How common is dash cam usage? Is it considered essential these days or just a nice thing to have? Has it ever been useful for you in an insurance claim? Do insurance companies ask for or rely on your footage when they make decisions on who is at fault?
Do You Have a Dash Cam?
capslock on 03/02/2021 - 11:02
Poll Options
- 415Yes, front only
- 257Yes, front and back
- 292No
- 23I don't have a car
Comments
Bang for buck, the Xiaomi 70 minutes/mai dashcam is pretty good, seems to last (still going strong 3 years later), and the quality seems fine, at least for daylight. It has no battery though, so if you get hit whilst parked then you've got nothing.
I'd be interested to find out what's the most cost effective model with a small battery (would only need to last 3 hours, that's as long as I park in public high-risk areas like shopping centre carparks, rest of the time the car is usually in a locked garage or a driveway and there is no point recording that all the time).
Blueskysea, xiaomi or viofo dashcams
any opinions on the korean one that sell in all the auto stores? blackvue?? their more expensive but seem to be really popular?
Viofo A179
Front and Back.
Asking for a friend, is it legal to use dashcam with audio record capability in Victoria?
I find dashcams useful, I don't find the attitudes that they bring with them to be particularly helpful. The same amount of money invested into a defensive driving course has benefited me much more than any of the dashcams in our cars.
How will a defensive driving course help you when someone reverses into your car at a set of lights? Ridiculous notion that a course will substitute for hard factual video evidence.
I'm not saying that it will, I'm saying that for the roughly same monetary value, a defensive driving course has helped me avoid accidents and situations where a dash cam would be necessary, and as such I value it more highly
a defensive driving course has helped me avoid accidents and situations where a dash cam would be necessary, and as such I value it more highly
I think you're missing the point. The example given was a car reversing into you. That's a situation where a dash cam would be necessary. A defensive driving course would be worthless in that situation.
@eug: I mainly commute on a motorbike to work and leave a minimum of one car length in front of me at all lights to give me room to maneuver if necessary.
No one reverses into you at lights, you're much more likely to have someone roll back on you on an incline, as there's no reason for the driver to touch the transmission between stopping and taking off again@cille745: Ive seen plenty of people reverse at lights. Just because it hasnt happened to you doesnt mean it wont happen. Talk about being naive.
No one reverses into you at lights, you're much more likely to have someone roll back on you on an incline, as there's no reason for the driver to touch the transmission between stopping and taking off again
Haha, if only we all lived in a perfect world. :)
You never know what your dashcam may prove useful for.
After a few strange incidents, I got a dashcam. Strange incidents included my car being hit, like someone throwing something at the back or slapping the car and seeing a figure run off while driving up my street, a car trying to run me off the road, a car driving past shining a tactical torch into my car, car tailgating me at the local shopping centre. The other vehicle was a white suv, and every second house had a white suv, so I had no idea where it was coming from, and did not think it was enough to report.
I got a dashcam and a few weeks later had the tactical torch shone into the car from a house I hadn't even considered, then was chased up the road by the white suv. I pulled up outside a house down the road and they just parked behind me flashing their headlights. After a while he pulled up along side screaming I was checking him out all the time and to stop following him, while shining the tactical torch at me, then drove off so I got the number plate. All caught on dashcam so I could report it to the police. Without that footage it would've been impossible to report. My checking him out all the time was I'd leave home, realise I didn't have the phone Bluetooth switched on and would pull over outside his house to switch it on at least once a week, sometimes more (this was before I knew which house he was in, I now carefully switch on Bluetooth before I leave home) plus I drive past too slowly. His house is one house from the corner of a T intersection into my deadend street, and I'm apparently the only driver that slows down and stops at the T intersection. I've got to agree most drivers hardly even slow down at the corner because there is so little traffic.It's a bit creepy, the police said he has his house covered in cameras, he answered the door to them telling him to stop it with him wearing a body camera and he happily showed them his own camera footage of yelling at me. He'd also reported me around the first time I'd noticed stuff going on, but for some reason had not given a number plate. He reported I drove past his house too slowly (approaching T intersection)
I've not had any other need for the dashcam yet.
Weird one there…
My dash cam effectively paid for itself after someone hit my parked car at the shops. I have parking mode and it caught the other driver. Insurance didnt even ask for the excess once i got the details from the police. For someone who bought a $40k+ there was no way i was going to leave home without one. Dash cam are a must and Im surprised most cars dont come with one built in. I only know of Subaru who offer it as an option when buying a new car.
interesting! I swear i got bumpe din the back right bumper by a reversing car opposite mine at a train station. Police didnt even bother to check CCTV - would have been an easy catch. Would you recommend getting a dash cam that has this built in "parking" mode? Does it just 'switch on' once there's movement/a bump into the car (when your parked)? Does it cover wide enough for a car reversing at a circle arc hitting you? Or they have to be right centre behind your back windscreen?
Just curious… and any recommendations?
Yes to all pretty much. My car was hit in front left wheel arc and the other party was picked up easily. Cam switches to parking mode after about 5 mins of being stationary. Only downside is that i need to recharge the battery once a month since i dont drive for long enough for it to recharge (my parking recording time is set for 12 hours)
I have a question, what's the best you'd recommend that has decent night vision? Mine is fine during the day but the footage at night might as well be a potato unless the object is directly in front…
I only have one cigarette lighter which i use for my charger for the phone, and no usb ports or other connectors to switch it, so that said is it easy to just pull out and amend one's fuse box under the steering wheel to wire a dashcam to? The father in law said it wasn't hard, just can't get the fuse out of the box (lodged deep) - but i presume you just have front and rear go to one spot on the fuse box? or are there mechanics who do it easily?
Father in law shows me their setup and it seemed pretty self explanatory to wire it along the top trim and hide the wires. What's an affordable decent brand that take sthe aussie heat? Blackvue? (korean?) seems to be quite popular.
Also i've seen two styles of recording. Dashcam centre windscreen, and to side facing more inwards. Wondering what is the standard/most recommend and useful that people have found? Jus ta wide angle one centres in the centre windscreen and back windscreeN?
You get a cigarette port adapter with 2 USB ports, one came with our micam
Can anyone please kindly recommend an installer for my bonnet? I’m based in the South Eastern suburb of Victoria
Orlando is your go to guy. Look up Getinstalled. Even came over on a public holiday to install mine.
Thank you! Will send them a text message shortly :)
I captured a t-bone crash in front of me at the lights. Uploaded the video to youtube, a short while later Jukin Media (the company behind FailArmy) contacted me and offered US$100 for rights to the footage. I took it.
Dashcams are essential imho
I can't count the amount of car claims in which dashcam footage has made the difference.
i'll just weight in on a few comments ive read above.
firstly, POLICE have 0 interest in helping you with your insurance claim.
they will NOT go out of their way to try and secure CCTV footage from the street or the train station for your purposes.
they will ONLY go to this effort if there was a serious crime like a murder or other in the area.
and RIGHTLY that is their job, to police the area, not be your personal insurance lobby boy.
once people realise this is how the system works, a dashcam is a no-brainer.
ALSO, can people explain to me why they install rear dash cams? AFAIK, when driving and some1 hits u from behind, it is ALWAYS their fault, period.
If the person hits you and then takes off you have their licence plate on video. If they claim it wasn't them you have their face on video.
If someone hits you from the side after trying to cut you off and claims it was your fault you have the guy coming up behind and trying to overtake.
If you have your cam wired to switch on while parked if your car is bumped it'll also be useful.
There are diminishing returns after the first front facing cam, but the best coverage is 360 degree which some newer cars have built in using their parking cameras. Not that I'll ever be able to experience that first hand because I can't justify new luxury cars, and I reckon I'll be old and medically unfit or priced out of owning a car before these features trickle down to newer vehicles.
IMO, you either go front dash cam or all out 360 degree dash cam, i think the rear cam is a poor mans alternative.
rear cams clearly wont help you with side swipes, and if some1 hits me from behind whilst driving, heck i'm gonna stop my car in front of them and get the heck out there and then….
IMO, you either go front dash cam or all out 360 degree dash cam, i think the rear cam is a poor mans alternative.
Which 360 deg dashcam?
The way car prices are going in a decade you won't have to worry about dash cam, unless you want to place it on your head when you catch the bus. ;-)
Yeah even used car prices are through the roof
when covid ends, car prices (and everything else) will start to come back down again…
Covid may not end, not as you think of it anyway. Chances are it will be endemic but hopefully controlled. I can't see vaccines being a silver bullet. Frankly, I just hope it doesn't mutate to be more deadly. Supply chain issues aren't just due to Covid either.
Having a dashcam is irrefutable proof of who was in the right and who was in the wrong. Think of it like insurance on your insurance. If you are LUCKY you will never need to use the footage.
I once had someone hit me in traffic and keep driving. I followed the guy home, when he pulled into his driveway he tried to ignore me but I shouted out that I had a dashcam and then he just pretended he didn't realise he hit me. It was all good. But dashcam footage was sent to the insurer to prove he was at fault.
https://www.navman.com.au/products/car-gps/micam-gps I have this, its pretty good for what it is, mounts on the dash and it’s 2 in 1, gps and dash cam
I have one hardwired with parking mode, it's one of the best investments you can have on your car in my opinion to cover yourself in the events of something happening on the road or while parked.
Last year my misses returned from visiting her grand parents, when she was pulling up the driveway I noticed a bunch of damage (cracked headlight, smashed up bumper, broken front grill, etc) on the front of our very recently purchased car.
She had no idea it was there or what happened, so I pulled up the footage on the dash cam. Her uncle (who was also visiting his parents at the time) actually reversed his 4WD into the front of our car, got out and had a look at the damage, then got back in his car and drove off. We had an awkward phone call with him later that night saying we had footage, he admitted to hitting the car but said "I didn't see any damage" (yeah right) and said he'd put the damage through his insurance. He did over 6k worth of damage to the car, I would have been stuck paying my excess and our insurance going up without that footage. This way we paid nothing, the dash cam paid for itself and we know her uncle is a dog.
i find the drivers with dash cams to be some of the worst, clueless drivers on the road.
- Insurance claims
- Content for Dashcam's Australia
- Content for Australia's Funniest Home Videos
- Dob in litterbugs, particularly smokers.
- Peace of Mind
- Hit and Run'ers
I have front and rear dash cams in my car. Had them for about 3 years.
They give you peace of mind when driving that they will capture any problems. And they do.
They are useful in road rage incidents - often pointing to the cams stops the idiots continuing their behaviour.
I was rear-ended when stationary about 4 months ago. The driver of the other car stopped and then proceeded to use their phone in their lap, took their foot of the break and rolled into the back of me. All caught on the rear cam. No arguments, just got their details due to their awareness of the camera.
Interestingly my insurer wasn't at all interested in obtaining the cam footage during the claim, they just wanted the details of the other driver. Their online claim system also has no real way to upload video evidence. They only allow TXT, DOC, DOCX, PDF, JPEG, GIF file types which frustrated me. Still, I converted the video into an animated GIF and uploaded it anyway :-)
Try a frame by frame pdf next time
I work as a service advisor in a regional multi brand dealership (everything Hyundai to M-Benz) and find that 90% of people do not have a dashcam. We see an average of 50-60 vehicles a day in the workshop.
I personally have a Viofo A119S front facing camera. Does the job just fine but I have not needed the footage for any legal/insurance reasons as of yet.
Always wanted to ask; do any of the more luxury brands like Benz or Audi have built-in recording 'dash' cams? It is the sort of technology the really lends itself to be factory equipped. Easy to imbed in the car with ideal viewpoints without having to have boxes attached to our windows.
Any brand do this?
Dash camera usage is illegal/complicated in some countries because of differing surveillance laws. Manufacturers generally don't want to get mixed up in all that.
The closest thing you will get is some vehicles starting to have USB power available from the multifunction camera or rear view mirror. Skoda have recently made this an option in some markets.
May I just add (and people from Korea or those who simply watch their dramas will know) that in Korea 'black boxes' are very popular and some cars have them in built there.
Read more: https://m.pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?sc=30800028&year=2019&no=…
Also MB do not have them in-built in any of their cars in Au.
Dash camera usage is illegal/complicated in some countries because of differing surveillance laws. Manufacturers generally don't want to get mixed up in all that.
Is that really the reason? Tesla have been happily offering dashcam mode in their cars since 2017. They could just disable the feature in countries where it's illegal or a grey area.
@eug: I use the word generally for a reason. Tesla of all brands will of course be the exception since their image is about tech and security. They would simply disable the feature in markets where video surveillance is a hot legal/media issue.
Another reason the big players like Hyundai and Toyota do not implement recording devices is that there is no demand currently. New car owners want panoroofs, heated "leather", wireless CarPlay/AA, digital dash clusters, power tailgates… Not once have I had a customer of mine ask about a genuine dash cam option.
Just imagine a scenario where the factory installed cam DOESN'T record a crucial moment in a road incident due to memory failure etc while still being under warranty. Opens up a can of legal worms that the manufacturer would probably prefer not exist in the first place.
I use the word generally for a reason.
You stated it like it was a fact that manufacturers don't provide it as an option because they generally don't want to get involved with surveillance laws. I asked if that was really the reason. Or was it just an assumption?
Another reason the big players like Hyundai and Toyota do not implement recording devices is that there is no demand currently.
Yes, that is more likely the reason, rather than wanting to avoid dealing with surveillance laws. If customers demand it, manufacturers will be happy to overcharge them for it. BTW Toyota do have it as an option in some of their cars.
Just imagine a scenario where the factory installed cam DOESN'T record a crucial moment in a road incident due to memory failure etc while still being under warranty. Opens up a can of legal worms that the manufacturer would probably prefer not exist in the first place.
I don't think video recordings are crucial to a car's safety, so it's nothing disclaimers won't fix.
Tesla does provide that dashcam feature, along with BMW Australia.
Toyota can supply it with your new car as an option.
Citroen introduced it in 2018 but discontinued it in 2019 due to low demand.
Audi offers their single-camera Universal Traffic Recorder as a $571 option, with the rear camera costing an extra $274.
Opens up a can of legal worms that the manufacturer would probably prefer not exist in the first place.
Seeing as there are a number of car companies in Australia selling it as an option, it doesn't look like it has to do with anything legal. It's more likely the reason Citroen gave - low demand.
Just buy a dashcam
Don't have one, have never been in an accident. If it's something that can be seen by a camera it can also be seen by your eyes so just focus on avoiding it in real-time.
I think you're missing the point of a dashcam. You should read the other comments in this post to understand why people have dashcams.
AFAIK most people with dashcams get them for insurance purposes.
Ie "I had an accident and now I need to prove that my poor awareness wasn't the main factor but instead it was the other guy being a hoon"
AFAIK
Perhaps there's lots more that you don't know about. :)
Dashcams should be banned. Coupled with CCTV and smartphones, we’re just adding to big brother watching one another constantly.
Invest the money into better driver training and enforcement of existing road rules.
Waiting on the next Dashcam deal! :)
Vantrue also has a 3 channel dashcam, which will simultaneously record front, rear, and inside.
It's a good option for uber drivers and Lyft.there is the link for your reference.
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B089GHG83V
N2S dual 1440P and single 4k resolution, which provides higher picture quality for you.
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08LSHCZFZ
What is the OzBargain Dash Cam of choice?