In a world full of technology for entertainment and convenience, dash cams prevail as a piece of equipment that has a sole purpose of recording everything that happens around your vehicle in the case of an accident whilst on the road. They get their name from sitting on the dashboard (dash) and are a small video camera/recording device (cam).
The clever little things often have an ‘always on’ feature, meaning that they automatically start recording when you begin to drive, and delete old data when a new journey starts so that you never run out of space. There is the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, and if you ever get to the point where you have to testify to an accident in court, a video could be worth hundreds of thousands of words! Some haulage and courier firms insist on all of their drivers using a dashcam.
The roads in the UK are busier and more congested than ever (in March 2017 the Office for National Statistics showed that the number of miles travelled in Britain amounted to over 324 billion).
When you just started out driving, do you ever remember your parents saying, “it’s not you I don’t trust, it’s the other people out there!”? It only takes one person to cause an accident, and if you cannot justify with some proof that it wasn’t your fault, the insurance may consider the accident to be a 50/50 fault and this could then affect your no claims bonus, and therefore your annual insurance premium. A dash cam could, therefore, provide the footage to ensure that the responsibility of the accident is assigned to the correct individual.
As well as providing evidence for driving and parking accidents, dash cams can also be used for fun. If you head out on a road trip and want to film the beautiful landscapes, your dash cam will do just that (there’s also the irresponsible who record illegal driving activities and post them on social media!) Just think, there could be the occasion where you see something completely unexpected, be it a super rare supercar that you want to show your friends, or a celebrity (possibly in said supercar) that you wish you had on video. Well, you do! A dashcam is a lot safer, and more legal, than reaching for your phone!
A disadvantage of dash cams are that they can attract attention for a car break in if they aren’t removed or covered, so ensure that you safely protect your dash cam if you have one when it’s not in use. It’s worth noting that some cams continue to record even whilst the car’s engine is turned off…In an ideal world, cams would stream data up to the ‘cloud’ for both remote viewing and continual storage of footage, but the U.K’s 4G and Open Wi-Fi facilities aren’t yet advanced enough.
Just because you consider yourself to be a safe, responsible driver does not mean that you are not at risk to an accident, so if you had a dash came you can provide essential evidence should you need it! You could also learn from your own mistakes…