Dash Baord Camera (insurance, brakes, lane, left turn)

[TechGromit]

I've considered getting a Dash board camera in the past, but my wife thought it was a silly idea. Well she was just involved in an accident today, where the driver ahead of her cut her off by making a left turn from the right lane right in front of her. She was able to avoid hitting the car, but got rear ended. Since the car that caused the accident wasn't hit and took off, the police wrote it up as a no-fault accident. If she would have had a camera that recorded the incident, the police could have tracked down the careless driver, wrote them a ticket and found them at fault. Now she has to pay a $500 deductible to get the car fixed. Now suddenly having a dash camera doesn't seem like such a stupid idea after all. Can anyone recommend one? Ideally I'd like to have something that records when the car is moving, and is plugged in so you can just forget you have it and pull the video off it if you ever need it. Something that peeks through the front grill on the car is even better.

[manderly6]

I just did a quick google and I was surprised how many and how cheap some of these cameras are. Now I can't comment on how good they are, but seems like you should be able to get what you are looking for fairly cheap.

[SunnyTXsmile]

Sounds like a great idea.

I'd often semi-joked of getting one, too. I seem to be the victim of so many hit and runs when my car is parked (since our office changed buildings which, oddly enough, is just a couple blocks up the street from the old office) that I'm fed up.

Great thread. I look forward to reading the responses.

Keep us posted on which you get and how you like it.

[Fundman]

I think dash cameras can actually be useful. I was once in a minor accident when the driver in front of me rolled backwards when the light turned green. I think his clutch was bad. I had a hard time convincing the insurance company I wasn't at fault since it is almost always the driver in the rear's fault. A dash camera would have proved it was the other driver's fault. You can buy models like the Muvi for under $100 on Amazon.

[manderly6]

Would this be acceptable in a court of law? Can you record someone without their consent and then use it as evidence?

[SunnyTXsmile]

Originally Posted by manderly6

Would this be acceptable in a court of law? Can you record someone without their consent and then use it as evidence?

I could be wrong, but to my knowledge you can not. However, my insurance company is not a court of law, so if I can give them a license tag number, either obtained by my naked eye, a witness, or a video camera, I don't see why they can't run a claim on that.

I would love to know how that works, though, and am interested to hear from others. I'd ask the lawyers in my family, but right now I'm working through larger things.

[jambo101]

..Solid State Digital Video and Data Recording Systems | ChaseCam

[sj08054]

You have an android phone? This is the software I use on my Atrix.

DailyRoads Voyager

I have a dashboard dock on the my atrix phone and recording starts automatically when phone is dock.

[cwells3030]

I know the topic is cameras (which I know nothing about) but why is it a no fault accident if she was rear ended.

It has always been my understanding that if you rear end someone under any circumstance it is your fault for not following at a safe distance.

Shouldn't the person who hit your wife be at fault for rear ending her. Even if your wife slammed on her brakes for another car, the car behind her should have had enough time to stop if they were following at a safe distance.

[reed303]

Originally Posted by manderly6

Would this be acceptable in a court of law? Can you record someone without their consent and then use it as evidence?

How would this be any different from cameras in banks, atms, 7-11s, Wal-Mart etc etc.

Generally there is no expectation of privacy when out in public.