Why did you buy a dash cam?

Scania · 7 Feb 2015 at 05:50

I

[TW]Fox;27589531 said:
If I lived in Russia I'd be ordering one tomorrow because the entire motoring climate just seems completely different over there.

Another thing that makes me consider a dash cam is the large numbers of Eastern European drivers on our roads over here these days, thinking about it, the recent close calls I've had both in the truck and car have all involved foreign plated vehicles where it seems clearly the standard of those drivers is, on the whole, lower than that of UK drivers (some of whom, granted, are abysmal!)

And sadly, whilst thankfully not with the same outcome. I see driving like this daily on my travels.....

Some car drivers will do almost anything to get past trucks....

hawker1986 · 7 Feb 2015 at 14:49

Fitted dash cams to both our cars after the Mrs was in a somewhat complicated 3 car accident where her 350z was written off. It took about 6 months to settle as not her fault. Basically camera footage of the incident would have put the whole thing to bed in about 5min.

I dont think its any sort of necessity but the hassle involved was ridiculous and saving the stress and time is well worth the minimal cost. I wouldnt however declare that I have one to my insurer or have a black box fitted, im having it on my own terms.

Hawker

Skeeter · 7 Feb 2015 at 15:21

Third Opinion said:
At the moment I suspect that is aimed at the younger driver.

I am amazed how many friends who have teenage drivers all have the box fitted. Without it they are simply uninsurable without a premium of many thousands of pounds.

I would say it is close to compulsory for newish drivers. Once it is I am pretty sure it will be rolled out to more and more.

At 42 and pay around £225 fully comp until about 11 months ago. I struggled to get below the £300 mark. My insurer at the time said they could do £230 providing I have the box fitted.

I must admit I was tempted but declined, so not having the box I already have a £75 surcharge for opting out. How much will it be in 2/3 years

Unfortunately I plan on continuing to use my car in a manner that makes fitting a box impossible, but providing that there remains a market of specialist insurers Ill be OK.

Skillmister · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:25

Accident happened yesterday. The front bumper received most of the damage and the hood and headlights had some scratches. Her van kept spinning for around 150 feet you could hear it in the video.She stopped spining right in front of the school police station. I'm taking it to a body shop tomorrow to check for frame damage. Hopefully it's not a total loss.
http://imgur.com/qQSRlkq[2]
http://imgur.com/8xh4gJt[3]
She tried to tell the police officer I ran the red light. He was taking her side until I showed him the video.

Few metres difference and that could have been a whole lot worse :eek:

Personally when I do get a car a dash cam will be going straight in it. Almost every time I'm a passenger I see someone get cut up on double lane roundabouts, apparently no one understands lane discipline round here.

radar19 · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:34

[TW]Fox;27587492 said:
IMHO the best way to avoid being caught out in a ‘cash for crash’ scam is to maintain a safe distance behind the car in front so that if they stop suddenly you can stop too. After all, if the car in front emergency brakes you should be able to stop whether they’ve done it for whippy compo or whether they’ve done it because there is a genuine emergency situation. More alert driving is the answer, not rigging your car up as a mobile recording studio. Though frankly if that’s your choice don’t forget that one day when somebody does an emergency stop because of an obstruction and you pile into the back of them with your video footage of what you assume was a cash for crash scam it might be useful evidence for the prosecution

http://youtu.be/Cv3abkjt3nk?t=1m10s

Because its so easy to keep that gap....

[TW]Fox · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:37

You appear to have just provided video evidence of my point - the driver was alert and avoided a collision

SexyGreyFox · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:38

I've spent all morning researching the best Cam for my needs because I'm now sick & tired of 'incidents' virtually every day when I try my best to be 100% road compliant.
Last Wednesday the Police were called to a hit & run where I was lucky to escape with no injuries when I was wiped out on a roundabout and at least 5 motorists came to my aid but not one had got the reg number of the car. I didn't want to go down the route of a Cam because I believe it can turn the user into an arse but I feel I have no choice now.
I'm probably in the wrong thread and I'm a cyclist but you asked a question.

Housey · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:39

Scania said:
I

Another thing that makes me consider a dash cam is the large numbers of Eastern European drivers on our roads over here these days, thinking about it, the recent close calls I've had both in the truck and car have all involved foreign plated vehicles where it seems clearly the standard of those drivers is, on the whole, lower than that of UK drivers (some of whom, granted, are abysmal!)

And sadly, whilst thankfully not with the same outcome. I see driving like this daily on my travels.....

Some car drivers will do almost anything to get past trucks....

That was a fatal

radar19 · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:40

[TW]Fox;27601094 said:
You appear to have just provided video evidence of my point - the driver was alert and avoided a collision

Indeed he did but what if he didn't, what if the car in front had braked sooner and caused an accident. The guy in the van would have been penalized because he ran into the back of the BMW. The fact he had a dashcam would have stopped any allegations because slung.

radar19 · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:40

Housey said:
That was a fatal

No it wasn't. She escaped with a smashed up hand and some bruises.

Skillmister · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:44

If the BMW had actually gone to a complete stop I doubt he would have avoided him.

Scania · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:52

Housey said:
That was a fatal

No it wasn't. I wouldn't have posted it had it been so.

How though is quite another matter!

[TW]Fox · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:53

radar19 said:
Indeed he did but what if he didn't, what if the car in front had braked sooner and caused an accident. The guy in the van would have been penalized because he ran into the back of the BMW. The fact he had a dashcam would have stopped any allegations because slung.

You can use 'what if' to justify pretty much anything though.

What if we didn't all carry a flotation device in the car? What if we got caught in flash floods? etc etc.

'What if' isn't very useful. Statistically the chances of somebody doing to you what happened in that video and you being unable to avoid it are very very low.

radar19 · 8 Feb 2015 at 13:55

[TW]Fox;27601147 said:
You can use 'what if' to justify pretty much anything though.

What if we didn't all carry a flotation device in the car? What if we got caught in flash floods? etc etc.

'What if' isn't very useful. Statistically the chances of somebody doing to you what happened in that video and you being unable to avoid it are very very low.

True however we live in a time of "what if's". Your insurance is only there for "what if" situations. You can go your entire life paying for it without actually needing it.

[TW]Fox · 8 Feb 2015 at 14:03

radar19 said:
Your insurance is only there for "what if" situations.

Your insurance is there because you are legally obligated under the Road Traffic Act to insure your car before you can use it on a public road.

Housey · 8 Feb 2015 at 16:25

Scania said:
No it wasn't. I wouldn't have posted it had it been so.

How though is quite another matter!

Fair enough, I'd seen it posted in another place and was told it was fatal.

InvaderGIR · 8 Feb 2015 at 16:36

Skillmister said:
Few metres difference and that could have been a whole lot worse

Personally when I do get a car a dash cam will be going straight in it. Almost every time I'm a passenger I see someone get cut up on double lane roundabouts, apparently no one understands lane discipline round here.

The funny thing is that in his video he runs the yellow so whilst the woman may have run the red, if he'd bothered to stop when the lights went yellow (he had plenty of time) he'd not have had the accident.

People may not understand runabouts or lane discipline but it's still rare for accidents to occur as generally the person that would be the 'victim' spots it and avoids an accident.

Housey said:
Fair enough, I'd seen it posted in another place and was told it was fatal.

Left hand drive country, so the passenger side of her car took the brunt of it, still surprisingly that the woman survived with minimal injuries.

pepsilol · 8 Feb 2015 at 17:22

InvaderGIR said:
The funny thing is that in his video he runs the yellow so whilst the woman may have run the red, if he'd bothered to stop when the lights went yellow (he had plenty of time) he'd not have had the accident.

Complete horse ****.

InvaderGIR · 8 Feb 2015 at 17:30

pepsilol said:
Complete horse ****.

Please, do expand on your opinion. I watched the video multiple times and he clearly goes through on yellow and when it changes to yellow there was loads of time to stop.

E: I know you like to be argumentative for the sake of it though so doubt you'll reply properly.

E2: http://i.imgur.com/d2MU8Om.png - see it's yellow and he's ages away.

Janesy B · 8 Feb 2015 at 17:39

Exactly, it's one of those things where it's not necessarily their fault but at the same it could have been avoided had he stopped when the light was yellow as there's a fair distance. He wasn't going all that fast but still failed to notice the car on the right not slowing down. Easily avoided.