Do you have a dash camera in your car?

[Wrenchturner]

...And has it ever helped you in an insurance claim or other issue?  Have you ever hoped that it would help only to find out it didn't?

I have basic insurance coverage on my car which doesn't cover damages to MY property or car.  Seems like a $50 one-time expense for a simple dash cam is money well spent, and it's a lot cheaper than full coverage.  Some insurance companies offer discounts if you have one too, but my insurer does not.

Any experiences with these?

[lexde]

I have one since I drive all over a fairly large state for work. I would never drive without one. Luckily have not had to rely on it, but I can’t imagine a scenario where it doesn’t help as long as you aren’t at fault.

[Wrenchturner]

I have one since I drive all over a fairly large state for work. I would never drive without one. Luckily have not had to rely on it, but I can’t imagine a scenario where it doesn’t help as long as you aren’t at fault.

I feel a lot better having it, especially in those moments where someone cuts me off, or does something blatantly illegal and or reckless.  I need to check the video again to see what kind of range it offers for a legible license plate.

[Paul der Krake]

Nah. I don't care. I pay my insurance company to go on their own fact-finding missions, not me.

[Wrenchturner]

Nah. I don't care. I pay my insurance company to go on their own fact-finding missions, not me.

How much are you paying for these facts?

[MissNancyPryor]

I have one, got it about a year ago.  I really feel sort of naked without it now.  There is so much lawless bullshit out there and it is peace of mind to know that I will never have to argue about whether my light was green.  Twice I have had specific times that I was really glad it was recording in this last year: 

Coming home very late one night a driver failed to heed his stop sign and I had to brake hard and barely missed him.  No way was he going to stop but the camera picked up all the details of his vehicle as well as a clear shot of his face and that of his passenger.   

This summer some jack wang ran a red light and I honked (I was out in the intersection making a left turn) and after turning, as I followed behind, he started shaking his fist and threw me the bird.  It was good that it was all on video if he had tried some other kind of road rage bullshit and I had the proof he had run the light in the first place if anything developed. 

Yes, for the $70 bucks I paid it is absolutely worth it.  I don't even notice it tucked up under my rearview mirror and I did a great job hiding the wires completely so it is unobtrusive.

I predict that one day vehicles will have them embedded as standard equipment.

I do not presume that my insurance company has my interests in mind even one little bit.  They are in the business of spending as little as possible on me while taking as much money as they can from me, all while never hearing from me. 
 

[norajean]

Yes and yes.   An idiot turned left in front of me (from the lane to my right), causing an accident.  He filed a police report full of lies. I subsequently submitted the dash cam video and all was settled.  It is worth every penny of $50.  You can fish the wires behind the molding and headliner to the rearview mirror and attach the cam on the window side of the rear view mirror. Set it and forget it.

[Wrenchturner]

Yes and yes.   An idiot turned left in front of me (from the lane to my right), causing an accident.  He filed a police report full of lies. I subsequently submitted the dash cam video and all was settled.  It is worth every penny of $50.  You can fish the wires behind the molding and headliner to the rearview mirror and attach the cam on the window side of the rear view mirror. Set it and forget it.

A coworker told me that the police love these things too.  Makes their job a lot easier.

[DragonSlayer]

Anyone have any recommendations for good models? I've been thinking about getting one.

[GuitarStv]

No, no camera.  I've been involved in three accidents in the past ten years . . . all of which were determined to be 100% the other driver's fault without needing one.

[thesis]

I have a friend who regularly posts videos of bad things he sees while driving, but in my opinion it's always a little overblown. I recently watched a drunk pickup driver almost slam into a median as he swerved about; it would be nice to have the camera to help somebody out in the aftermath of bad things, but it really does nothing to stop bad things from happening.

I don't know, it sometimes feels like a 'fear' thing, as if we didn't have enough fear in our lives. What if? What if? I've seen my friend's videos and sometimes felt a short wave of panic sweep through me as I wonder if maybe I should have one, too. I really don't want to live my life in fear, but I can definitely see the value, too. Currently, I've just been too lazy, but I'm sure it's worth the $70 or so.

[Samuel]

I broke down and got one ($60) 2 months ago. I still have a 25 minute commute and had two super close calls within 3 days, one of which involved the other person doing something so colossally stupid the police/insurance would not have believed me if I were to describe it to them.

[Wrenchturner]

Anyone have any recommendations for good models? I've been thinking about getting one.

I just found a well reviewed one on Amazon at a decent price.  The apexcam with a 4" screen.  I haven't installed the backup cam part of it yet.

I wouldn't get one with such a large screen though.  You don't really use the screen on the camera and it obstructs a bit.

[Paul der Krake]

Nah. I don't care. I pay my insurance company to go on their own fact-finding missions, not me.

How much are you paying for these facts?

About $50 and a couple hours of time less than it would take me to research, buy, and install that camera.

[MilesTeg]

Wish I'd had one the 3 times my vehicle has been hit while parked. Could have got the hit-and-run scumbags to be held accountable and mitigated financial losses.

[MissNancyPryor]

I got the Rexing V1 last year on some Amazon deal of the day for $30 off.  I added a SanDisk high endurance 64GB card to go with it for the $30 so all in it was $100 to start rolling. 

The camera survived fine in high heat and below zero weather but in the late summer I did get a suction mount for it instead of the 3M double-sided adhesive set up I was using initially.  That was a Rexing product too for another $7.  The camera and card didn't mind the heat at all but the adhesive wanted to slip around too much. 

All in $107.  Totally worth it.   

[MissNancyPryor]

Wish I'd had one the 3 times my vehicle has been hit while parked. Could have got the hit-and-run scumbags to be held accountable and mitigated financial losses.

BTW- the Rexing V1 I got only operates when the vehicle is on.  If motion-detect while off or other features are important then select something else.  Also if you are worried about something coming from behind you need a camera pointed to the rear as well, the brand I got does not have a rear-facing camera within the main unit.

[Wrenchturner]

Wish I'd had one the 3 times my vehicle has been hit while parked. Could have got the hit-and-run scumbags to be held accountable and mitigated financial losses.

BTW- the Rexing V1 I got only operates when the vehicle is on.  If motion-detect while off or other features are important then select something else.  Also if you are worried about something coming from behind you need a camera pointed to the rear as well, the brand I got does not have a rear-facing camera within the main unit.

Mine operates the same way.  I think a front facing cam still protects you if you get rear ended since it will indicate you stopped under reasonable circumstances.

[Jouer]

<snip>   

This summer some jack wang....
 
<snip>

I don't have a camera....but I do have a new phrase. jack wang. I'm dying here. Totally steeling this and adding it to my favourites like bell-head and dick-smack.

[Zette]

Fifteen years ago I worked for a company that made one of the early dash cameras.  They were marketing it with reviewing of incidents to fleet vehicles (ambulance, delivery, buses, etc.), and thought there would be a big market for teenage drivers and insurance companies giving discounts.  It's been interesting to slowly start seeing them available in Costco but the concept hasn't taken off nearly as much as they thought it would.

[Christof]

No, I don‘t have one, because it‘s also a risk here in Germany. You win the accident case, and then you get sued for privacy violations. It‘s illegal to film others in public unless you only film the accident.

[MissNancyPryor]

I think it goes here that there is "no reasonable expectation of privacy" when you are out on the public roads.  We have red light cameras, security cameras in stores, RING doorbells.  Some states allow one-party consent for recording phone calls and conversations, other states do not allow it. 

[Wrenchturner]

<snip>   

This summer some jack wang....
 
<snip>

I don't have a camera....but I do have a new phrase. jack wang. I'm dying here. Totally steeling this and adding it to my favourites like bell-head and dick-smack.

Careful, someone might call you xenophobic!

[Wrenchturner]

Fifteen years ago I worked for a company that made one of the early dash cameras.  They were marketing it with reviewing of incidents to fleet vehicles (ambulance, delivery, buses, etc.), and thought there would be a big market for teenage drivers and insurance companies giving discounts.  It's been interesting to slowly start seeing them available in Costco but the concept hasn't taken off nearly as much as they thought it would.

I'm pretty sure that cellphone cameras have paved the way for good dashcams.

[DHMO]

I have one, and I almost never pull the video from it. Most of the videos are from a scenic drive I really liked, and occasionally I review a close call to see if I missed an important clue in the moment.
They do require some maintenance, as most cameras don't have perfect overwriting. Fragments of files will build up and eventually you run out of usable space on the memory card. Formatting the card every 6 months or so has been enough to keep mine operating decently well.
I'm using one of the more expensive models (~$180) and it still has quirks. Sometimes, for no reason, it doesn't start up and I have to remove and reinsert the power cable. (I know it isn't the cable connection, because restarting the car also fixes it.)

[Wrenchturner]

I have one, and I almost never pull the video from it. Most of the videos are from a scenic drive I really liked, and occasionally I review a close call to see if I missed an important clue in the moment.
They do require some maintenance, as most cameras don't have perfect overwriting. Fragments of files will build up and eventually you run out of usable space on the memory card. Formatting the card every 6 months or so has been enough to keep mine operating decently well.
I'm using one of the more expensive models (~$180) and it still has quirks. Sometimes, for no reason, it doesn't start up and I have to remove and reinsert the power cable. (I know it isn't the cable connection, because restarting the car also fixes it.)

I was wondering about the disk formatting.  The directions said every two weeks but six months sounds better.  I guess it depends on how much driving time you have in a day.