Dashcams

[ID98765]

Hi All

A joyrider nearly took me out yesterday (only a matter of inches) and today a lady with a pram was crossing a pedestrian crossing when the lights were red a man in a mercedes jumped the lights and nearly hit her.  A pretty shitty weekend for driving to be honest.  Its time to protect myself with a dashcam.

Can anyone recommend a good dashcam (front and rear camera)?

Its time for me to start sending footage to the police so that people can be prosecuted.

Thank you for any suggestions.

[sir wanksalot]

Hi All

A joyrider nearly took me out yesterday (only a matter of inches) and today a lady with a pram was crossing a pedestrian crossing when the lights were red a man in a mercedes jumped the lights and nearly hit her.  A pretty shitty weekend for driving to be honest.  Its time to protect myself with a dashcam.

Can anyone recommend a good dashcam (front and rear camera)?

Its time for me to start sending footage to the police so that people can be prosecuted.

Thank you for any suggestions.

Do the police actually prosecute based on dashcam footage? I'm basing my low confidence on policing around Greater Manchester Police..........who are shit.

[B4bcock]

Hi All

A joyrider nearly took me out yesterday (only a matter of inches) and today a lady with a pram was crossing a pedestrian crossing when the lights were red a man in a mercedes jumped the lights and nearly hit her.  A pretty shitty weekend for driving to be honest.  Its time to protect myself with a dashcam.

Can anyone recommend a good dashcam (front and rear camera)?

Its time for me to start sending footage to the police so that people can be prosecuted.

Thank you for any suggestions.

I suggest that you think twice about it if you use your car to go punting.

[shed]

I suggest that you think twice about it if you use your car to go punting.

Can't you switch them off or disconnect if needed ?

[DastardlyDick]

I have a next base dashcam, which gives decent pictures - if you get it from Halfords, they'll hard wire it for about £35. The advantage of this is that it's then "live" all the time and may get the reg of someone who drives into your car when it's parked.
Some police forces will accept dashcam footage to report alleged offences - check your local one's website. The potential problem with them is that they can be a bit of a double edged sword and used to provide evidence against you.
From a punting point of view, there's no need to worry about footage giving away where you've been, as they record a 5 minute loop, which is constantly overwritten unless it senses a crash, or you tell it not to. Afaik, they have no active tracking capability, so you can't be remotely checked up on, unlike your phone, which can.
A positive thing is that some Insurance Company's give a bit of discount if you have one.

[Dipper]

Can't you switch them off or disconnect if needed ?

Chances are you’ll forget to.

[DastardlyDick]

I suggest that you think twice about it if you use your car to go punting.

Why? Afaik, they have to active tracking capability (unlike the average smartphone) only a passive GPS receiver to pinpoint the scene of an accident. The footage is on a loop, that is constantly overwritten unless it senses a crash by sudden deceleration, or you tell it not to by pressing a button.

[Dipper]

Why? Afaik, they have to active tracking capability (unlike the average smartphone) only a passive GPS receiver to pinpoint the scene of an accident. The footage is on a loop, that is constantly overwritten unless it senses a crash by sudden deceleration, or you tell it not to by pressing a button.

Crash in a punt zone or forget? Then what. Lol.

[daviemac]

Why? Afaik, they have to active tracking capability (unlike the average smartphone) only a passive GPS receiver to pinpoint the scene of an accident. The footage is on a loop, that is constantly overwritten unless it senses a crash by sudden deceleration, or you tell it not to by pressing a button.

My dashcam records continuously, I don't think it overwrites until it reaches the end of the memory card.   

[lillythesavage]

My dashcam records continuously, I don't think it overwrites until it reaches the end of the memory card.   

That makes more sense, no point recording if the playback is not available.

[timsussex]

Do the police actually prosecute based on dashcam footage? I'm basing my low confidence on policing around Greater Manchester Police..........who are shit.

Only if its taken by a cyclist it would appear from recent press articles !

I was thinking of taking my dashcam footage of a couple of cyclists riding without hands to the local police

[Gordon Bennett]

Can't you switch them off or disconnect if needed ?

Yes, will have a power button and a plug-in power supply. You could just erase the footage before you get home too - this should easily be done simply with a click/touch or two on the camera, depending on what sort of user interface your chosen model has. Think of them as mini digital cameras  - most models have a touchscreen where you can delve into menus and piss about with settings (after a basic set-up you don't have to touch it though, like all digital cameras, despite having menus/settings they work fine in full auto mode on default settings).

Lastly, you'll need to think about how you get footage off camera. I'm content with a cheap/basic dashcam that I just pull the Micro SD card out of and shove it in my PC. However, some folks prefer dashcams with Bluetooth which I presume makes exporting footage to a tablet or phone or laptop quick and easy.

[Throbber]

I have a Viofo A129 Duo, and it does the job.  Nice clear 1080p recording (the A129 Pro is the newer one that records in 4K), and I've read that because it uses a big capacitor instead of a battery it's less likely to have trouble with extremes of temperature.  I don't know if that's true, all I do know is mine's done all right so far!

If you don't want a record of a particular journey you can either turn it off before you set off, or delete the recordings afterwards, either by putting the MicroSD card into your computer or phone and deleting the relevant files (they all have the date and time in the filename, so it's not like they're hard to find), or connecting your phone to the dashcam via WiFi and using the Viofo app.

[Liverpool]

Do the police actually prosecute based on dashcam footage? I'm basing my low confidence on policing around Greater Manchester Police..........who are shit.

Yes. Apparently 25% of submissions to the police end in a prosecution.

Nextbase have a portal set up so you can submit your footage straight to the police.

Don't think there's a £250 gift for every submission made though like You've been framed.

[spiralnotebook]

Just watch you don`t end up getting your own dash cam footage used as evidence against yourself. 

[sir wanksalot]

I might be interested in one of these myself then.

Do you generally keep them connected permanently? Are they not a theft risk?

[ID98765]

My dashcam records continuously, I don't think it overwrites until it reaches the end of the memory card.   

Hi Davie

What dashcam do you have?

Do you recommend it?  There are so many to chose from and the reviews are very mixed on all of them.

[ID98765]

I have a Viofo A129 Duo, and it does the job.  Nice clear 1080p recording (the A129 Pro is the newer one that records in 4K), and I've read that because it uses a big capacitor instead of a battery it's less likely to have trouble with extremes of temperature.  I don't know if that's true, all I do know is mine's done all right so far!

If you don't want a record of a particular journey you can either turn it off before you set off, or delete the recordings afterwards, either by putting the MicroSD card into your computer or phone and deleting the relevant files (they all have the date and time in the filename, so it's not like they're hard to find), or connecting your phone to the dashcam via WiFi and using the Viofo app.

Thanks for the suggestion Throbber.  I have just looked at the Viofo A129 duo pro (front and rear) and it has very good reviews.  However it costs £200!  There is a front view only which is £165 on ebay which I am considering.  Typically when a car hits you from behind the insurers will automatically assume that it is the fault of the car at the back?

[Gordon Bennett]

I got my Nextbase 122 for about £40 in Aldi. It came as a "set" which meant I got an SD card and carry case with it. I wanted something cheap and cheerful to dip my toe in the water. If it turned out to be duff I'd just shove it in one of the spare cars or give to one of my kids. However, I've been more than happy with it and kept it.
Best part is the Nextbase mount system. Small mount sticks to the window, power cable plugs into mount and camera magnetically attaches to mount, built in contacts make the power connection. It literally just pops on and off and is ready to go. I just leave it there but if you're worried about theft you just pop it off and shove it in your pocket or glove box.
I've connected via a cigarette lighter socket that's out of sight in my centre console and discreetly run the cable tucked behind trim/carpet so everyone thinks it's hardwired but it's not. I could still hardwire it using a fuse jump/adapter thingy but I can't be arsed - I'd do it if I had any dangling cables but given I don't I'm content as is.

[ID98765]

I got my Nextbase 122 for about £40 in Aldi. It came as a "set" which meant I got an SD card and carry case with it. I wanted something cheap and cheerful to dip my toe in the water. If it turned out to be duff I'd just shove it in one of the spare cars or give to one of my kids. However, I've been more than happy with it and kept it.
Best part is the Nextbase mount system. Small mount sticks to the window, power cable plugs into mount and camera magnetically attaches to mount, built in contacts make the power connection. It literally just pops on and off and is ready to go. I just leave it there but if you're worried about theft you just pop it off and shove it in your pocket or glove box.
I've connected via a cigarette lighter socket that's out of sight in my centre console and discreetly run the cable tucked behind trim/carpet so everyone thinks it's hardwired but it's not. I could still hardwire it using a fuse jump/adapter thingy but I can't be arsed - I'd do it if I had any dangling cables but given I don't I'm content as is.

This is a great recommendation - thank you.  you got a good deal @ Aldi for £40 including the SD card and carry case!  They are now retailing at £59.99 on Amazon, ebay, etc.  The reviews also look good.

Thanks once again sir!  You have saved me a £100.

 

[daviemac]

Hi Davie

What dashcam do you have?

Do you recommend it?  There are so many to chose from and the reviews are very mixed on all of them.

It hasn't got a make on it mate, it's just a cheap one from Ebay, I've had it for years.

[DastardlyDick]

My dashcam records continuously, I don't think it overwrites until it reaches the end of the memory card.   

And that isn't a loop?

[daviemac]

And that isn't a loop?

The footage is on a loop, that is constantly overwritten unless it senses a crash by sudden deceleration, or you tell it not to by pressing a button.

My dashcam does not constantly overwrite, it has no facility to detect a crash, it doesn't start to overwrite until the card is full so there is always about 3 hours of recording to view.

If you really want to be pedantic then I will concede that technically it is on a loop, but a 3 hour + loop, not a loop that needs a crash for the last few minutes of video footage to be saved.

[Squire Haggard]

I should get a dashcam. This one on has loads of positive reports, although they can include different models, as I've found with Amazon. No 1 best seller, they say. £42.49

External Link/Members Only

[DastardlyDick]

My dashcam does not constantly overwrite, it has no facility to detect a crash, it doesn't start to overwrite until the card is full so there is always about 3 hours of recording to view.

Well, all I can say is that I have a Next base dashcam, and it constantly overwrites unless it detects a crash or detect movement around the car when parked.
Interestingly, Police BWV works in a similar way - on standby mode, it records several minutes on a constantly overwritten loop until the record button is pressed, at which point the previous minutes are retained.

[lamboman]

My insurance broker gives me a discount on all my cars if a dashcam is fitted.
It's a must when you consider the number of twats that drive these days.

[shed]

My insurance broker gives me a discount on all my cars if a dashcam is fitted.
It's a must when you consider the number of twats that drive these days.

Maybe it's just that there are too many cars on the road networks that accidents are unavoidable.

[standardpostage]

I have a Drift Ghost XL motorcycle dash cam. Front only. £150. Very good. Could be used in a car, by placing on top of dashboard with holder.

9 hour battery life. Or plug into charger.

To view footage, has to be plugged into laptop or phone.

External Link/Members Only.

[myothernameis]

Do the police actually prosecute based on dashcam footage? I'm basing my low confidence on policing around Greater Manchester Police..........who are shit.

In London there a guy called cycling mickey, and he has reported a lot of drivers, for using there phone, ignoring a keep left sign, going through red lights

External Link/Members Only


Dash cam, cycle camera footage, and the police do prosecute the drivers


Find if your police force accepts video evidence

External Link/Members Only

Come Jan 2023 Police Scotland will introduce a online portal, for motorists and cyclist to upload video evidence