If you are thinking of getting a dashcam for your car I thought I might share my experience to help you on the journey to making up your own mind.
A dash cam is basically a digital camera you install in your car which captures video data and stores it for a short period of time enabling you to recover and play back any incident you see or become involved in your vehicle.
There are basic cameras such as the one I bought which record sound and vision or more expensive and and advanced cameras with GPS which record speed and can sense and capture motion just before a collision.
You can have them professionally fitted and wired in to the cars electric system or ones like my cheaper version which comes with a simple plug which goes into the cars cigarette lighter socket and a sucker to afix it to the windscreen.
I have one which looks out of the front windscreen but you can have those to mount in the rear window and some units now do both.
So what are the advantages of a dash cam?
For me back in 2019 I was involved in an accident with a lorry which turned out of a side road into my path. I did not have a dash cam fitted at that time. I stopped and this lorry kept turning and scraped down the front of my Nissan Leaf.
What should have been a simple insurance claim against the lorry drivers insurance turned into a 2 year battle before the case was finally decided in my favour.
Dash Cam Pros And Cons
Had I had a dashcam fitted it would have been a simple open and shut case.
Contrast that situation to a near miss I had recently but this time captured on my dashcam. Had this incident turned into an accident then there would have been no doubt for the Police or Insurance company as to who would be to blame for the accident.
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Is a dash cam worth it?
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There are some points to consider before installing one.
Your actions are also recorded so beware if you commit any offences these will be captured and could be used against you as well!
It will pay to have spare micro sd cards as you would have to keep the actual card the incident is recorded on as evidence.
Well in my experience it would seem so. They are not too expensive if you stick to the basics and they can save a lot of grief if you are in the right and the other party is in the wrong. However if you are prone to speeding or are an aggressive driver you might want to think again!
