Dash Cam Devices

[bbwolf]

I was wondering if anyone is interested in Dash Cam devices? We are seeing many distracted drivers, angry aggressive driving, and close calls. If you have done any searches of "Dash Cam" videos showing compilations of bad driving and accidents, Dash Cam's seem like a great idea.

Anyone think these are of any value? Any products you have found?

[jobrien]

I recently bought the Garmin dash cam. I looked at others and read about them online. On most of them customer support was non-existent, manuals written in Chinese only, poor quality, etc.

So I went with the Garmin for about $250 plus a data card. It works very well. I now have it in my Jeep for daily use. The high temperatures inside the windshield does not seem to affect it. I have it plugged into an outlet that is controlled by the ignition switch so it goes on when I start the Jeep and shuts down 14 seconds after I switch it off.

It records in 4 minute segments, meaning it saves a file to the data card every 4 minutes. You can review it on the built in screen or connect it to a pc.

I bought mine through Crutchfield because they have a great return policy and great customer support. It's the same price everywhere and Crutchfield threw in a card reader to connect to the pc.

All in all I think it's good.

John

[sw23185]

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[Nancy]

Yep we have one in my van and the RV. Peace of mind if there is ever any question of who was at fault. I actually used the one in my van when I called in about a weaving driver. I had evidence of him being all over the road and the license plate right there for the cops. He was a head on collision waiting to happen.

[bbwolf]

Stuart, that is a good question "Why have a Dash Cam?".

My interest started when I had a road rage incident. We were driving in the slow lane and cars were merging on the right hand side of the road. There were three cars on our right and the road we were on was heavy traffic. I slowed down and allowed two cars to merge in between the car in front of me. The third car got angry that they would have to wait to merge behind me.

This third car shot ahead of me, hands coming out of the car, his finger in the air. My approach is to try to de-escalate a situation, vs. add fuel to a fire. He quickly got in the fast lane, slowed traffic so he could get beside me, again showing me a single finger of anger. This continued for quite some time. I picked up my iPhone, and held it to the window to film the situation. It took him a moment to realize he was being filmed.

That is when he actually stopped... Somehow, the realization that his behavior was being filmed changed his behavior, and he drove off to continue his day.

That started me thinking about all the times I've seen distracted drivers (drugs and cell phone use?). Calling 911 to help prevent some innocent person from being hurt or killed by an impaired driver AND being able to provide a video of what we saw to the police. Having evidence for any accident that may happen to my vehicle or someone else on the road.

Another thought was being able to capture a vandal or break-in would be a side benefit.

I do have a video camera security system installed at my house. The police have used the street view camera recording to help provide proof when our neighbors Class A motorhome was burglarized, as well as a couple houses down the block a couple different times.

Here is a link to some videos of Car crashes caught on tape by someone with a Dash Cam. One shows how it prevented a couple from "pretending" to be rear ended for an insurance scam. (example: The front car stops at a stop sign. They then throw the car into reverse and hit the person with the Dash Cam. They get out of their vehicle and start claiming they had been rear ended. The Dash Cam owner points at his camera and explains it was all caught on video.)
There are so many YouTube videos of DashCam auto-accidents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXLKfkjKcto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRC7RO2 ... _2QdOKToPQ

These are just my thoughts on the subject and certainly not an exhaustive list, but I do like the fact that there would be proof to my claims, should they be required.

[Ray]

Its unfortunate - but I think they are of value.

One single instance where the video would provide documentation would probably more than pay for the price of the camera.

Like I said I think it is very unfortunate that people even have to think about something like this - but even home security cameras are becomeing more the norm in this day and age.

I am currently looking at home surveillance - I suppose I should be adding vehicle surveillance to my "to do" list also.

Just thought of something - Hope I dont have to install a camera to make sure they dont steal the camera

[bbwolf]

Interestingly, we had some vandalism taking place in the neighborhood a few years ago. A young man came up to our front door (to do what, I don't know...) Looked up at my camera... stopped and in the video you can see him say "Oh SH*T", turn, and run away. Don't know what I avoided on that one....

My favorite Dash Cam product is "Planet Halo". They have thought of many different aspects of what we would want a vehicle camera for. I liked the "Garmin Cam" that jobrien mentioned above.

In case anyone is interested, I am currently running a PH2 model in my tow vehicle, and placed a PH4 model in the 2014 BF Freedom.
http://www.planethalo.com/

Any other products people have seen or used out there?

[sw23185]

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[jobrien]

One of my reasons for it was we often see wildlife along the road or a quirky sign that we would love to get a picture of. Since the camera is always on, and it has a wide angle view, all we have to do is check the time and when we stop we can go back to that time and see what the camera picked up. It may not work all the time, but it might just be there to capture that Kodak moment.

Is it a necessity.....no. Is it a toy.....maybe. Is it somewhere in between.....yep.

Another use I found was when we are parked in a campground and go out for a while, I point the camera to monitor inside the motorhome to see what the dogs are up to when we leave. Boy, that couch must be very comfortable The microphone is not sensitive enough to tell if they are snoring or not.

John

[sw23185]

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[jobrien]

Do you really want to know?????

I also thought of buying an ac-dc adapter to leave it plugged in at home once in a while to see what the watch dogs do all day.