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Why I have a dashcam

5K views 38 replies 23 participants last post by  08blackrt 
#1 ·
Video from my dash cam - Kid on Bicycle

(skip to 50 seconds in) This kid was less than 2 seconds away from meeting his maker. I slowed the video down and I don't think he ever looked in my direction. This is much closer than it looks. With the wide angle lens on the dash cam - objects are closer than they appear.

Youtube must have compressed the video as the quality is not good after uploading.

https://youtu.be/2BURUt7FrKo
 
#3 ·
Anymore, a prudent driver should consider having a camera for the front and the rear of their vehicle that records as they drive.

I wish FCA would offer an optional camera that is mounted in the front of the rear view mirror and downloaded into a robust glovebox receiver with removable CF card storage. A rear facing camera could be mounted in a small "tombstone" pod that faces the rear of the vehicle. It wouldn't be difficult to have playback on the 8.4 radio screen.

On day soon, some manufacturer will and I suspect that it will be a popular option.
 
#4 ·
Not sure I would want another "device" in my car to tinker with. Lets see... We have our phones (with music), we have phones that talk to our cars, we have the radio, we have navigation, we have backup cameras, we have a computer to let us tinker with the engine parameters... No thanks, I do not need another gadget...
 
#5 ·
I know what you're trying to say but there's no tinkering with a dash cam. I've had one installed on my windshield for 3 years and one on the rear for the last 6 months. They're hard wired and start recording when the ignition is switched on and shut down when ignition goes off. They're 100% unattended and completely ignored. The only time to ever do anything with them is if some incident occurs that you want to save to your computer. Simply pop out the SD card, save the video to the computer, and put the card back in the camera.
 
#10 ·
I have one also. I never even think about it anymore but when something happens it will be real clear who caused the problem. I have no problem taking responsibility for my own actions but I know a lot of people will do whatever they can to get out of it. The technology is there and I will never go without it again.
 
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#12 ·
My greatest offense is occasionally driving 10 mph over the speed limit on the freeway and if I cause an accident, I own up to it. A camera is to protect me from others bad habits and criminality.

If someone else drives imprudently and gets into an accident, well, the cops can get a search warrant and will download the black box present in every modern vehicle to show vehicle parameters before and at the time of the crash.
 
#16 ·
My dashcam hooks to wifi and will send a notification to my phone if something is going on. It caught a couple of valet morons messing with my car recently. If I didn't have the camera to let me know, I'm sure these guys would have come back later for a joyride.

https://youtu.be/ULGxOkPWErE
I like that setup! So the camera runs constantly when you are away? And how does the WiFi work? Is that from Dodge?

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
 
#18 ·
Hey Jim and Slidd,
The camera is a Blackvue dr650gw-2ch. I have their external battery pack so it safely stays on without draining car's battery. Once the battery depletes it will switch to the car battery. I have it set so once the car battery gets to 12.0v, the camera will turn off. With regular use, the camera will never stop recording.

The wifi is from a Verizon hot spot I have in the trunk. It's also powered off a USB port on the backup battery pack.

The camera records all the time and will send you a push notification for various activities that you can choose in the settings.

Another cool feature is that you can view a live stream from your cameras with their app. Or you can review old footage as well. No need to be near your car. So if you get a notification that activity was detected you can open the app and watch the cameras live.

I'm not with the company, just a happy customer. I did have to have the unit replaced once but it was pretty painless dealing with the warranty claim.
 
#21 ·
Interestingly dash cams are completely illegal here. Something about recording someone without the permission and privacy laws. Would be handy tho, I've had someone run into the front of my challenger whilst parallel parked, and then they denied hitting my car despite the scratch. Had to go to the police and they took samples, did the CSI thing and proved I was right.

I've heard that when you're in an accident and you have a dash cam apparently the Swiss police happily accept the footage as evidence. Crazy huh.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#23 ·
It was a lot of years ago, but I was driving a van, probably 35mph down a hill. It was a residential neighborhood, but more sparsely populated than your average subdivision. This kid suddenly bolts out in front of me on his bicycle and turns so that we are both barreling down the hill with him right on my front bumper.

I'm already slowing down when he looks over his shoulder and sees me. He then panics and I see his bike start to wobble, almost like when you get a "tank slapper" on a motorbike. At that point I know he's gonna eat it so I really lay on the brakes. It all happened in a second and when I stopped, he was in a pile, tangled in the bike about 20 feet in front of me.

I go a lot slower anywhere near houses now.
 
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#29 ·
That looks fantastic. And it has a five star customer review rating. How will you power it? With the car charger it comes with? I would want to hard-wire the power.
 
#34 · (Edited)
I did the Falcon zero F170+ HD camera and the hard wire kit. I also got the harness for hardwire and ran it to the trunk fuse box. Mine is a 300c, but very similar. Came out great - I have it set always on - the hard wire kit includes a module that is supposed to shut off power if it detects a low battery. Link to camera and harness and pics below.

Camera:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014S09OKO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hard wire kit:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0182S5ZC4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

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#39 ·
My dashcam works great, amazing quality video for the price, but the mount just blows. The suction cup falls off within 10 minutes or so, sooner in cold weather, and the mirror mounts make the thing pretty much unusable unless you take it off, which is a giant pain in the ass. I've tried a couple of other mounts for other cameras with the same results. I think I'm going to have to get one of those heavy dash phone holders and use velcro or something. A friend of mine has a much more expensive cam, and he found out the suction cup doesn't work any better than mine did at 3X the price, and the camera doesn't either. The cam itself is prettier than mine though.
 
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