Why do cars not have dashcams already fitted?

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

Not at all, I just don’t think filming everything and everyone is a proportionate response to that risk.

Because it’s not speed that kills, it’s the muppet driving

Err…the chances of dying increase with the speed of the impact. I have first hand experience of this and the repercussions. A couple of mph can make a hell of a difference.

just don’t think filming everything and everyone is a proportionate response to that risk.

and yet we are the ones living in fear apparently.

I got mine after being on the receiving end of some roadrage.

Also I used to work in motor insurance, and to put it bluntly, a sizeable portion of the British public are lying bastids if they think they can save some loot!

and yet we are the ones living in fear apparently.

Using a dash cam is treating every other road user as a potential threat. Why would you feel the need to film them if they are not a threat? If you see potential threats everywhere then you are living in fear.

Using a dash cam is treating every other road user as a potential threat. Why would you feel the need to film them if they are not a threat? If you see potential threats everywhere then you are living in fear.

interesting alternative viewpoint.

feel free not to drive on the road if you cannot live with being filmed though.

seems we are pretty much split – those that have experienced lying tossers and driving gods  lucky people.

Using a number plates is treating every other road user as a potential threat. Why would you feel the need to identify them if they are not a threat? If you see potential threats everywhere then you are living in fear.

ftfy

seems we are pretty much split – those that have experienced lying tossers and driving gods lucky people.

I reckon that being in an accident where the other party lies about it for gain or to avoid consequences is probably a less than once in a lifetime occurrence on average.

So if you’ve already experienced it, you’re highly unlikely to experience it again so what’s the point in having a dash cam? 🙂

That would be true if it were a random event, but it isn’t. If you’ve experienced someone lying after a collision you are probably more likely than the average road user to experience it again.

ftfy

No you didn’t. The law compels us to have number plates for a variety of reasons, nobody is compelled to have a dashcam. It’s a false equivalence.

You know that feeling when you want to take off and nuke your own thread from orbit

Don’t do that, I’m really enjoying it!

You know that feeling when you want to take off and nuke your own thread from orbit

It has probably answered your question though, in a roundabout way, even if the conclusions are unsatisfying.

If you see potential threats everywhere then you are living in fear.

I think you’re confusing threat with risk. There are undoubtedly risks in pretty much everything we do, but to acknowledge and mitigate those risks is not an act of fear. There is a risk of head injury when riding a bike so I may choose to wear a helmet to mitigate it if I feel the risk warrants it but equally there are times when the risk of head injury is low so I don’t wear a helmet (let’s not do that whole thing again). There is no point when I am afraid of a head injury, well not until my head is on course for a rock anyway.

Likewise there is a small risk of being on the receiving end of a knob head driver so depending on your view of that risk a dash cam is a way of mitigating your exposure to it. A dash cam doesn’t change the risk, but it may change the outcome. Nobody’s getting into their car in fear of being in a crash, but to get into a car without admitting the small risk of something happening is living in denial.  It’s up to the individual to decide how to deal with it. So I’m not arguing for universal dash cams – the equivalent of an aircraft black box might make more sense to record vehicle data for subsequent examination, but only in the event of a significant incident.

Using a dash cam is treating every other road user as a potential threat. Why would you feel the need to film them if they are not a threat? If you see potential threats everywhere then you are living in fear.

Pretty much everything on the road is a potential threat (or risk) – be it other road users, slippery patches, rubbish, pedestrians, you name it. It’s a fact – you don’t have to live in fear for this to be the case.

You could say exactly the same thing about insurance. Dashcams are simply extra insurance – fit and forget, until needed. They don’t even save the footage for very long as they overwrite everything anyway.

That’s for cars… I don’t have one but want to get one. On the bike I do have one – as a cyclist in a busy city I find it more important, I personally have experienced many close calls and witnessed lots of driving that I felt was dangerous enough to be worth reporting to the police. Is it a waste of time? Perhaps. Might it make the roads slightly safer? Perhaps. Has seeing it defused a couple of road rage situations? Yes. Does it make me feel slightly safer? Yes.

reckon that being in an accident where the other party lies about it for gain or to avoid consequences is probably a less than once in a lifetime occurrence on average.

What’s your data set for that spurious claim ?

What’s your data set for that spurious claim ?

Right there:

I reckon

It was an opinion… everyone’s entitled to their own opinion on this matter! Same with helmets etc etc, it’s a personal thing at the end of the day.

I wonder if the people who regard dashcams as a waste of time don’t like insurance, black boxes, tachographs, CCTV, seatbelts or airbags? No secondary safety system will prevent the bad thing happening but they sure lead to different outcomes within the laws of physics or statute. I wouldn’t even hire a car without fitting my dashcam to it. There’s no downside, at all.

What’s your data set for that spurious claim ?

The smiley was intended to convey that I made those comments tongue in cheek. 😉

Car threads are so serious.

The consequences can be serious as well .

The consequences can be serious as well .

The consequences of car threads on STW? I doubt it, unless you consider a few middle age, middle class men having their noses out of joint to be serious.

I have no problem with people fitting cameras to their cars, I used to have one, the only time it might have been useful, the other driver spoke to my insurance company and confirmed my description of the situation, and basically hung herself out to dry.

I am, however against them fitted from new, because it’s inevitable that something will go wrong with the camera or it’s installation, and it’s inevitable that it’ll cost a huge amount of money to get it fixed, and impossible to remove from the car. Software updates for infotainment systems have this issue, mine’s been nagging me for an update, for as long as I’ve had it, my dealer tried to update it at the last service, and the download kept failing. I’ve personally seen the entire infotainment system on a nearly new Mercedes fail for no obvious reason, I don’t have enough trust in manufacturers to fit such a system that will last the life of a car.

I wonder if the people who regard dashcams as a waste of time don’t like insurance, black boxes, tachographs, CCTV, seatbelts or airbags?

I think all of those are great ideas. In fact, I’d like to see compulsory “black boxes” for all vehicles, fitted with speed limiters. While I don’t necessarily regard a dashcam as a waste of time it’s so far down my list of road safety measures that I’ve never considered buying or fitting one. I guess that, if I was buying a new car and one was fitted, I’d be happy to use it.