Dash Cam...
Dash cam or dashcam describes a video camera mounted on the dashboard of your car for the purpose of recording... things. Lots of things. Truckers use them to record their trips in the event of an accident as it will solve disputes of 'he said, she said' when the other persons story differs from yours.Although not perfect, when needed if a driver's job is at risk or for insurance claims, it could be the deciding factor, especially in bad weather conditions. Lots of times police reports aren't accurate. For example, a truck having a front-end collision and stating the driver was following too closely to the vehicle in front of him, but in reality the vehicle ahead swerved into the lane of the truck striking the truck where the driver had no chance of braking or maneuvering to avoid the accident.
Most of the units I've seen don't actually mount to the dash but have a suction cup that attaches to the inside of the windshield with a wire to the cigarette lighter for power.
Usually it's a forward facing camera with sound. Some units have a wire to a 2nd camera that can be mounted on the rear window (of a car) to record anything from behind.
People often post videos on YouTube and social media of events, like road rage, trucks Rolling Coal, tailgaters, people running red lights causing accidents, etc.
One recent story was a guy involved in a fender bender where he alerted the other guy who struck his car to pull over. Taking a photo of the damage, the other guy using profanity blamed him for the accident, strides right up and takes a swing 'sucker punching' this first guy. Lucky for him it was a glancing blow and not a direct hit to his jaw. All caught on dash cam, he can press charges to police.
Dashcam prices on Amazon range as low as $35 to over $150 for units with night vision, Wi-Fi and record car movement to record activity when your car is parked.
I've been lucky all the years I drove from Miami to Boca Raton 6 days a week, racking up more than 30,000 miles a year and have seen some serious accidents. I've shopped some units and would like to have a self contained battery operated model what doesn't need to be wired into the car battery.
Maybe I'll find the right model and install one!
Comments (10)
I'm currently shopping the dash mount units. Some have a screen for android auto or apple car play. I rent box trucks several times year and a usb powered dash top unit would be much better than navigating on my phone screen.
A family member just bought one with three cameras, front, rear and interior. It's meant to act like Tesla's sentry mode.
Brent,
I'm not interested in the ones sending a signal to the phone though. But if you just want video, no problem. many are very small these days.
You could always run a USB cam into a phone and transmit back to a server. Many people do that to access entertainment or files at home.
I know the Fords can have extra HDD's wired in for entertainment, not that much harder to do it for recording video.
If you are worried about theft just add a low jack or tracking device or better yet a kill switch or second key so it won't start.
It all depends on how much you want to play around with the tech. You can have a roasting motion sensor cam and a portable battery pack for 360 coverage.
I would google up the spy shops instead of the tech shops. More interesting and useful tech on those and more expensive.
The limitation there is I found the models with USB, Wi-Fi, GPS require a permanent attachment to the glass.
Go for it!
If it doesn't work, you've got 30 days to return it.
I know some people who bring their Go-Pro cameras with them, it's works basically the same.
The unit I was shopping today is self contained with a rechargeable battery good for 11 hours and can be charged while in operation via a USB connection.
Go for it!
If it doesn't work, you've got 30 days to return it.
That said for the majority of users dash cams have been of great benefit. As stated they provide a record of accidents, They alsso record trips, and occasionally planes crashing on the highway, strange lights in the sky and other entertaining things the owner can put on YouTube. Normally a dash cam won't also record audio but that can be arranged. One should check their local laws however before recording other people speaking without their knowledge or consent. Especially if they don't know a microphone in the car is picking up every word said near the car.
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That said for the majority of users dash cams have been of great benefit. As stated they provide a record of accidents, They alsso record trips, and occasionally planes crashing on the highway, strange lights in the sky and other entertaining things the owner can put on YouTube. Normally a dash cam won't also record audio but that can be arranged. One should check their local laws however before recording other people speaking without their knowledge or consent. Especially if they don't know a microphone in the car is picking up every word said near the car.
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Cels have the ability to spoof location.
Android can go even further as it is Linux based.
You can easily gain root access.
Previously you could have your device returned from your door, now they charge for that.
But you can return the device from the shipping facility. I only know about the UPS returns, no clue about FEDEX or USPS.
Plus some devices will NOT be exchanged for cash but a new device.
Better off to find something at a chain store and return it there if you don't like it.