Dashcams: Vital Weapon Against Morons and Scammers? Or just another reason to get your car broken into?

[Spockydog]

I'm thinking about getting a dashcam installed in my car.

But, here in London, thieves need very little reason to break into cars.

I'm not really interested in having to mount and unmount the thing whenever I'm not in the car.

Is it worth it? 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

This reminds me of a video I saw years ago. Someone with a dashcam slams on their breaks just before hitting a pedestrian, and then the person falls onto the hood of the car then hits the ground. You're a soccer fan, so I'm sure you respect the game. 

[BigFatCoward]

All cars should be legally obliged to have dashcams that record at all times. 

Is mounting and unmounting really that much hassle? Don't they just clip in and out? 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

See, even the good cops are aligned with Big Brother. 

[BigFatCoward]

24 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

See, even the good cops are aligned with Big Brother. 

When you've scrapped as many bodies up as I have, you tend to lose your patience for trusting people to do the right thing.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

20 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

When you've scrapped as many bodies up as I have, you tend to lose your patience for trusting people to do the right thing.

I gave up on people about five years into working in the political world. We suck. Every job I've had since confirms it. 

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

3 hours ago, Spockydog said:

I'm thinking about getting a dashcam installed in my car.

But, here in London, thieves need very little reason to break into cars.

I'm not really interested in having to mount and unmount the thing whenever I'm not in the car.

Is it worth it? 

You could have a dash cam cam. One that watches the road and one that watches the dash cam to record the person who steals it. 

[LongRider]

Welcome to Surveillance World.  It’s dash cams all the way down. 

[Wilbur]

Buy the cheapest dash cam you can find and install it, front and rear.

Almost every dash cam uses the same CMOS internally, and none of them are more recent that five or six years old in terms of the semiconductor logic.

The price differences between one model and another make almost no difference in quality of the video.

Install an obviously cheap-looking one, then it will be less attractive to thieves, but you can still point to it in an incident and say, "I have it all on camera."

I tell my girls that, if they are ever in an accident, just rip the dash cam off the dash and put it in their pocket for later use.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, LongRider said:

Welcome to Surveillance World.  It’s dash cams all the way down. 

Mom Jokes Thread time now? 

[LongRider]

1 hour ago, LongRider said:

Welcome to Surveillance World.  It’s dash cams all the way down. 

Not a joke.

[Fragile Bird]

11 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Buy the cheapest dash cam you can find and install it, front and rear.

Almost every dash cam uses the same CMOS internally, and none of them are more recent that five or six years old in terms of the semiconductor logic.

The price differences between one model and another make almost no difference in quality of the video.

Install an obviously cheap-looking one, then it will be less attractive to thieves, but you can still point to it in an incident and say, "I have it all on camera."

I tell my girls that, if they are ever in an accident, just rip the dash cam off the dash and put it in their pocket for later use.

This is roughly the advice the guy at the dealership service department gave me. He said I could look at Amazon and pick what was on sale or what was at the top of the list (Amazon had lists of how popular items are), or just watch the sales flyer from the local automotive store. 

There are so many bicyclists out there, many very careless of the rules of the road, I worry about accidents. And of course the road is full of careless drivers, or, often, “I don’t give a damn” drivers. And now that it’s dark early the numbers of pedestrians and bicyclists getting hit by cars goes up sharply, until the days get longer.

[Derfel Cadarn]

On 12/1/2023 at 3:44 AM, Spockydog said:

I'm thinking about getting a dashcam installed in my car.

But, here in London, thieves need very little reason to break into cars.

I'm not really interested in having to mount and unmount the thing whenever I'm not in the car.

Is it worth it? 

Reminds me of a time years agonwhen I took a bunch of DVD’s to Cash Converters. Ahead of me in thr queue was a woman carrying a bunch of satnavs, some without charger cables, all unboxed.

Needless to say the shop wasn’t interested 

[Phylum of Alexandria]

A few years ago, I was turning left (with a green arrow indicating my right of way) when a car crashed into me.

When the police officer came and took our statements, I told him about the green arrow and the two cars turning before me--and I imagine the other driver also insisted that the had the right of way. Rather than leave it up to our insurance companies to settle the matter, the officer decided to give me a ticket!

I decided to go to court and fight the ticket, and I did manage to get acquitted of the charge (largely with the help of a traffic. lawyer).

But the whole thing would have been settled quite easily if only I had had camera footage demonstrating that I had the right of way. That's why I purchased a dash cam, and I am happy that I did.

[Spockydog]

2 hours ago, Phylum of Alexandria said:

But the whole thing would have been settled quite easily if only I had had camera footage demonstrating that I had the right of way. That's why I purchased a dash cam, and I am happy that I did.

I heard a similar story from a friend recently. This is what prompted me to get one. Got a front and rear set from Halfords that activates if someone bumps the car when it's parked. Handy if they drive away without leaving a note. 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Spockydog

[Spockydog]

On 12/1/2023 at 5:17 AM, BigFatCoward said:

All cars should be legally obliged to have dashcams that record at all times. 

I think they'll be standard issue at some point.

[Pebble thats Stubby]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:49 PM, Spockydog said:

I think they'll be standard issue at some point.

I have built in cameras front, back and sides.  Unfortualty they don't record Aand there is no way to make them record without major works.  they are great for parking, but it would have been so easy for the manufacture just to make them record on a loop and add a slot for a removable SD card.

 

I guess battery life is more important (I have an old leaf so the range is pritty shit)

[Loge]

This may not apply to the UK, but dash cam recordings can be a breach of privacy. Not so much the filming as such but keeping the recordings or sharing them can easily breach the GDPR.