout.
As to the question of why not have one, well in my view there are negative consequences to everyone having their lives scrutinised and recorded 24/7 and dash cams is just one more step towards having our lives monitored all the time. How long before they’re hooked upto the net and software can glean alsorts of provate information about the way we live our lives. And before someone pipes up “if you’re doing nothing wrong then you’ve got nothing to worry about” tripe, that is not the point and why should 100% of the population be continually monitored for the sake of the small percentage of the population who are committing crimes or being dicks.
i get the thing about if you do have a crash then you have the evidence, but we need to be careful what we wish for. I can’t comment on others experiences of problems sorting out crashes before, my personal experience is that if you buy good insurance with good legal cover then your lawyer argues your case and would’nt let insurance companies get away with some of the dirty tricks explained previously. Of course there is the case of hit and run, but ultimately that is what fully comp insurance covers you for - it is sort of the whole point of it.
but hey ho, I can see some benefits but remain sceptical of the whole continuous surveilance thing. But if I end up being the only person without a dash cam the. I’m being continually watched via other people’s dash cams anyway. I think we’re probably already on that slippery slidey slope and have already lost our rights to any privacy whatsoever.
Erm, yeah......