Safe Speed Forums

This might be better in the General Chat forum - if so then mods feel free to move this thread.

I'm considering getting a dash cam system, but all the ones available seem to be unsuitable for various reasons. My requirements are:

1. Two cameras, front and rear facing
2. No audio recording (or ability to disable in hardware) for privacy reasons
3. Small enough to fit behind the rear view mirror and not impair forward vision (the rear camera can be fitted behind one of the headrests in an area which would normally be obscured)
4. Ideally the recorder would be separate to the cameras and could be mounted in the glove compartment, that way the SD card could be easily removed without acrobatics across the rear of the car
5. Optional GPS data logging with accurate time/date stamping

Does such a thing exist, and what is it likely to cost? A search on eBay turned up this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HD-720P-Smallest-Camcorder-In-Dash-Car-Camera-Video-Recorder-DVR-Cam-G-sensor-/321164798255?

It's certainly small enough but has issues, eg it always records audio (as above I don't want it to do this for privacy reasons) and apparently the time/date needs manually setting every time power is lost. Which isn't good enough for evidential purposes.

Any suggestions from anyone here? Preferably that aren't going to break the bank?

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Some say his first name really is "The"... and that his left eye is, in fact, a testis. All we know is... he's called The Stig!

I'm wondering if dash cams have a similar effect as helmet cams for the person in charge of the vehicle.

It's not everybody, but having a camera fitted to film things as they happen appears to have an effect of making the driver/rider get into situations they wouldn't otherwise get into and make that situation bigger to have more impact.

Have you got anything useful to say whatsoever?

For the record, I have a clean licence which I've held for over 10 years, I've had no at-fault accidents, and was motivated to look into these systems after a friend of mine had an incident where the other driver was clearly at fault. Footage from his dash cam system a. resulted in the other party's insurers paying out, and b. resulted in the "due care" charge against my friend being dropped as soon as the video was played in court.

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Some say his first name really is "The"... and that his left eye is, in fact, a testis. All we know is... he's called The Stig!

I think Weepy's post is intriguing. All that's come into my head so far is the question, maybe the idea of real-time video recording of other road users appeals more to a certain kind of rider?

I have absolutely no idea on this and am not insinuating anything, just curious. I have been driving for about 30 years and currently do about 30,000 miles a year in various cars. Of course, I see the odd stupid manoeuvre, and a few times I've thought someone has been unreasonably aggressive in their driving. However, the vast majority of the time, I haven't really felt the need for one of these systems. Certainly, I hear about all sorts of "crash-for-cash" scams, and maybe I'll be unlucky enough to fall prey to one such scam one day, but, by and large, I tend to have very few, if any, problems on the roads. Now this, of course, could be largely just luck. Also, I rarely drive further South than Bedfordshire, but it is an odd phenomenon...

Anyway, back to Stig's question, no, as you might have gathered, I have no experience of these things. A company called Roadhawk seems to be big in this field - popular with taxi drivers, but I guess that will be one of the first internet hits that comes up in a search so you've probably already looked at them?

I was looking at these again a couple of days ago, dashcamtalk.com had some good info.

The dual camera ones record to the main front unit so you do not need to fiddle around in the back. What would be really good is built in wifi that could archive directly to storage indoors.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

Take a look at Techmoan.com. It is a guy who reviews allsorts of stuff including dashcams.

http://www.techmoan.com/recommended-cameras/

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2013/8/31/the-mini-0801-tiny-1080p-gps-car-camera-with-an-lcd-screen.html

He has good indepth video reviews and original clips from the camera reviews he does.

Video VBoxPro by Racelogic

I've just got a small HD camera, mostly for sports purposes but am also toying with mounting in the car partly for dashcam purposes and partly for "fun" recording long journies on time lapse etc.

I'm wondering what the prevailing opinion on locating them is, I've taken some stills in roughly the following positions:
- Centre dash mounted. Alot of dash visible where I held it, restricted field of vision, distracting position in driver eyeline. Conspicuous.
- Behind rear view mirror. Out of eyeline & better field of view higher up. Slightly less consipicuous.
- Mounted toward centre of car off passenger headrest. More interest & context, captures winder field of vision out of side windows. A little low down perhaps. Captures some driver action (good/bad!). Fairly conspicuous?
Not tried:
- Higher mount in centre position (possibly based off central interior light fitting).
- Sucker mount inside side window, driver side?

Any thoughts on usefulness or not of position for general traffic recording ?
Obviously for "fun" videos I'd pick the most relevant/interesting positions depending on scenario.

The tiny 808 cameras are very cheap and helpful to have a recording on small micro SD cards too, but I'm not sure that gives you a timeline although in Court it will need to be submitted on the original recorded equipment. So you'd need to hand the card over.
They'd need to be physcially handled so wont offer what you want ... other links look like they are much closer.

What about using a few of the GoPro units, but I'm not aware they can be running for long periods nor on a main recorder other than their own.

For driving interest taking recordings of the drivers actions can be most enlightening. Teaches you a lot about what and when you act.

From observations POV taking images of the road ahead and behind as well as within the car (thus obtaining an element of 'driver viewpoint' and can helpful).
Even side or wide angle views can be helpful for getting better insights to developing incidents might be crucial for Court evidence.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

Mods, PERHAPS it's time to ask if weepy has anything useful to contribute. We have a person on an "L" plate. Yet there's not the protection that the L plate was intended to offer. I'd say Stig coped well, BUT do we honestly need this cycling warrior around. I'd suggest he gets on his bike (and IMHO ,it's got 3 wheels ) and heads back off under the bridge.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Recently, I was chatting to a Parcelforce delivery driver while at work. He told me that his vehicle's rear lights flash and an audible "Warning, vehicle is reversing!" is heard. He told me that people repeatedly ignore this and walk behind his vehicle while it's in reverse.

He then pointed up to a rear-view camera above the rear door. "There's the solution - watch for 'em!"

I've seriously thought about having a dash cam fitted to my car.

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

I think, as with most technology, they are a mixed blessing. As Weepie has said, helmet cams seem to be very popular with "road-warrior" cyclists who do seem to get themselves into a worrying number of confrontational situations. Also dash cams are popular with drivers who want to record their own appalling driving and then publish it on YouTube.

I have a dash cam (SmartCam) which I don't use "as a matter of course", but use to record drives to interesting places. I think I'm agnostic on their use...

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I won't slave for beggar's pay,
likewise gold and jewels,
but I would slave to learn the way
to sink your ship of fools

I have a Mobius totally hidden behind my mirror, wired to come on with the ignition so I just forget it until it's wanted; like the other week when a buzzard snatched a rat from the road just in front of us.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... st25178941

I have had one fitted to my car now for the last 4 years my present one is a Roadhawk HD which is good and to be honest everyday driving incidents dont get me to download and post on forums it's their for the extreme for myself or someone else.
Have a look at WWW.Roadhawk.co.uk as they have various systems that might be what you are looking for and you can disable the sound if you wish, they are one of the more expensive ones but they last not like some of the cheaper ended one's that I have had in the past.
Stephen

Locally we have one driving school which has a camera in the rear window, and a warning in the back window. It makes me despair for driving standards that this school has had to revert to this, as I ( and a most other drivers ) try to show learners that driving is all about courtesy , though I wonder if the DSA look at this and consider keeping up more important than courtesy.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I have one, bought off ebay (13 quid) that features on/off audio.
It is the visible part of the two-part system...the other being my iphone in memo-record mode.
You will find that police tend to insist that the unit is turned off while they attempt to intimidate you, which is where the iphone comes in...they cannot see that.
I even had a private-police (car marked as per police...blue/yellow chevrons/K9 response/dog-unit etc) order me (yes, order) me to NOT photograph them, NOT record audio, because it was ¨illegal¨ as they are on ¨security patrol¨ and are part of ¨law enforcement¨ (they got told to #### ===) (at which they got the dog out and stood by the side with a poorly-controlled dog going ballistic....I leant on the horn).
I still have a 6.5 minute recording of a police person spouting non-existent laws to me...who was extremely peed-off when I played it back....again, the ¨ you cannot do that, it´s illegal...blah..blah..
Unfortunately, in these days of criminals attempting to cash in on crashing into you, and police attempting cash-in on cashing-into you, they are necessary.
Talking about cashing-in:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... 10000.html

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

Bit late in the day, but locally we've had a few 20 limits brought in. On FB neighbourhood watch we've had comments from a Sgt on Safer neighbourhoods team . I've asked him about checks on tailgaters pressing drivers to exceed the limit. His reply "buy a rear dsh cam and report to "operation snap".
So that is what I call the official response from Warwickshire police.

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on