markag

I've been thinking about getting a dash cam. I live near Peoria Illinois, and there are a lot of bad drivers around. I've lived here for 9 years, and I've been witness to 3 accidents, and I can't recall how many near misses I've been a part of. It seems like every couple of months, there is some kind event happening on my commute to and from work where people accordian together, brake unexpectedly, nearly rear-end me, run red lights, etc.

I don't expect to get any lower insurance rates or anything like that, but I've thought about getting one in case I get in an accident, or witness another accident, to provide unbiased data on the events that take place.

Do any of you have them? What models do you recommend? Any general tips / info / useful information worth sharing? Any good stories?




One of the situations that comes to mind for me is one accident I witnessed (I didn't have a dash cam at the time). A girl turned left in front of a motorcycle in a neighborhood road. I was following the motorcycle, and it was just the 3 of us at the scene. Everyone was going slow enough that there were no serious injuries. The bike rider laid the bike down in the intersection trying to stop, and as far as I can remember the bike didn't even hit the car.

The problem came about 3 months later when I was cold called by an insurance company to provide my account of what happened. This agent was trying to find out if the motorcycle came in contact at all with the girls car because she was saying her car was damaged by the bike during the incident. I couldn't remember. I was following the motorcycle at the time, so I was concentrating on the riders and making sure I was stopped in time so I didn't hit them. I couldn't provide a definite yes or no answer to the agent. I'm sure someone was screwed because I couldn't remember that specific tiny detail.

That specific incident keeps weighing on my mind as a reason to get a dash cam. If I had a camera, that evidence would have answered that question pretty clearly. The flip side worries me slightly. I wouldn't want to be sighted or incriminated for something because I submitted dash cam footage, and it later came back to bite me (driving 5 over or something silly like that putting me at fault, or sharing fault in an incident).

Any info, advice, or recommendations appreciated. Thanks.

UnkLeRaRa

I have one and it's definitely worth it to me.

It's one of those things that you may never use, but the 1 time you need it and don't have it, you're kicking yourself.

I just use a cheap action camera that's mounted to a Go-Pro mount on my dash board, so it doesn't show direction of travel, speed, or any other details.

I haven't captured any accidents, but I did capture a lady running a red light and almost hitting another car just so she could slide her way into a Tim Hortons parking lot.

RLXXI

I have a dual channel system (front/rear) cams with built in dvr. Bought it sometime after that meteor exploded over Russia 6 years ago. Blackvue is the brand and i have nothing but good to say about it. 5 years old and still works like the day I installed it, my model is long since discontinued so just do a search for Blackvue dash cams, Amazon is where I got it. Way too many features to explain. This is the exact one I have .

markag

I always see things like this and wish I could send it in to the cops to have them go after these people. I don't even know if they would do that, but you hear stories about how they go after people doing things in youtube videos, so you never know.

Mike-in-Kingston

I have the original 'Dash Cam' that also has front and rear facing cameras like Rnlcomp. I have never had to use it but, there were many times when I thought I might have to use it as proof being cut off at red lights and other drivers inability to drive! Glad I have it.

markag

I narrowly avoided an incident a few weeks ago on my way to work. While crossing a bridge, the line of cars in front of me suddenly came to a complete stop. It was slick out from an ice storm the night before, and my ABS was going crazy and my car wasn't stopping. I darted left and narrowly avoided rear ending the car in front of me. I ended up stopping directly next to him one lane over. Turns out the reason they stopped so quickly, and I didn't is there was actually a 3 car pile-up, and I was the first one to to not be included in the resulting accordion effect.

Not sure that a dash cam would have helped in this situation, but that kind of stuff happens all the time around me.

Florida Hag

Yep, I have one. Garmin dash cam 55. The quality is excellent. I like that I can talk to it and tell it to take pictures and record video. It constantly records, but it will record a short 3 minute video (it backs up 1.5 mins and records 1.5 mins into the future) which makes it easy to find something quickly. (I hope that makes sense.) I have submitted a video to the PD for an accident I witnessed. It's also fun to record when off road.

kenv47

I have dash cams on all my vehicles & would not be without them. Last summer, we were parked at a curb in my wife`s brand new car & a lady sideswiped us & took off. A police officer took our report & left. 15 minutes later, the same lady came back & crashed her car into us again. No one (especially the police) would have believed it. The dash cam caught her car & tag number perfectly. The only problem I had was I could not figure how to show images on this particular camera until I got home & downloaded the SD card on my computer.

Steve83

It's cheap, but I have 2 of these:


I got them just after I totalled my '94 CV hitting a woman who pulled out in front of me illegally. Fortunately, it was so obvious that the cops could see it, and my insurance didn't even make me pay the deductible. And that was just a week after another woman sideswiped my Bronco - also obviously her fault and no damage to me. So I feel better having them, but I can't say they're "worth it" because I didn't need them anyway.

But they're good enough that I could use them if I needed to, and small enough to be unobtrusive, and cheap enough to buy a couple (I got them on sale for ~$53ea - microSD cards not included); so I recommend that model. Read the reviews.

A/Ox4

iTrader: (1)

I have a Pioneer dash cam. Its great. It has paid for itself after one accident where an RV hit my mirror. I wont own a vehicle without one.

https://amzn.to/2Ob7z5N