Dashcams. Who uses them?

I've seen some pretty muppet driving. For example last week a woman in a nice Alfa was coming in the opposite direction to me round a corner on a country road (wide enough for both directions with proper markings down the middle etc). Don't know what speed she was doing, but I was doing 50 as I'd slowed for the corner and she looked faster. She was on her phone and nearly lost it on the bend as the camber threw her off. She ended up coming about 50% into my lane. That would have been a fun head on!


But then I wonder about the times when I wouldn't want the dash cam incriminating me...
 
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lordrobs said:
"Unfortunately officer I took the card out last week and forgot to put it back." If I was injured and unable to remove the micro SD then I've got bigger things to worry about :p
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In the heat of the moment at the scene of an accident where it was your fault but there is a chance you can fight it, you might not be thinking as clearly as you are right now.

The chances of that outweigh the massively slim chance that i fall victim to a scam for me....
 
[TW]Fox;26489619 said:
Except the scams that everyone thinks are rife involve you crashing into them. People seem to have lost all sense of perspective. Whilst some are fairly elaborate they are also fairly rare, more commonly it's just morons taking advantage of those following the car in front too closely or not looking before pulling away after the car in front does. There are millions and millions of cars driving every day yet only a handful of totally unavoidable accidents so..
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It's not just for scams, it's for people crashing into you and driving off: I wish I'd had one when someone tried to run after hitting my MR2 as the police said it would have made life far easier for them.

I still can't be arsed installing one as ideally I'd need front and rear cameras in both cars, but I can see why some people have them.
 
I've got one, had a lorry go into the side of me years ago and it took 4 months to finally get sorted. Insurance wanted to go 50/50, then after seeing so many idiots just pull out or go right in left lane at roundabout etc I decided to buy one.

Not needed to use it yet other than for amusement but if it saves my excess just once it will have paid for itself many times over.
 
I've got one, mini 0801 camera that's fitted with hidden wires and a fuse tap.

I did ponder the risk of incriminating yourself, but then you do have the opportunity to turn the camera off quite easily if you decide you are really going for a proper hoon. If I am genuinely at fault for an accident (as I have been in the past) then I will accept the consequences of that, whether I record myself or not. You always know the camera is there as well of course....this tends to guide your decision making a bit.

In some ways it does serve as a reminder to be sensible - they seem to be used a lot by people posting youtube videos 'look at this numpty driver' but then if you do have a near miss, the video can help you look back and wonder what you could have done differently to avoid the situation too.
 
[TW]Fox;26489849 said:
Most accidents do not result in unfair judgements, most of them are settled fairly and the blameful party gets the hit.
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Said the person who's never had to deal with it.
I assume that, because you wouldn't think like that if it had.

Seems like you have a problem with dashcams, it has it's uses, get over it.
 
ChrisJSY said:
Said the person who's never had to deal with it.
I assume that, because you wouldn't think like that if it had.
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It could happen to me tomorrow - I accept that - but even if it did, I would average one occurrence every 13 years and 150-170k miles. Not even worth thinking about, surely, let alone rigging up video equipment to record everything. It's massively disproportional to the risk. You could get hit by a car crossing the road tommorrow, do you wear an inflatable safety suit just incase?

You wouldnt be laughing at this suggestion if you'd ever been hit by a car crossing the road, etc etc.

You'd probably be better served by fixing the same video kit outside your front door incase you get burgled, I'd imagine it's statistically more likely!

Seems like you have a problem with dashcams, it has it's uses, get over it.
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I don't have a 'problem', I have an 'opinion' and this is a discussion forum :)
 
[TW]Fox;26489587 said:
Is your driving sufficiently sketchy that something 'kicking off' is reasonably possible?

Why not spend the money on some driver training to help you not getinvolved in the first place?
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My driving is fine, but I've already captured footage of drivers that cannot say the same.

Example: on Wednesday I caught a driver attempting to merge in to a lane I was already 90% in.

Had she caught me I'd probably be looking at a write off and a load of hassle with insurance on a he-said she-said claim. It's peace of mind for me, but I'd be happy if I never need to use it.
 
EVH said:
Example: on Wednesday I caught a driver attempting to merge in to a lane I was already 90% in.
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But you are a decent driver - you have good anticipatory skills so the end result of this was you being irritated by a muppet and nothing more. In this scenario the video has provided zero benefit at all.

Had she caught me I'd probably be looking at a write off and a load of hassle with insurance on a he-said she-said claim. It's peace of mind for me, but I'd be happy if I never need to use it.
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But she didnt catch you. And frankly even if she had the damage from her literally merging into the side of you, plus the witnesses behind you, would have been sufficient that this wouldn't have gone 50/50?
 
The way I see it, the camera is there for my peace of mind should I require its footage.
I wouldn't ever mention one was fitted at the crash scene but review the footage once home.
If it was suitable to use and not in anyway incriminating to myself I'd be sending it straight off to the insurance company for a 100% no fault claim please thank you good night.

Having said that, it is actually more useful for amusement purposes recording others dimwitted driving practices and uploading them to YouTube for a bit of coinage. :D
 
I think they are a good idea in general, I can cite two instances where it would have stopped lying scroats who sucessfully made the judge rule in their favour, causing grief for the innocent parties.

For that reason alone, I can't understand why anyone would not recommend one, unless they fear their poor driving standards may be used against them* ;)



* - I've calmed down a lot over the years, I would be happy to have one now, but I can think of plenty of times I'd rather not risk having video evidence of my spirited driving..
 
Tom_ed1987 said:
I've had one for a year now, a DR32 model from Ebay which was £60.
If I was about to be questioned and the footage was potentially incrimiating i'd probably try and eat the microSD :D
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This is the same thoughts as running a warrantied car with non approved aftermarket mods, you assume you are able to take them off before you need to claim.

What if you crash and are unable to eat the SD?
 
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