Many companies who issue vehicles to employees have these systems installed. Truckers and delivery drivers often have one in the rear-view mirror to watch the driver. They help with insurance paperwork, so the company can say "It was the other diver's fault", or sometimes "It was the employee's fault, so we'll fire them."

It's been a growing trend for a few years now.

I bet the interior of that car smelled a bit different after that.

MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

Hours and hours of wasted effort by pressing record when your get in the car and stop when you get out?

Did it look the suv was about to go end over end? I'm assuming they swiped the car with the camera (thus the glass on the dashboard) but what did they hit to cause that?

Wow. Just... wow.

MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

Or the off chance that you're pulled over by an overbearing cop and you want to record his abuse of power for the law suit.

I actually had this happen to me... except I didn't have a video camera in my car and I wasn't moving. So it's the same but different.

I was sitting at a light in my pickup truck waiting to make a right turn when all of the sudden two cars on the road I was turning onto got into some sort of argument and decided to smash themselves together (like two rams fighting, I guess). There was lots of screeching then two cars came skidding right at me. I'm positive I felt the two of them slam into the front of my truck, but when I got out I saw that there wasn't any damage to my truck, but the two cars were under my front bumper. An hour or so later when the tow truck pulled the two mangled cars away I found that one of my driving light lenses was cracked but there was no other damage.

Good for me, cool story bro and all that crap.

MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

I keep audio recordings, but not video. Mostly due to an experience I had with a police officer back in the day.

What the hell went flying all over the dash?

this guy is probably glad he had a camera.

go 10 seconds in

dahmers love zombie: MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

Oh, maybe being abused by a cop? Or screwed over by an insurance company?

"'Being abused by a cop'.. is it up there?" *ding ding ding ding* "Number one answer, Jerry.. play or pass? Can I kiss your daughter? How about you? Guess where this finger has been...."

I can see where this would be great for insurance purposes and all, but truth be told anyone who's had a smash like this has a little movie of it perpetually running in their head.

CSB: Driving from FL to OH. Cruising along in the slow lane, fudging the speed limit at about 75. Sis is sleeping in the passenger seat, teens are in the back with earbuds implanted in their ears. I check the rearview mirror and I see a huge Caddy coming up on us fast. Within seconds it went from a blur in the distance to RIGHT THERE. I had half a second to decide whether to jump into the emergency lane or stay right there. Before I could make up my mind we got rear ended. I had just enough time to brace and yell "holy shiat". BOOM! Watched the Caddy spin like it was a GTA player and hit the concrete barrier. Pulled over and everyone was fine, but it took the responders a while to get there because we didn't have a GPS and all I could see was open highway and a train trestle. That was the only way Kentucky LE found us was figuring out where the train trestle was over the interstate. A grandpa and grandma from Florida also, and Mr. had fallen asleep at the wheel. Found out later they were hospitalized but all right. Bought a bungee cord at the next exit's truck stop to hold the trunk and back bumper together. Drove the sucker the rest of the way to Ohio then back to Florida a week later. Pronounced totaled upon inspection. Son still can't listen to Aqualung, lol. He's got his own movie in his head going, and it has a theme song.

Bunnyhat: MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

I have one in my car.
I got it after my first car accident last year and the woman completely changed her story when the cop got there. Luckily the cop was able to see that what she was saying was impossible to be true, but it could have gone the other way.

It cost me about $200 off Amazon.
It saves video to a SD card on a continuing basis. It'll record around 10 hours of video then it'll start recording over hour 1, etc.

It's hooked up to my power supply so it comes on when I start the car.

It takes no effort for me and I never review it unless I need to save it from an accident or something. Haven't yet.

Thanks. Seriously, I didn't know that they were that inexpensive. Would have been handy last summer when some lady pulled out of a gas station right into the driver's door of our car. Cops showed up and said that they don't get involved unless there's an injury. The woman insisted that we drove into her. The only thing that saved our case was a good samaritan who pulled over, handed us her business card, and said to contact her if there was a problem.

Well if there's one thing we can all take away from this, it's: stay on your side of the goddamn road! No matter what's happening to the right of or in front of you. If you have to sideswipe someone, do it. Only remarkably quick reflexes on the part of the oncoming SUV prevented the filmer from becoming road pizza here. They may have rolled it in the attempt as well, the last couple frames show the tail light elevated and at an angle.

LoneVVolf: Well if there's one thing we can all take away from this, it's: stay on your side of the goddamn road! No matter what's happening to the right of or in front of you. If you have to sideswipe someone, do it. Only remarkably quick reflexes on the part of the oncoming SUV prevented the filmer from becoming road pizza here.

^^^^ This.

Dumbest bit of driving I've seen in a while. Lucky b*stard to be alive.

MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

Beyond some explanations already stated above, there are also just people that are paranoid and do things like this - or record every Telephone call they ever have.

People are strange...

Bunnyhat: MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

I have one in my car.
I got it after my first car accident last year and the woman completely changed her story when the cop got there. Luckily the cop was able to see that what she was saying was impossible to be true, but it could have gone the other way.

It cost me about $200 off Amazon.
It saves video to a SD card on a continuing basis. It'll record around 10 hours of video then it'll start recording over hour 1, etc.

It's hooked up to my power supply so it comes on when I start the car.

It takes no effort for me and I never review it unless I need to save it from an accident or something. Haven't yet.

Sounds interesting. Care to toss out a brand name?

LesserEvil: I couldn't help but think: WTF is this idiot doing cruising in the PASSING LANE?

Makes me wonder if the other jackass was swerving around him because he wasn't paying attention to the slow dumbass with the dashcam and couldn't stop in time.

So, it's very possible Mr., Dashcam was the root cause, in a chain of causes (including swervedriver's inattentiveness combined with high speed) that lead to this whole mess.

/Also remember: Speeding doesn't cause accidents, driving too fast for conditions (which is not the same thing at all) and bad judgment cause accidents

Mr. Dashcam just passed a vehicle on the right and was maintaining speed with the cars ahead of him.

LesserEvil: WTF is this idiot doing cruising in the PASSING LANE?

Did you know that California doesn't actually have a passing lane law? That's right. The far left lane is for faster traffic, not simply for passing (although you are required to pass on the left, not the right). So it's very possible that whatever state/country this is in also doesn't have passing lane laws.

I think the problem was the white sedan on the right. It was driving very slowly, and a speeder (the car that spun out and almost hit Mr. Dashcam) probably had to swerve around them.

Anyone know an effective way to remove puckermarks from leather?

MaxxLarge

Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

The cameras use solid-state memory and just run in a loop for an hour or so, like a flight data recorder.

It's only after something significant happens that you stop the recording, and download the data.

/you can't have too many cameras on your car.

bart2puck

this guy is probably glad he had a camera.

go 10 seconds in

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice catch.

/I'd ask my attourney how long we could not disclose the camera evidence. Be fun to bust that out in court.

Bunnyhat: relaxitsjustme: Sounds interesting. Care to toss out a brand name?

Sure
Amazon Link (new window)

The only real negative I have, is that at night it can be kinda iffy on how well it records. To be expected though.

I wired it into my power supply so it comes on when I start, but you can also plug it into a lighter.

Is there anything you like or don't like about that particular model? I've been seriously considering doing something like this for my car, too.

I no longer get on my motorcycle without using my helmet cam. Had an accident a few years back, totaled my bike and the car that I hit. Driver was pulled over on the side of the road, and tried to make a u-turn without looking or even signaling. Facts of the accident were clear from the scene and the damage, and the cop in charge agreed with my account of what happened, but was later convinced by his Lt to not press charges on the other driver. Insurance called it no fault because no charges were filed, and I got stuck for some pretty significant medical bills. Took a couple years and a lawsuit to get everything paid for. If I ever get hit again, I am going to have video.

I hate to be the guy that says "fake" but if there was enough of an impact that glass ended up in the car, wouldn't the plush cat on the dash board have moved even a little?

Bunnyhat: I know I"m gonna be glad to have it if I get in another accident.

umm.....

Bunnyhat: kvinesknows: Bunnyhat: I know I"m gonna be glad to have it if I get in another accident.

umm.....

It's late, I know it's not the best sentence for an example of perfect grammar, but I'm failing to see what's confusing.

I said earlier that I was only in one accident, the other persons fault, but she changed her story on what happened when the police got there. It worked out fine for me in the end, but it's what made me go out and buy the camera.

its late I was reading that completely wrong

Bunnyhat: relaxitsjustme: Sounds interesting. Care to toss out a brand name?

Sure
Amazon Link (new window)

The only real negative I have, is that at night it can be kinda iffy on how well it records. To be expected though.

I wired it into my power supply so it comes on when I start, but you can also plug it into a lighter.

NOT COMPATIBLE WITH WIN 7 64 WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Gals Panic: I hate to be the guy that says "fake" but if there was enough of an impact that glass ended up in the car, wouldn't the plush cat on the dash board have moved even a little?

When was the last time you saw a car get jolted from breaking the glass? A sharp impact will shatter the glass before it has a chance of transferring force to the body of the car.

Gals Panic: I hate to be the guy that says "fake" but if there was enough of an impact that glass ended up in the car, wouldn't the plush cat on the dash board have moved even a little?

And a side swipe wouldn't have actually slowed the car down, but would have broken the drivers side glass no problem.

Theres a lot of ways to impact a car that will not noticeibly slow down the car. Anything that misses the frame will just kind of slide right off.. Or think of a side impact at 5 degrees instead of 90.

Mike Chewbacca: LesserEvil: WTF is this idiot doing cruising in the PASSING LANE?

Did you know that California doesn't actually have a passing lane law? That's right. The far left lane is for faster traffic, not simply for passing (although you are required to pass on the left, not the right). So it's very possible that whatever state/country this is in also doesn't have passing lane laws.

Well, seeing as the only line that's painted on the road is the middle one, I have a feeling this country doesn't care too much about passing lane laws. Or really, any kind of american style traffic laws.

MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

My wife and I both have cameras in our cars and we both have excellent driving records. The camera we use is a DS Carpa-120 and it continuously records to a 32G SD card as soon as you turn on the ignition. The camera records video, audio, speed, GPS location (Google Maps), and force of impact X-Y-Z zones. It also records in darkness by using infrared LED's. The camera already saved me $2,300.00 from an accident that I was falsely accused of being at fault according to the officers police report. I sent the video to the other parties insurance company and they cut me a check and said I was the first person they have seen that recorded their accident. The agent said it was the easiest claim to process and the check was in the mail.

The reason why we have the cameras is not due to paranoia or to catch something interesting. I like to be prepared in our litigious society. It's another means of protecting yourself from LEO's looking for quick revenue, accidents, improperly configured red light cameras, damage done to your car from improperly loaded cargo in vehicles and trucks, I did record a mattress flying out of a pickup truck and landing in front of my car. If the mattress landed on my car and caused damage, I would have won another insurance claim. The video also proves that I was wearing a seat belt and not talking on the cell phone during the accident. Do I watch the videos that I record? No, the only time I watch the video is to make sure the camera is recording properly and that is for 15 seconds once a month. Is it worth it? I wouldn't drive without it.

Here is the camera that I use. The camera name and price varies on the internet.

Link (new window)

NetstarGT: The camera we use is a DS Carpa-120 and it continuously records to a 32G SD card as soon as you turn on the ignition. The camera records video, audio, speed, GPS location (Google Maps), and force of impact X-Y-Z zones.

Slightly out of my price range (says I before I need it knowing what I would say after I needed it), but thank you so much for an interesting post.

I've wanted to get something similar/build something similar after one particularly obnoxious encounter with a cop. I've been pulled over many times, mostly legitimately, mostly for mild speeding, and never had a problem.

The last time though, not only was the cop completely and totally wrong, but he was an abusive asshole.

I like that the camera you listed writes to an SD card -- one thing I've wanted is a camera that could continuously upload through my Android to the net and one way to do that is with an eye-fi card.

MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

Followed up by a 100% court win with proof AND an ID of the third vehicle involved in that caused the accident but was un-damaged.

/Dash Cams, how do they werk? lol

MaxxLarge: Whenever I see civilian dash-cam footage of bizarre traffic happenings, I always wonder what prompts regular people to have a camera running every second they're on the road. Seems like hours and hours of wasted effort and boring footage on the off-chance you just might capture something interesting.

I'm usually filming with a helmet cam while riding my motorcycle, but that's due to the fact that "I didn't see him" are magic words that get a car driver out of any trouble when a motorcyclist is involved. I've been tempted to do the same with my car.