Why do cars not have dashcams already fitted?

our car has cameras already installed and recording all the time. Only utility so far has been sharing random 20mph zone overtaking events with our MP. To no effect at all.

I’ve often wondered who actually does that.

I’ve downloaded 2 events off my cameras in 10 years.

1 a chap cutting a corner and nearly meeting his maker with a 3.5 ton fully laden iveco.

2 proving I made two separate visits to a private carpark on one day to fight a fine.

One of the most bizarre and ironic things I have observed about dash cams is that they often tend to be installed in the cars of some of the most careless and inconsiderate drivers on the road.

I speak as both a roadie and car driver.

*I am not saying everyone with a dash cam is bad – it’s just quite surprising how willing some people are to capture their inability to drive safely or legally.

Agree with the above.

Plus they dont stop you crashing in to someone, or stop them crashing in to you , which I would have thought is the crucial bit rather than having a nice little keep sake video

why do cars not have automatic speed limiters already fitted? Tech is readily available.

I’d have thought the crucial bit would be having evidence to refute a 50-50 insurance claim surely?

One EV I looked at today had cameras instead of wing mirrors with silly massive screens inside the cabin that were harder to look at than actual mirrors, why would anyone want that?  – still no dashcam though. I guess it must be a privacy thing as several people mentioned early on in the thread.

As for puddle lights they are nothing new, I’ve had them on loads of cars – my old 04 plate Mondeo estate had them.

sgn23
why do cars not have automatic speed limiters already fitted? Tech is readily available.

Like many things… no political will – the Daily Heil would be up in arms about the infringement of liberty (the same Daily Heil that is supportive of the current land ownership model in Britain and the infringement of normal people’s right to land that was common use for millenia).

What IS needed is a massive stiffening up of the basic skills requirements  to be allowed to drive to begin with. But… again no political will to.

Most unusual one I’ve seen was a near-neighbour /  acquaintance.  He was pootling along in his Micra to the shops when suddenly a caravan headed his way, pointy end 1st, not attached (any more) to any other vehicle, on his side of the road at 30mph. Which hit him, obliterate the caravan, and caused his car to overturn.  Gyypos hadn’t connected the caravan hitch to the fair ground truck properly, and of course no safety cable in sight either.

Try explaining that event to the insurance without video, and they’d thing you’d been smoking something illegal.

The dash cam video was rather helpful.

You can get a usb-c by the rear view mirror as an option on the Octavia…

Yep, mine has that, still got to get a dash cam that fits it, any suggestions?

I’d have thought the crucial bit would be having evidence to refute a 50-50 insurance claim surely?

How much does a dash cam cost?  That is a definite upfront cost with a lifetime of what 3-5 yrs?

how many insurance claims do you make in that time period typically?

how many of them are settled 50:50, wrongly?

how many of those would the dash cam actually prevent (they aren’t typically 360 deg, great quality at night etc).

Obviously no claim that would have been settled 50:50 would even be 100% against you with a camera, right? Because we are all perfect drivers, right!

if a claim is settled against you 50:50 what is the likely cost?

I’m not sure an economist would be convinced it’s a value for money purchase.  A marketeer might believe the emotional argument though…

I wxpected insurance companies to push fir cameras by offering discounts.   Im suprised it has not happened

It comes as standard with Tesla cars, 4 cameras constantly active (if you’ve chosen to turn it on), 7 cameras to view, with a usb stick in the glove compartment /centre console (most recent video is also stored on the car info memory) . You can take video shots whilst in the car if something happens around you or it will take video when the car is parked if someone stands by the car, pulls the door handle or the car is hit. Because it’s constantly live the footage will have the event in the middle of the video shot. Not sure how sensitive it is these days but 5 years ago you’d come back to the car with possibly a tonne of events videoed, but you would only be interested in viewing anything if something had actually happened to the car, otherwise you’d just delete them all or they auto delete after a period of time. Youtube is full of Tesla cam/ sentry mode videos (usually of fat Americans keying the car in Walmart car parks). You can also view all the cameras on your phone, so for example when it’s in the garage you’re constantly getting notifications when the car is moved, tyres have been deflated, doors opened, boot opened etc and you can view live what’s going on via the cameras. The cameras are high res, so the footage is usually good quality, not so in rain at night. The cost is about 5% of the battery per 24hrs, it turns sentry mode off if the state of charge is below 20%. When it’s activated whilst locked, the lights flash and a  warning message displays on the big screen.

What they said ^ Tesla sorted this out ages ago, works seamlessly.

The footage from my Colleague’s Tesla when a taxi failed to notice the stationary traffic on the M25 and hit him at 50mph was absolutely astonishing.

How much does a dash cam cost?  That is a definite upfront cost with a lifetime of what 3-5 yrs?

about 60 quid.

our original one is on its second car and is now 10 years old.

Footage from it is still fine for the purposes i need it . yes it wont pick up a crystal clear number plate at 100 yards in the dark…. but it will show a chain of events.

one incident against you on your insurance could be 1K + on your premium over the next 3-5 years pending company and car.

I wxpected insurance companies to push fir cameras by offering discounts. Im suprised it has not happened

it was a thing – the discount I got about 9 years ago was enough to pay for a cheapy camera on ebay. When my wife got into a minor accident I tried to pull the footage only to find it hadn’t recorded anything in the previous 18 month. oh well.

why do cars not have automatic speed limiters already fitted?

no political will

Much more importantly, no public appetite.

Tech is readily available.

Only in the same sense that tech for self drive cars is readily available – there are just substantial practical problems in making it work in reality.

why do cars not have automatic speed limiters already fitted?

Ebikes have speed limiters and look how many people get that overridden… learn how to chip speed restricted cars and you could be a millionaire in a few months! (if it was made a thing, that is)

Lack of puddle light is such a 1st world problem. I’m not sure how we all sleep at night knowing our vehicles don’t have them.

why do cars not have automatic speed limiters already fitted?

The tech is not ready!  My 2020 car has speed limit recognition, which works… much of the time.  It has (more than once) spent a good 45 minutes on the M4 thinking the speed limit is 30mph because it missed a sign. It’s convinced the street I live on is no-entry, and shows a little warning every time I drive home.

Fortunately it doesn’t act on any of this, but I remember an STWer saying their fancy car hit the brakes on a motorway because it thought the speed limit signs on a nearby parallel road applied. This stuff needs to be bulletproof before they roll it out more widely!

Lack of puddle light is such a 1st world problem.

Not if you’re a doctor in Gloucester.

speed limiters are already a mandatory thing in europe

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/news/mandatory-speed-limiters-on-uk-cars-from-2022

it cqn be disabled/overridden, I suspect it’ll become law in the UK at some point

From that Autotrader article – sounds good to me :

1. The driver’s foot will be gently pushed back

2. The speed control system will automatically reduce the propulsion power, but you can override the system easily by pushing the pedal again

3. The driver will be sent a flashing visual signal to point out you’re speeding. If you continue to drive over the limit, an audio cue will be activated; if you ignore this as well, both visual and audio cues will be used after which both cues will time-out

4. Similar to the third option, the driver will first be sent a visual cue. If you ignore it, the pedal will vibrate. If you keep ignoring the combined signals, they will eventually time out

about 60 quid.

our original one is on its second car and is now 10 years old.

Footage from it is still fine for the purposes i need it . yes it wont pick up a crystal clear number plate at 100 yards in the dark…. but it will show a chain of events.

one incident against you on your insurance could be 1K + on your premium over the next 3-5 years pending company and car.

and in those 10 years has it saved you any money?  Because in the last 10 years I’ve not had any motoring claims, and within my immediate friends and family – I’ve only heard of one case go 50/50 when the driver was convinced they had done nothing wrong.  A dashcam might have solved that dispute – but knowing that driver it wouldn’t surprise me if it showed they were more at fault than they thought!   But that’s 1 of perhaps a dozen claims that were “unclear”, from hundreds of years of insurance history.

I expected insurance companies to push fir cameras by offering discounts. Im surprised it has not happened

They do.

On my camper a dash cam (£70) and a tracker (£120+ annual subscription) saved me a total of £23….

and in those 10 years has it saved you any money?

I just think of it as a little insurance policy addition, hope it’ll never be needed, but I still have one. I’ve not made an insurance claim either, but always get fully comprehensive rather than just the required 3rd party. That’s my choice, yours is just as valid.

Although no claims, I have made a couple of reports to the police after it caught some absolutely shocking driving behaviour. Both times driving the wrong side of the carriageway to avoid a traffic cue, (queue – edit in before the pendants) the second one went through a red light on the wrong side too!

and in those 10 years has it saved you any money?  Because in the last 10 years I’ve not had any motoring claims

does it need to have ? small price to pay for certainty when its required.

and if it shows me at fault in the incident – then thats just as valid a view point as showing me right – it saves a shit load of phonecalls and arguments with insurance companies .

have you ever had to make a claim against a third party ?  its not much fun

My car has the logo shine on the ground when I open the door. Just assumed it was some flash extra to try to look ‘cool’ (it doesn’t). Didn’t know it’s purpose was to stop me jumping out into a puddle.

I’m genuinely staggered I’ve managed to last this long with cars that didn’t have this critical safety feature.

As for dash cams. I assume its because, For every safe drive that wants one, there will be some baw bag idiot driver that would not want to be incriminating themselves at every opportunity

Well I have them on my car in Aus so they ain’t bloody puddle lights here.

More like “wtf was that crawling / slinking / hissing” lights….

Actually I think they call them courtesy lights here. Puddles. Lol. What??

Because in the last 10 years I’ve not had any motoring claims

and yet, all that insurance money you’ve paid out… that’s all a dashcam is – another form of insurance. I have one on the bike, not in the car. Thankfully I haven’t needed to send the footage to insurers in the 10years I’ve been using cams. But if the time came that it was useful, I’d be glad I had it.

For every safe drive that wants one, there will be some baw bag idiot driver

Ah but don’t around 80%. of drivers think they’re “above average”  so the (self identifying) bawbag idiots would be a small fraction of the overall market . Though obvs the creme de la creme of driving gods sees no need for such things, so that probably takes care of half of that “above average” 80%.

Like many forms of insurance you don’t really need it until TSHTF, but by then it’s too late to reassess your decision.

Fortunately it doesn’t act on any of this, but I remember an STWer saying their fancy car hit the brakes on a motorway because it thought the speed limit signs on a nearby parallel road applied. This stuff needs to be bulletproof before they roll it out more widely!

Yeah I’m not convinced about this stuff. Only the other day I had my cruise control set at 20 as I was in a 20 zone. As we exited the 20 zone the car rapidly (and automatically) accelerated up to the new speed limit, which the car thought was 40. Which confused me somewhat as I was 99% convinced I’d just driven past a 30 sign. Anyways, I braked and continued at 30 but the car still told me the speed limit for the road was a 40.

Googled it afterwards..I was definitely in a 30 zone.

The nay-sayers – “I’ve not needed one in ten years” 😀

I’ve not claimed on my insurance in ten years. But it only takes one muppet to cast doubt and claim YOU were in the wrong and the whole process becomes a long, drawn out ballache.

Hundred quid. Peace of mind. But like any gadget, keep on top of the firmware updates and format your SD card once a month.

One of the most bizarre and ironic things I have observed about dash cams is that they often tend to be installed in the cars of some of the most careless and inconsiderate drivers on the road.

It why the term DCW was coined. It’s almost as if cammers create avoidable situation to ensure they get value out of the investment they’ve made. YT has many many clips of cammers showing how bad a driver they are while asserting the other driver(s) are in the wrong. Fun way to burn an hour.

If you continue to drive over the limit, an audio cue will be activated

Lots of cars in Japan have these, if you carry on over the speed limit, it gets increasingly louder and more frequent, it’s fantastically annoying.

it’s fantastically annoying.

Annoying for whom? the idiot who insists on driving at 40pmph in a 30mph zone?

I wish all cars had them and could issue fines for persistent speeding/tailgating.

it only takes one muppet to cast doubt and claim YOU were in the wrong and the whole process becomes a long, drawn out ballache.

It’s a terrible thing to live in fear.

It’s a terrible thing to live in fear.

ha! you are SO right – such inspiration!

In fact tomorrow in your honour,  I’m going to ride our whole Xmas eve santa special loop with NO SPARE TUBE!!!!!!

It’s a terrible thing to live in fear.

And to live in some kind of denial you’ll never be involved in an accident.

I don’t think he is in denial. I think, like me, he thinks it is unlikely to happen and if it does, the other party won’t necessarily be a dick. I still sometimes leave the house without locking the door. Other people monitor their house like it is a prison wing.

why do cars not have automatic speed limiters already fitted?

Because it’s not speed that kills, it’s the muppet driving the car, so  as long as muppets are allowed to drive cars accidents will happen, speed limits and cameras will make no difference