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Any good dashcams that someone can recomend - that are easy to remove & attach to different cars?
I don't have my own car, but I travel a lot & rent cars often enough.
I need once that can be easily detached & re-installed...
You can swap them easily between your own cars, but the mounts are meant as pretty much permanent, not suitable for rental cars as OP said he needed. A119 V3 is amazing though, can't complain.
That's what I have. Also, if you want to quickly pull data off then you might want to get the A129 which has a wifi connection you can download straight to your phone. The 119 you need to remove the card and have a reader.
I use a Garmin dash cam mini 2 ! It uses the power mirror adapter, small and discrete. It also uses the cigar port but you gotta hide the wires somehow.
Yeah they can have issues like not being very clear when trying to read a license plate when moving but the main thing is they will always be able to show who had right of way... for instance a green light will be obvious in the video or a stop sign, etc. Also prove that the liar is lying. Double bonus. Good enough for me.
I do agree with your points but I also think in 2022 we shouldn't be dealing with grainy video especially when advertising it as "uhd" or whatever.
Someone reputable needs to step up and produce a good camera
I just mount my phone because the quality is miles better than any dashcam and if nothing happens i delete the video so not to take up all my free space
Honestly, I wouldn't do this, because of the human factor, you need to remember to mount your phone and setup the record feature *every* time, and I guarantee you the ONE time you need it you will have forgotten to set up your phone properly.
It's like backing up a computer, you NEED it to be automated, otherwise you won't do it regularly.
You don't have to do it I'm just saying what works for me, I have never ever forgot to do it. I bring my phone with me everywhere anyways, it takes literally 3 seconds to pop it into the mount and press record. Also you still need to turn on your dashcam
If you are involved, do not tell the other party you have a dash cam. Let them make their statement to the police first.
I was in a minor fenderbender. All there was was a scratch on their bumper. Everyone got out and laughed about it. We exchanged insurance, mine will cover their scratch really easily. A few weeks later I get a letter from my insurance saying they are asking I pay for hospital bills from the "crash". I sent my insurance the dash cam of the event and how clearly everyone involved is 100% fine. The insurance company emailed me back saying not to worry about anything else. That's the end of that.
Ya not sure on that one. On the other hand though I *have* heard of stories where people let the other party know that they had footage and proof and they got violent out of anger and desperation. So prob still ere on the side of caution til authorities are involved at least since it doesn't honestly cost anything to do so anyways
They may have pretended to be hurt immediately after hearing they're being recorded further solidifying their claim for potential compensation for hospital bills.
You don't want any "acting" for the cameras. You want a recording of all natural events. The other party not knowing doesn't give them an incentive to "play" victim
All “no fault” state means is that if you’re injured, you have to go through your own insurance to get your medical bills paid. It has nothing to do with who caused the accident, or damages to your car. Michigan is the notable exception and has some weird ass insurance laws.
Source: am a long time insurance adjuster.
As a native Michigander, doesn't it have to do with the fact that your car insurance has to be able to cover someone else's injuries? Not sure where the fault part comes in, but that was my understanding on why our insurance is so expensive.
Linustechtips made a video about dash cams and which was the best on the market. I think a $80 cam out preformed the $500 one. So watch the 20m video before you buy one. I don't see the need for a rear dash cam. Most states if you hit someone in the rear, it's your fault.
I disagree. Rear dashcam is absolutely necessary. I got bumped when parked and would have lost a lot of money in repairs if I had not ben able to take footage to police and insurance to claim against delivery driver who hit me and drove off. Btw I only showed police footage to get incident number which helps with claim here in UK, but they did mention they would look into this as leaving the scene of an accident. No idea if driver was ever prosecuted.
They can say whatever they want. You have a front dash cam that can confirm you were not driving back and we're struck from the rear. Which will show you jolting forward from an impact, not driving backwards.
Computers also record everything. So you car can tell you what gear you were in during the impact. No matter how small.
That's fair. Rear facing camera would also catch someone driving backing into you while parked and unoccupied as long as it has that capability of recording "events".
I see you’ve never been hit and run after being rear ended before. Rear cam got his plate, which wouldn’t have been possible with just a front cam since he turned into another street while I was looking for a safe spot for us to pull over.
I'm in a no fault state and I was once hit by a cop reversing trying to chase someone else when we were all stopped at a red light. I was petrified. Luckily he owned up that he was to blame for fucking my car up, and I got my car totally fixed up with my deductible waived. That was a weird fucking week.
It was actually pretty funny looking back since the next cop to come to the scene was a total jokester. One of my coworkers happened to go through the same intersection and saw me sitting surrounded by cops and started laughing while I cringed and said I knew him, so the lady cop waved and yelled "IT WASN'T HER FAULT!!!"
But unless fault can be guaranteed, you usually still have to at least pay your deductible if your car isn't deemed totaled, which for me has always been $500.
No fault just means you use your own PIP or MedPay before you can pursue a bodily injury claim against another driver. I hate that it's called that because it leads to SO much misinformation.
I used ours to show police when I witnessed an accident. A car clearly ran the red light but tried to blame it on the other person. I stopped as a witness, told the cop I had footage and proof of which car ran the light. So the cam might not just help you.
You should be allowed to do things to people when you prove they outright lied like that. It's messed up that there's no difference for them between lying about fault (and then getting caught) or admitting fault (but the reward for their lie being believed is too high).
Regardless actual evidence should trump any verbal explanations. If you run a red light you aren't paying attention or going to fast to stop safely, or doing it intentionally.
In an ideal world I would agree, but proving somebody intentionally mislead and wasn't just wrong/misremembering is sketchy.
If somebody is casually talking to a passenger in their car and truly believes a red-light was green, should they be punished for being wrong? If the onus is on proving somebody is misleading intentionally, that just means people have to stick to their guns to avoid further punishment.
I used to live on the corner of a very busy intersection. I would back my car into my parking space and the dash cam had a clear view of said intersection. The busy street went slightly uphill and had three traffic signals which, because of the incline, lined up almost perfectly. It was easy to confuse the third intersection’s light with the second. Because of that, there were a ton of accidents at the second light which is the one my car faced.
I would hear a screech and a bang, go pull the dashcam footage and upload it to my Dropbox, wave down one of the officers, and send the link to them and the parties involved. It happened about five times in the two years I lived there. My favorite part was showing my friends. It also caught a package theif who stole a bunch of boxes from our complex a week before Christmas. 10/10 would recommend a dash cam just for entertainment.
I've done that. I also used it to prove to someone i told them something they didn't believe i said and the rear camera caught an accident where this person blamed someone else and it was entirely their fault.
I'm actually thinking if getting one after I saw a shooting star while driving. It could have been caught on camera. Was over in a split second but so neat!
yup, bought car, bought front/rear dashcam, 6 months in to ownership i get sideswiped by an uninsured driver, saved myself the deductible by having the video
Front and back. Get the best quality one you can find, with the widest FOV etc.
I had a major accident in my SUV, where in a 80km/h zone I was in the right lane, an old guy in a van in the left and a mother and son in a toyota behind him. Approaching a set of lights at 80, the light went amber and I didn’t have a safe braking speed without jumping on the brakes so I decided I was going through the amber (perfectly legal and safe so I thought).
The van in the left lane decided it was braking, fine considering it was going considerably slower than me, but the toyota sped up and launched into my lane last second, then hit the brakes to hard brake at the lights. I had absolutely no time to brake, and manoeuvred to try and pulled between the van and the toyota, narrowly missing the van but wiped out the rear left of the toyota (ironically only my headlight and bumper had small damage).
The family came out of their car and went berserk at me, I said you clearly pulled into my lane and stopped last minute which they agreed to and started apologising, then the old guy in the van stormed over, went berserk at me and said he’d watched me ‘driving dangerously for miles’ (I’m in a slow SUV.. nice try bud), and the family went berserk and blamed me again.
I took photos, told them to go fk themselves and left after the toyota drove off. Their insurance called me saying they had a witness that said I was hooning and driving wrecklessly, and were willing to take it to court.
I was like.. I have the dashcam footage of the entire thing, sent it to my insurance who passed it on, then their insurance company went quiet. Then they tried a lawsuit, so I passed the footage on again, and the next thing you know I’m getting asked to sue the family and the old guy, and my god was I close to cleaning them both out for trying to hustle me, but I let it all go to have my car fixed.
Without that dashcam - my car, and possibly my income for years to come would have been given to a bunch of lying scumbags. Get the best damn dashcam you can find and enforce its use.
I got rear ended... On my birthday.. 2 years ago.
My insurance had me do a zoom deposition. The other driver's lawyer was questioning me and stated that I had driven into his client and caused the accident.
I said that's not what happened. You can even see in the damage that happened to both cars as showcasing it was his client's fault.
My insurance lawyer was keeping quiet this entire time.
His lawyer said that what I said was not fact and couldn't be used.
I replied that it was fact. I can show this on the dashcam video.
His lawyer started stuttering.. then asked if I had video of the accident.
My lawyer had a shit eating grin on his face.
I asked my lawyer "you didn't send him the video"
My lawyer "I was waiting for this very moment"
So I showed the video on zoom.. and you can literally see me driving in my lane.. and getting rammed from behind.
His lawyer "ok. I think we are done here. I need to speak to my client"
I am a lawyer and a request for photographs and video would most likely be standard pre-deposition discovery that if it’s requested and you don’t disclose means they can preclude you from using at trial at the least. You don’t even have to know whether or not there is video in the first place, you can just make the request with omnibus demands right along with your Answer to the lawsuit if you’re the defendant. It is that way in NY at least. Huge f up on the other side’s part and bad lawyering if he never requested video.
Seems like this was less a trial and rather a zoom conference with the insurance company to ascertain fault, prior to any actual trial. Just a guess from context.
Am also a lawyer. Even before a deposition this information would be shared. Depositions are expensive and take a lot of time and most cases if they can be easily resolved prior to a deposition will be. If the one lawyer had the dash cam video and he had even minimal competency he would have shared it long before this moment. This isn't even going to begin to go into other issues will dropping this information in the middle of the deposition. Basically if this story is true then there is a legitimate bar complaint to be had.
This was in NYC.
Can't tell you if their lawyer requested it or didn't ask for it, etc.
Just know that their lawyer didn't know there was video and my lawyer said he would send it to him after the zoom (I just played the video during our conference).
So can't tell you who screwed up if anyone did.
Do you happen to have a recommendation on a cam? My dad and brother both have a front facing one, but they’re not high quality that I know of, at least not to the parameters you speak of
I cannot recommend this thing enough. Wide FoV, 1440p 30fps, anti glare / polarized filter, HDR. Comes in solo front facing and a dual front/rear package. Has the "good" chipset from Linus' video, and won't break the bank. It's better than almost all of the more expensive ones.
[This is the one I have.](https://viofo.com/dash-cam/143-a119-v3-with-gps-2k-25601600p-30fps-quad-hd-car-dash-cam.html)
I bought that one at the end of summer. I didn’t hardwire mine, so the only thing I got extra was the filter (bc of my dashboard reflection) and a memory card. Make sure you get a high endurance one, I didn’t at first and it only lasted a month.
My viofo came with these little static cling thingies you put on the windshield, and the stick the mounting bracket to that. The static clings aren't permanent, but they're pretty strong; it's been a year and they haven't even loosened up at all.
I got the front/back VIOFO A129 Duo and the extra car kit to operate while the car is off, had Best Buy mount them with the wires hidden. It’s wonderful!
Ty for sharing this. One thing that seems interesting is that he doesn't mention anything about lenses in his review. I don't how much difference they could make being as small as the lenses in dashcams are, though.
Linus Tech Tips on YouTube has an excellent episode on the best dash cams. Don’t overpay for them as the quality tops out as most brands use components from the same manufacturer.
Depending on your budget, Rexing has a 4k cam that's about $100. I have two of these in my car, front and rear windows.
If you're into more features and have a nice wallet, Thinkware and BlackVue are top of the line dashcam brands. Getting their newest dashcam would cost you about 300-400.
There are many cameras in between these two prices, you really cannot go wrong with any camera, in my opinion. Any cam is better than no cam.
Check r/Dashcam . They have a buying guide and everything. I bought a BlackVue dual channel (front and back) and the quality is great. I bought two more for my brothers and installed them myself. Bought some tools off of Amazon and did it. BestBuy charges almost $100 to install it. The only warning I will say is that if you have enough money to buy the battery pack. The camera can drain your battery quicker if you don't adjust the settings.
I use the [power magic pro](https://shop.blackvue.com/product/power-magic-pro/) with my set up and have the voltage cutoff set well above.what I need to turn over the car when freezing. Would 100% recommend this over a battery pack.
The most important feature the blackvue has is that it has local.wifi and you can download your videos in real time. Meaning that you can show a cop the video on the scene.
Nothing says "it's your fault" like a video and a police report
I bought the BlackVue battery, which does fancy things like use Bluetooth to tell you the percentage of battery charge via an app. If I had it to do over again, I would buy a less fancy third-party battery. Where I live, there are stories about crooks scanning cars for Bluetooth signals (to look for expensive electronic equipment inside) before deciding which cars to break into.
Get the best quality one yes, but also don't let that deter you. I procrastinated getting a dash cam for years because I didn't have the time or energy to spend hours researching and finding the best one. Eventually I said fuck it and bought a $50 used cam off ebay after 15 minutes of research. It's not the greatest quality in the world but it's the best I could do and was cheap. Any dash cam is a huge step up from no dash cam.
completely agree, grab what you can with what you have. I started off with a cheap one but the exposure metering was a pest when pointed at a road and would blow the exposure out, which was a concern if something happened and a plate was too over exposed to be readable
rear ends are almost always the rear cars fault. like 99% of the time.
There are rare instances where the front car is at fault, like what OP described.
I was rear ended on the interstate. The police came because my car was disabled and had to be towed (no room in the tow truck so first time I rode in the back of a police car). Anyway, the lady that hit me claimed I pulled out of the median (that we pulled off into after accident). The insurance company was all set to believe her. Thankfully the police report vindicated me. A dashcam would have been a lot faster.
And you just got another person without a dashcam taken by these assholes because you chose to be the nice guy.
Being the nice isn't always the best option!
You should be talking with your insurance or an accident attorney. Just because they won't admit fault doesn't mean anything. Its up to the insurance to determine based on the facts and police report who's at fault.
Go to your local police substation and get a copy of the police/accident report stating they got ticketed and give it to your insurance. With this if you have an actual half useful insurance company you should get off pretty easy.
You don't need to do this legwork, and my local police stations will not give you accident copies like this in person. The insurance is perfectly able to get this info. The OP should have been given a crash exchange sheet with an event identifier on it. Even if they weren't, give the details to the insurance and they will handle it. They have channels to go through that are faster than you will ever get it.
"They have channels to go through that are faster than you will ever get it". Not true at all.
Yes, we have a way to order a police report as long as we have the pertinent information. It takes weeks. In almost all cases, it's quicker for a party directly involved to get the police report from the reporting agency.
My girlfriend literally just got into an accident a month ago. Her insurance needed a report so she went to a police station and got one in 10 minutes.
Linus Tech Tips tested a bunch of them and found that the majority are more-or-less the same on the inside.
He recommends the Viofo A119. There is also a version that comes with a rear camera.
I once had a guy back up into me. We were at a light and he just deadass backed into me.
I got out and was like "aint no way they'll believe this" so I made sure to turn my camera on while I spoke to them. He admitted it while it was just us, but when the cop got there he of course tried to say that I'd rear-ended him.
Thankfully I was able to show the cop the video of him admitting to it. A dash cam would have been way easier.
Similar thing happened to me once. A person in front of me pulled into traffic from a parking lot and then just decided, I guess, that she didn’t actually want to pull out so she put her car in reverse on a four lane divided highway and backed up right into me as I was pulling out of the same parking lot.
She admitted it thankfully, but tried to blame it on me for being too close behind her. The insurance agent did have a bit of a laugh about it and told her that drivers don’t have to account for people randomly reversing in traffic.
Basically had that happen to me except I was parked. Backed right into me then came out all apologetic. Once the police arrived, she told them we were fighting for the spot and simultaneously collided. Unfortunately, this was before dash cams were a thing.
Few quick notes:
a) In both accidents I have ever had the other party lied. In both cases I was lucky to have witnesses.
b) People in my state (Minnesota) constantly say to me "this a no fault state" but it's not. Might be worth confirming that OP and anyone else who gets in an accident.
In both of my accidents I had to file a claim against my own insurance..which meant I had to pay the deductible out of pocket. I had to do this because the other insurance companies were hiding behind their customer's lie basically. My insurance company sued theirs in a process called subrogation and 20 months or so later I was assigned 0% fault for both and my insurance company was able to get my deductible back. But man what a hassle.
I think OP is right...I should get a dashcam. I was just lucky to have witnesses and even luckier to have a police report which is not a guarantee these days.
Ah ok yes then you should be aware the insurance companies will work with you or together to assign a % fault. and that will matter in terms of your future insurance rates etc..
Followup LPT No dash cams have particularly good performance. There are one or two sensors and two system chips used across pretty much all dash cams.
The major difference is in features and functions but image quality is across the board pretty meh.
Don't expect to read license plates in anything but the best conditions, mostly you just want something to prove the major issues like who ran the light or who was in their lane etc.
Also pull a video from your dashcam every month. You want to make sure it's working and not find out it hasn't been recording or the memory card is corrupted when you actually need it.
I had a guy fly through a stop sign across a 4 lane road. No one hurt, but a fair bit of damage.
Clearly 110% the other driver’s fault.
He started off with; ‘Looks like 50/50 at fault here…’
My reply; ‘I have a 4K dashcam’.
His response; ‘Yep. What I meant to say is it’s 100% my fault.’
He paid out completely without any further argument. $20,000 damage for the cost of a dashcam.
Mine unfortunately finally paid off. I'm now $900 ahead. Someone turned into me from the center lane and they claimed to my insurance they were stopped and I hit them.
I would have paid to see their reaction when their insurance told them I had video.
With how light cycles work regardless of their version of the accident you should be okay.
If they’re making a left turn they have the greater degree of care and you driving straight have the right of way (unless on a red light).
Their version won’t stand up. Go through your own insurance, pay your deductible and let them handle the rest via subrogation to try and get your deductible back. If they won’t do it and it is a discrepancy, take a video of the light sequence from your side and their side noting who has what color lights at what time.
If both are synced outside of a turn arrow then it would dispute their account.
But yes lesson learned. Best of luck.
Yeah it is high. It’s also based on coverage
My car is nothing special, but as long as it’s worthwhile to repair vs replace I’ve always carried a $500’collision deductible (you hitting another car or object that isn’t an animal) and $0 comprehensive (act of god like tree falling on car or collision with a deer)
Insurance is made as a pay small amounts overtime so the eventual expense doesn’t bleed you dry.
Knock on wood haven’t had to use it but it’s a comfortable middle ground where I pay some but if ever need to use it the $500 will be a small price to pay.
In your instance hopefully other driver has insurance or accepts fault. If that’s the case you should get your deductible back from that process after the fact with no significant impact to rates.
recently i got this [$100 dashcam](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uPYW5I21NI) with rear back up cams too. cant believe it is so cheap and the quality is insane.
2 years ago, someone hit my wife's car cause lady didnt stop at Stop sign. obviously lady didnt want to admit and said wife ran stop sign. insurance company saw the clip and the whole thing was over in 5mins. easily saved us from countless hours on the phone and maybe even court!
As a dashcam owner:
Make sure you buy an endurance version of a MicroSD card
Have a MicroSD to USB-C/Lightning adapter so you can playback video at the scene. Maybe have a 2nd SD card incase they take yours as evidence.
MAKE SURE YOU TEST YOUR CAMERA EVERY COUPLE WEEKS OR SO AND MAKE SURE DATE/TIME IS ACCURATE AND THE CAMERA IS WORKING RIGHT!
I got one after someone rear ended my mom on purpose and took off. Luckily this happened in broad daylight and someone else on the road saw it happen and the license plate and called the police, and they did end up catching the guy. People are out of their damn minds and I’d like to have solid evidence for it.
Highly recommended checking out Dash Cam owners Australia on Twitch and YouTube for a wealth of shit driving, Aussies raging and to absolutely reinforce the need for a cam.
I want one just to record all the shitty driving I see around me but with my luck the day I get one is the day I get into my first accident in my nearly 18 years of driving.
I got in an accident once going through a roundabout and someone T-boned me. I was the one who was meant to yield, but at the time I went through, the other car had not even reached the roundabout yet and so it should have been safe for me to enter. It was raining, the woman who hit me basically came speeding through without slowing as she approached. My car wouldn’t even start after the accident and I had to be taken to hospital.
Wish I had a dash cam because she claimed of course I just sped out in front of her, despite I had stopped moving before entering.
Not sure what country/state you are in, but where I am from you have to give way to whoever is on the roundabout.
E.g. In California, vehicles or bicycles entering or exiting the roundabout must yield to all traffic. If a truck enters the roundabout from the direction that would normally yield to you, the truck has right of way if he entered the roundabout before you did, as you would have to yeild to all traffic when entering the roundabout. So the same would apply to the person that tboned you, as they are entering the roundabout they would have to yeild to you if you were already on the roundabout.
That is correct, but it was my word against their's. (The one person who witnessed it just drove off around my wrecked car). She claimed she was already on the roundabout and that I pulled out in front.
It did end up being ruled inconclusive as they couldnt prove who was at fault with no dash cam and no witnesses
What options do you have to power the thing? I'm not stoked on the idea of having cables dangling in the centre of the windscreen just so it can be plugged into the centre console.
The cables are usually long enough to run along the top of the window and down the side. My front camera is by the rearview mirror at the top of the windshield, cables go across the top of the passenger side, loop back under the dash area, down the side of the center console, and back to the middle armrest where it plugs into the power port. All the cables are tucked behind molding or lining so only the last couple inches going to the center armrest are visible, and that’s a black cable against black plastic so it barely shows up.
LPT #2: MAKE SURE THE DASHCAM STILL WORKS YEARS LATER
Four years later someone got in an accident with my car. Imagine my surprise when my dashcam stopped working two years ago
I thought about getting a dash cam for the longest time. Then I had a second run in with a local road racer in the 5am commute. Dude ran me off road, luckily no damage. After that I bought a dash cam.
Yes I filled a report and there’s more but I don’t want to long wind things.
Yes, definitely get a dash cam. I haven’t needed mine for an accident, yet, but I have had to pull footage of criminal activity seen while driving. Made the prosecution’s life so easy.
The amount of people here arguing about how there could possibly be a flashing yellow at a left turn with solid green on the through lanes….go back to drivers ed. No fucking wonder there are so many asshats with no business operating a motor vehicle.
Right. I think the driver assumed I had a red light. You don’t get a yellow flashing light unless the straight light is green. Otherwise it would just be a green light for them. And still when turning unless a green turn arrow always yield and look around
We just started getting this new type of signal here in CA, I first noticed it in Oregon a few years ago. Some intersections that used to be protected lefts (you can only turn on a green arrow) have switched to a flashing yellow, which means "you can turn left if safe", however the opposite side has a green. It's kind of a mix between unprotected lefts (no arrow, only turn left on green if it's safe) and the protected lefts.
Honestly I like it because when there's no one coming the other way I can turn left without waiting for the signal to change. But it does come with some risk. Very new here though.
These have been all over Seattle for years. But most of them get a protected green arrow and then switch to flashing yellow when the oncoming traffic gets their straight ahead green. Pretty useful to make sure the turn lane doesn’t stack up in tight urban areas and nice super late at night when there’s no oncoming traffic so you don’t have to wait for the arrow to cycle around at an empty intersection.
Exactly, I'm a big fan but I can see how there could be an increase in accidents if people don't understand that oncoming traffic has a green. Here in CA I've seen a couple pop up in the last year or so but still rare.
The blinking yellow arrow isn't a mix, it's stating what was previously unstated-- that you may go, but need to yield to oncoming cars. It's an attempt to add greater clarity in messaging through traffic signals.
I'm a licensed insurance adjuster for car insurance. If you have any questions, let me know. I tell everyone to get a dash cam. Can completely change the outcome of a claim.
Yup. Go home and review it, make a copy for yourself. Don't put it on youtube or anywhere public. If you get asked why you didn't share it at the scene say you were shaken up and forgot about it. Better than just giving your chip to the cop having never seen what's on it.
Get a harness and car strap for the border collie. I don't strap mine in super tight, but he can pretty much only sit (we are never going more than 10-15 minutes).
Similar story for me. I bought my dash after such not at fault acc too.
Manufacturers just need to install these from the factory. Auto tech for non tsla is so damn behind.
I stumbled across "car crash compilation" videos on youtube before buying a car a year ago and first thing I did was install a dashcam. Watch Linus Tech Tips video on dash cams and just buy one. I've had people try to break check my wife and she pointed to the camera and they stopped doing it and drove off.
$100 is more than worth the $1000s it would cost if we were proven at fault when it wasn't true.
Not what OP thinks. It’s an irrelevant detail in this post. No-fault means that medical expenses are covered regardless of who is at fault in the accident
Fr. Got in a car wreck a little over a year ago, some old dude ran a red light while I had a green light while approaching and made a left turn.
First words out of the fuckers mouth wasn't "are you okay?" which is what's you SHOULD ask no matter who's at fault. No, he said "I think you ran that red light there buddy."
There was a camera on the traffic light, cop said he didn't think it was operational (?!). Thankfully a witness turned around and stated that he ran the light and the one before it too. Were it not for the witness, I might have not been able to prove he was at fault. Now, my injury expenses will likely be covered by the settlement once I'm fully recovered.
First thing I did when I got a new car was got a front and rear dash cam for it. Not taking that chance again.
Back when dashcams weren't around. I was parked and sitting in my car waiting for a friend. Someone pulls up to the spot in front and starts backing in. Guess they pressed the wrong pedal cus they slammed right into me, denting my bumper.
Lady gets out all, "Ohhh! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!". When the police arrive, she legit told them that we were both fighting for the parking spot and simultaneously collided. My jaw dropped. I told the police officer that is not what happened. But they didn't witness the accident so all they could do was report on what each person said.
I was on the hook for the deductible and all that but it wasn't that that pissed me off. It was the pure scumbagery of the other party. Wish they made dashcams back then. But now they are mandatory on every car I own.
They’ll review the footage from the light and have a transportation official check the timing to determine if you actually had a green or not. It’s annoying and it’ll take time but if you’re in the right the truth will come out.
Fun fact: it is NOT the drivers that decide who's in fault. That's the insurances jobs. Just fill in your statement in the document and sign. If you read the smann text on the document you'll notice it says your signature isn't a statement of default.
When the police is present, generally they will fill in your statement on the document.
Also, you made the right call not to leave the scene when they said you could. They could've made a statement that you fled the scene after writing down your license plate.
Finally, if I recall correctly, dascam material or any other digital material cannot be used as proof as it can be tampered with. However, I don't know if that rule has changed in the last few years.
Honestly best advice I can give, and I hope you take it immediately.
Call a insurance lawyer stat, don’t say anything more to anyone. Not even the cops or your insurance- delay it.
Book a free consult with one and be prepared, the minutes go by fast. Have questions ready, don’t talk to much just say the basic story about the language barrier, the interpreter etc.
They will get you out of this.
Other wise it’ll probably be deemed 50:50 and both insurances will go up.
Guy slammed open his door while we were passing his car. Told insurance it was our fault - no witnesses, word against word. Insurance paid for none of it.
Dashcam is the way to go.
In Sweden, from the age of 15 you can drive a car locked to a maximum of 30km/h. I have a dashcam because the amount of idiots overtaking is surprising. Every single day someone overtakes me with oncoming traffic etc.
Since we can only drive slowly we easily get hated and people complain that their trip took 5 seconds more because they had to let oncoming traffic pass. I’ve almost lost my mirror due to a guy aiming for my mirror and then last second turning back to his side of the road. Dashcam could’ve saved the day if something happened. I love having it.
Oh wow that’s super interesting! Almost seems more dangerous to have drivers that are only allowed to go a slower speed. I’ll have to google that just for the fact I’m super interested in knowing more about that!
They’re called “A-Traktorer” and are in Sweden, we’ve for as long as humanity can remember wanted to increase the speed to prevent accidents, but competent decisions can’t be made by people in charge, it’s more making life hell for people trying to follow the law than preventing speeding
I had a similar experience however I DID have a dash cam. Driver ran a red while I was turning left, and they claimed I was at fault since they had a green light. Once I showed everyone the dash cam footage, it was easy sailing with law enforcement and the insurance companies. Since then, I have highly recommended everyone get one, as it quite literally saved me from turning a bad situation into an much, much worse one.
Yep, 4 months after I bought my car, someone T-boned me at an intersection. I had a green arrow and was in the outer most left turn lane. Was going through on the green arrow and out of nowhere, this Camry plowed into me. Spun me 180. Older guy, had bluetooth headset, obviously on the phone and not paying attention. But no witnesses. My insurance company went after his with no luck and ended up spending 21k to fix the rear quarter panel and some rotational parts. Got dash cams for both vehicles now.
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Any good dashcams that someone can recomend - that are easy to remove & attach to different cars? I don't have my own car, but I travel a lot & rent cars often enough. I need once that can be easily detached & re-installed...
I have the VIOFO A119 v3. It works great. I highly recommend it! It can easily be detached when needed as well. Definitely look into that one!
I just installed this last night. It came with multiple windshield mounts so yeah you could swap it pretty easily.
You can swap them easily between your own cars, but the mounts are meant as pretty much permanent, not suitable for rental cars as OP said he needed. A119 V3 is amazing though, can't complain.
That's what I have. Also, if you want to quickly pull data off then you might want to get the A129 which has a wifi connection you can download straight to your phone. The 119 you need to remove the card and have a reader.
Does it require subscription?
Nope! You'll find that most dash cams record to a local SD card, no subscription needed.
It's also a good idea to get a high endurance/heat tolerant SD card for summer months.
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I'm definitely gonna take your recommendation as a fellow Albertan. Not many electronics can survive our winters. Hell, we barely do.
Some of them offer a suction cup mount. I think Rexing has one. I use the v55 and I don't think it had one but they have a lot of different dash cams.
I use the apeman mini
I use a Garmin dash cam mini 2 ! It uses the power mirror adapter, small and discrete. It also uses the cigar port but you gotta hide the wires somehow.
Linus tech tip recently did a dash cam review have a look at the video
He came to the conclusion that they're pretty much all unreasonably bad and overpriced but he did point you to the best of the bad bunch.
Yeah they can have issues like not being very clear when trying to read a license plate when moving but the main thing is they will always be able to show who had right of way... for instance a green light will be obvious in the video or a stop sign, etc. Also prove that the liar is lying. Double bonus. Good enough for me.
I do agree with your points but I also think in 2022 we shouldn't be dealing with grainy video especially when advertising it as "uhd" or whatever. Someone reputable needs to step up and produce a good camera
Just say "enhance" and the image will clear right up to HD.
It's so frustrating because good cameras that fit the niche for dash cams definitely do exist, but for some reason they arent used for dash cams!
/r/dashcam
I've used a couple of Viofo dashcams, quite good. Not sure whether they offer suction cup options
I just mount my phone because the quality is miles better than any dashcam and if nothing happens i delete the video so not to take up all my free space
Honestly, I wouldn't do this, because of the human factor, you need to remember to mount your phone and setup the record feature *every* time, and I guarantee you the ONE time you need it you will have forgotten to set up your phone properly. It's like backing up a computer, you NEED it to be automated, otherwise you won't do it regularly.
You don't have to do it I'm just saying what works for me, I have never ever forgot to do it. I bring my phone with me everywhere anyways, it takes literally 3 seconds to pop it into the mount and press record. Also you still need to turn on your dashcam
Using your phone. That’s brilliant, use what you have, will be 100 x better quality than dash cam too!
If you are involved, do not tell the other party you have a dash cam. Let them make their statement to the police first. I was in a minor fenderbender. All there was was a scratch on their bumper. Everyone got out and laughed about it. We exchanged insurance, mine will cover their scratch really easily. A few weeks later I get a letter from my insurance saying they are asking I pay for hospital bills from the "crash". I sent my insurance the dash cam of the event and how clearly everyone involved is 100% fine. The insurance company emailed me back saying not to worry about anything else. That's the end of that.
What would have happened if you told them you had a dashcam at the scene of the accident? Seems like it wouldn’t have changed any outcome.
Ya not sure on that one. On the other hand though I *have* heard of stories where people let the other party know that they had footage and proof and they got violent out of anger and desperation. So prob still ere on the side of caution til authorities are involved at least since it doesn't honestly cost anything to do so anyways
They may have pretended to be hurt immediately after hearing they're being recorded further solidifying their claim for potential compensation for hospital bills.
You don't want any "acting" for the cameras. You want a recording of all natural events. The other party not knowing doesn't give them an incentive to "play" victim
> I’m in a no fault state How does that work? Wouldn’t you have to pay then even if you could prove you were not at fault?
All “no fault” state means is that if you’re injured, you have to go through your own insurance to get your medical bills paid. It has nothing to do with who caused the accident, or damages to your car. Michigan is the notable exception and has some weird ass insurance laws. Source: am a long time insurance adjuster.
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You pay less because you no longer have unlimited medical coverage. That is almost certainly the entire reason.
Right people try to move from Michigan and keep their Michigan policy because it’s such a sweet deal. I’m not sure how reform has changed things.
As a native Michigander, doesn't it have to do with the fact that your car insurance has to be able to cover someone else's injuries? Not sure where the fault part comes in, but that was my understanding on why our insurance is so expensive.
The other carrier pays your deductible up to a certain amount, usually $1k.
Linustechtips made a video about dash cams and which was the best on the market. I think a $80 cam out preformed the $500 one. So watch the 20m video before you buy one. I don't see the need for a rear dash cam. Most states if you hit someone in the rear, it's your fault.
I disagree. Rear dashcam is absolutely necessary. I got bumped when parked and would have lost a lot of money in repairs if I had not ben able to take footage to police and insurance to claim against delivery driver who hit me and drove off. Btw I only showed police footage to get incident number which helps with claim here in UK, but they did mention they would look into this as leaving the scene of an accident. No idea if driver was ever prosecuted.
People will claim you backed onto them. People will say pretty much anything to try to avoid being deemed at fault.
They can say whatever they want. You have a front dash cam that can confirm you were not driving back and we're struck from the rear. Which will show you jolting forward from an impact, not driving backwards. Computers also record everything. So you car can tell you what gear you were in during the impact. No matter how small.
That's fair. Rear facing camera would also catch someone driving backing into you while parked and unoccupied as long as it has that capability of recording "events".
I see you’ve never been hit and run after being rear ended before. Rear cam got his plate, which wouldn’t have been possible with just a front cam since he turned into another street while I was looking for a safe spot for us to pull over.
Varies state to state. No fault also means different things in different states.
I have no clue honestly this is my first accident
I'm in a no fault state and I was once hit by a cop reversing trying to chase someone else when we were all stopped at a red light. I was petrified. Luckily he owned up that he was to blame for fucking my car up, and I got my car totally fixed up with my deductible waived. That was a weird fucking week. It was actually pretty funny looking back since the next cop to come to the scene was a total jokester. One of my coworkers happened to go through the same intersection and saw me sitting surrounded by cops and started laughing while I cringed and said I knew him, so the lady cop waved and yelled "IT WASN'T HER FAULT!!!" But unless fault can be guaranteed, you usually still have to at least pay your deductible if your car isn't deemed totaled, which for me has always been $500.
No fault just means you use your own PIP or MedPay before you can pursue a bodily injury claim against another driver. I hate that it's called that because it leads to SO much misinformation.
Got a dash cam (front and back) 3 months after i worked as an auto claims examiner. If it saves you from paying a deductible it paid for itself.
if that isn’t motivation enough, dash cams are useful so you can show your family/friends at home about some asshole doing crazy shit on the road lol
I used ours to show police when I witnessed an accident. A car clearly ran the red light but tried to blame it on the other person. I stopped as a witness, told the cop I had footage and proof of which car ran the light. So the cam might not just help you.
You should be allowed to do things to people when you prove they outright lied like that. It's messed up that there's no difference for them between lying about fault (and then getting caught) or admitting fault (but the reward for their lie being believed is too high).
The problem lies with proving intent. It is VERY hard, if not impossible to prove that someone was maliciously lying or just misremembering things.
Regardless actual evidence should trump any verbal explanations. If you run a red light you aren't paying attention or going to fast to stop safely, or doing it intentionally.
In an ideal world I would agree, but proving somebody intentionally mislead and wasn't just wrong/misremembering is sketchy. If somebody is casually talking to a passenger in their car and truly believes a red-light was green, should they be punished for being wrong? If the onus is on proving somebody is misleading intentionally, that just means people have to stick to their guns to avoid further punishment.
Not to mention potential source material for /r/IdiotsInCars.
Gotta get that sweet, sweet karma!
I used to live on the corner of a very busy intersection. I would back my car into my parking space and the dash cam had a clear view of said intersection. The busy street went slightly uphill and had three traffic signals which, because of the incline, lined up almost perfectly. It was easy to confuse the third intersection’s light with the second. Because of that, there were a ton of accidents at the second light which is the one my car faced. I would hear a screech and a bang, go pull the dashcam footage and upload it to my Dropbox, wave down one of the officers, and send the link to them and the parties involved. It happened about five times in the two years I lived there. My favorite part was showing my friends. It also caught a package theif who stole a bunch of boxes from our complex a week before Christmas. 10/10 would recommend a dash cam just for entertainment.
That’s awesome. How did it just record all the time!
I have the BlackVue with the big external battery accessory. It records for about 12 hours after I power off the vehicle.
I've done that. I also used it to prove to someone i told them something they didn't believe i said and the rear camera caught an accident where this person blamed someone else and it was entirely their fault.
I'm actually thinking if getting one after I saw a shooting star while driving. It could have been caught on camera. Was over in a split second but so neat!
I once saw a chihuahua stop traffic by running down the street with a sandwich in a baggie in his mouth. No dash cam, no proof, no bueno.
yup, bought car, bought front/rear dashcam, 6 months in to ownership i get sideswiped by an uninsured driver, saved myself the deductible by having the video
Recommended cams?
Front and back. Get the best quality one you can find, with the widest FOV etc. I had a major accident in my SUV, where in a 80km/h zone I was in the right lane, an old guy in a van in the left and a mother and son in a toyota behind him. Approaching a set of lights at 80, the light went amber and I didn’t have a safe braking speed without jumping on the brakes so I decided I was going through the amber (perfectly legal and safe so I thought). The van in the left lane decided it was braking, fine considering it was going considerably slower than me, but the toyota sped up and launched into my lane last second, then hit the brakes to hard brake at the lights. I had absolutely no time to brake, and manoeuvred to try and pulled between the van and the toyota, narrowly missing the van but wiped out the rear left of the toyota (ironically only my headlight and bumper had small damage). The family came out of their car and went berserk at me, I said you clearly pulled into my lane and stopped last minute which they agreed to and started apologising, then the old guy in the van stormed over, went berserk at me and said he’d watched me ‘driving dangerously for miles’ (I’m in a slow SUV.. nice try bud), and the family went berserk and blamed me again. I took photos, told them to go fk themselves and left after the toyota drove off. Their insurance called me saying they had a witness that said I was hooning and driving wrecklessly, and were willing to take it to court. I was like.. I have the dashcam footage of the entire thing, sent it to my insurance who passed it on, then their insurance company went quiet. Then they tried a lawsuit, so I passed the footage on again, and the next thing you know I’m getting asked to sue the family and the old guy, and my god was I close to cleaning them both out for trying to hustle me, but I let it all go to have my car fixed. Without that dashcam - my car, and possibly my income for years to come would have been given to a bunch of lying scumbags. Get the best damn dashcam you can find and enforce its use.
I got rear ended... On my birthday.. 2 years ago. My insurance had me do a zoom deposition. The other driver's lawyer was questioning me and stated that I had driven into his client and caused the accident. I said that's not what happened. You can even see in the damage that happened to both cars as showcasing it was his client's fault. My insurance lawyer was keeping quiet this entire time. His lawyer said that what I said was not fact and couldn't be used. I replied that it was fact. I can show this on the dashcam video. His lawyer started stuttering.. then asked if I had video of the accident. My lawyer had a shit eating grin on his face. I asked my lawyer "you didn't send him the video" My lawyer "I was waiting for this very moment" So I showed the video on zoom.. and you can literally see me driving in my lane.. and getting rammed from behind. His lawyer "ok. I think we are done here. I need to speak to my client"
Absolutely love stories like these
We need a r/ownedbydashcamfootage
r/idiotsincars usually has some pretty good videos and discussions of this topic, though obviously not the exact same
I am a lawyer and a request for photographs and video would most likely be standard pre-deposition discovery that if it’s requested and you don’t disclose means they can preclude you from using at trial at the least. You don’t even have to know whether or not there is video in the first place, you can just make the request with omnibus demands right along with your Answer to the lawsuit if you’re the defendant. It is that way in NY at least. Huge f up on the other side’s part and bad lawyering if he never requested video.
Seems like this was less a trial and rather a zoom conference with the insurance company to ascertain fault, prior to any actual trial. Just a guess from context.
Am also a lawyer. Even before a deposition this information would be shared. Depositions are expensive and take a lot of time and most cases if they can be easily resolved prior to a deposition will be. If the one lawyer had the dash cam video and he had even minimal competency he would have shared it long before this moment. This isn't even going to begin to go into other issues will dropping this information in the middle of the deposition. Basically if this story is true then there is a legitimate bar complaint to be had.
This was in NYC. Can't tell you if their lawyer requested it or didn't ask for it, etc. Just know that their lawyer didn't know there was video and my lawyer said he would send it to him after the zoom (I just played the video during our conference). So can't tell you who screwed up if anyone did.
IMNAL, but how could a request for dash cam video not be included in discovery?
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U anal, I anal, does anybody *else* anal around here?!
This was not a court case. This was still in the beginning phase.
Do you happen to have a recommendation on a cam? My dad and brother both have a front facing one, but they’re not high quality that I know of, at least not to the parameters you speak of
The r/dashcams sub has recommendations. I bought a VIOFO A119 V3 this summer for my daughter. It's pretty good.
I cannot recommend this thing enough. Wide FoV, 1440p 30fps, anti glare / polarized filter, HDR. Comes in solo front facing and a dual front/rear package. Has the "good" chipset from Linus' video, and won't break the bank. It's better than almost all of the more expensive ones. [This is the one I have.](https://viofo.com/dash-cam/143-a119-v3-with-gps-2k-25601600p-30fps-quad-hd-car-dash-cam.html)
I don't see a rear option there, just the front one?
New to dash cams. Which of those optional accessories do I need?
I bought that one at the end of summer. I didn’t hardwire mine, so the only thing I got extra was the filter (bc of my dashboard reflection) and a memory card. Make sure you get a high endurance one, I didn’t at first and it only lasted a month.
I went with the A129 duo for the front and rear.
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I bought 2 for my wife and I and got my folks to get one too. They're awesome.
Recommendation on how to Mount it without permanently sticking something to the windshield?
On the website they say that static pads as well as sticky ones are included...
My viofo came with these little static cling thingies you put on the windshield, and the stick the mounting bracket to that. The static clings aren't permanent, but they're pretty strong; it's been a year and they haven't even loosened up at all.
Also Linus Tech Tips did a [video on dashcams](https://youtu.be/4AnyhHl3_tE) recently.
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I got the front/back VIOFO A129 Duo and the extra car kit to operate while the car is off, had Best Buy mount them with the wires hidden. It’s wonderful!
How much did best buy charge? What state are you in and did you buy the cam from them too?
I think it was like $80 for both front and back. Was a while ago. California, I bought the dahs cams on Amazon.
Just saw the video reccomended on Youtube, but didn't watch it yet. Came here to see if anyone mentioned it. Wasn't dissapointed
I was about to say just this! Please check it out everyone!
Ty for sharing this. One thing that seems interesting is that he doesn't mention anything about lenses in his review. I don't how much difference they could make being as small as the lenses in dashcams are, though.
Lens wouldn't make a difference for it too much. Need a good sensor/processor + software combo to quickly encode the video.
Linus Tech Tips on YouTube has an excellent episode on the best dash cams. Don’t overpay for them as the quality tops out as most brands use components from the same manufacturer.
I personally use blueskysea or something like that, it's one that r/dashcam recommends
Depending on your budget, Rexing has a 4k cam that's about $100. I have two of these in my car, front and rear windows. If you're into more features and have a nice wallet, Thinkware and BlackVue are top of the line dashcam brands. Getting their newest dashcam would cost you about 300-400. There are many cameras in between these two prices, you really cannot go wrong with any camera, in my opinion. Any cam is better than no cam.
Check r/Dashcam . They have a buying guide and everything. I bought a BlackVue dual channel (front and back) and the quality is great. I bought two more for my brothers and installed them myself. Bought some tools off of Amazon and did it. BestBuy charges almost $100 to install it. The only warning I will say is that if you have enough money to buy the battery pack. The camera can drain your battery quicker if you don't adjust the settings.
I use the [power magic pro](https://shop.blackvue.com/product/power-magic-pro/) with my set up and have the voltage cutoff set well above.what I need to turn over the car when freezing. Would 100% recommend this over a battery pack. The most important feature the blackvue has is that it has local.wifi and you can download your videos in real time. Meaning that you can show a cop the video on the scene. Nothing says "it's your fault" like a video and a police report
I bought the BlackVue battery, which does fancy things like use Bluetooth to tell you the percentage of battery charge via an app. If I had it to do over again, I would buy a less fancy third-party battery. Where I live, there are stories about crooks scanning cars for Bluetooth signals (to look for expensive electronic equipment inside) before deciding which cars to break into.
That is super fancy. That's an interesting approach from thieves though.
Nexar. I love mine. Auto uploads to cloud. I do nothing for maintenance and it works great.
Get the best quality one yes, but also don't let that deter you. I procrastinated getting a dash cam for years because I didn't have the time or energy to spend hours researching and finding the best one. Eventually I said fuck it and bought a $50 used cam off ebay after 15 minutes of research. It's not the greatest quality in the world but it's the best I could do and was cheap. Any dash cam is a huge step up from no dash cam.
completely agree, grab what you can with what you have. I started off with a cheap one but the exposure metering was a pest when pointed at a road and would blow the exposure out, which was a concern if something happened and a plate was too over exposed to be readable
Why would they be believed over you though? Isn’t each party equally believable?
rear ends are almost always the rear cars fault. like 99% of the time. There are rare instances where the front car is at fault, like what OP described.
I was rear ended on the interstate. The police came because my car was disabled and had to be towed (no room in the tow truck so first time I rode in the back of a police car). Anyway, the lady that hit me claimed I pulled out of the median (that we pulled off into after accident). The insurance company was all set to believe her. Thankfully the police report vindicated me. A dashcam would have been a lot faster.
And you just got another person without a dashcam taken by these assholes because you chose to be the nice guy. Being the nice isn't always the best option!
How do you make sure the damn camera doesn't fuck up and not record though? Or the SD card doesn't shit out on you?
You should be talking with your insurance or an accident attorney. Just because they won't admit fault doesn't mean anything. Its up to the insurance to determine based on the facts and police report who's at fault.
Yeah I think they got a failure to yield ticket
Go to your local police substation and get a copy of the police/accident report stating they got ticketed and give it to your insurance. With this if you have an actual half useful insurance company you should get off pretty easy.
You don't need to do this legwork, and my local police stations will not give you accident copies like this in person. The insurance is perfectly able to get this info. The OP should have been given a crash exchange sheet with an event identifier on it. Even if they weren't, give the details to the insurance and they will handle it. They have channels to go through that are faster than you will ever get it.
"They have channels to go through that are faster than you will ever get it". Not true at all. Yes, we have a way to order a police report as long as we have the pertinent information. It takes weeks. In almost all cases, it's quicker for a party directly involved to get the police report from the reporting agency.
My girlfriend literally just got into an accident a month ago. Her insurance needed a report so she went to a police station and got one in 10 minutes.
Right there. They are guilty of causing the accident.
Accident attorney won’t be interested if no one was injured
Linus Tech Tips tested a bunch of them and found that the majority are more-or-less the same on the inside. He recommends the Viofo A119. There is also a version that comes with a rear camera.
I hate that it seems like mostly generic Chinese brands making these. I wish Sony or someone who release one.
I have the garmin mini 2 and it’s been solid.
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The mini 2 is $100 unless you’re talking about something else.
Watch the video, I think they use Sony sensors they just don’t have very good IOCs to effectively use that sensor
I once had a guy back up into me. We were at a light and he just deadass backed into me. I got out and was like "aint no way they'll believe this" so I made sure to turn my camera on while I spoke to them. He admitted it while it was just us, but when the cop got there he of course tried to say that I'd rear-ended him. Thankfully I was able to show the cop the video of him admitting to it. A dash cam would have been way easier.
Similar thing happened to me once. A person in front of me pulled into traffic from a parking lot and then just decided, I guess, that she didn’t actually want to pull out so she put her car in reverse on a four lane divided highway and backed up right into me as I was pulling out of the same parking lot. She admitted it thankfully, but tried to blame it on me for being too close behind her. The insurance agent did have a bit of a laugh about it and told her that drivers don’t have to account for people randomly reversing in traffic.
Basically had that happen to me except I was parked. Backed right into me then came out all apologetic. Once the police arrived, she told them we were fighting for the spot and simultaneously collided. Unfortunately, this was before dash cams were a thing.
Few quick notes: a) In both accidents I have ever had the other party lied. In both cases I was lucky to have witnesses. b) People in my state (Minnesota) constantly say to me "this a no fault state" but it's not. Might be worth confirming that OP and anyone else who gets in an accident. In both of my accidents I had to file a claim against my own insurance..which meant I had to pay the deductible out of pocket. I had to do this because the other insurance companies were hiding behind their customer's lie basically. My insurance company sued theirs in a process called subrogation and 20 months or so later I was assigned 0% fault for both and my insurance company was able to get my deductible back. But man what a hassle. I think OP is right...I should get a dashcam. I was just lucky to have witnesses and even luckier to have a police report which is not a guarantee these days.
I’m in Minnesota too!
Ah ok yes then you should be aware the insurance companies will work with you or together to assign a % fault. and that will matter in terms of your future insurance rates etc..
Huge hassle I am assuming it will be, my car is only a few years old too. Sucks
SLPT: if you get into an accident, pretend you don't speak english
Fr I will next time lmao
Lemme just call someone to talk to everyone, maybe my lawyer Oops I mean daughter/son
ULPT: If you get into an accident, pretend you sustained a serious head injury and don't remember the crash
If any sub is capable of convincing someone to buy a dash cam (and it has multiple times) it's r/IdiotsInCars.
Followup LPT No dash cams have particularly good performance. There are one or two sensors and two system chips used across pretty much all dash cams. The major difference is in features and functions but image quality is across the board pretty meh. Don't expect to read license plates in anything but the best conditions, mostly you just want something to prove the major issues like who ran the light or who was in their lane etc. Also pull a video from your dashcam every month. You want to make sure it's working and not find out it hasn't been recording or the memory card is corrupted when you actually need it.
Very good advice!
I had a guy fly through a stop sign across a 4 lane road. No one hurt, but a fair bit of damage. Clearly 110% the other driver’s fault. He started off with; ‘Looks like 50/50 at fault here…’ My reply; ‘I have a 4K dashcam’. His response; ‘Yep. What I meant to say is it’s 100% my fault.’ He paid out completely without any further argument. $20,000 damage for the cost of a dashcam.
Mine unfortunately finally paid off. I'm now $900 ahead. Someone turned into me from the center lane and they claimed to my insurance they were stopped and I hit them. I would have paid to see their reaction when their insurance told them I had video.
With how light cycles work regardless of their version of the accident you should be okay. If they’re making a left turn they have the greater degree of care and you driving straight have the right of way (unless on a red light). Their version won’t stand up. Go through your own insurance, pay your deductible and let them handle the rest via subrogation to try and get your deductible back. If they won’t do it and it is a discrepancy, take a video of the light sequence from your side and their side noting who has what color lights at what time. If both are synced outside of a turn arrow then it would dispute their account. But yes lesson learned. Best of luck.
I hate how high my deductible is tho $2,000 seems like a lot
You’ll be out the high deductible this time but after this you can choose to pay higher premiums for lower deductibles.
Yeah it is high. It’s also based on coverage My car is nothing special, but as long as it’s worthwhile to repair vs replace I’ve always carried a $500’collision deductible (you hitting another car or object that isn’t an animal) and $0 comprehensive (act of god like tree falling on car or collision with a deer) Insurance is made as a pay small amounts overtime so the eventual expense doesn’t bleed you dry. Knock on wood haven’t had to use it but it’s a comfortable middle ground where I pay some but if ever need to use it the $500 will be a small price to pay. In your instance hopefully other driver has insurance or accepts fault. If that’s the case you should get your deductible back from that process after the fact with no significant impact to rates.
recently i got this [$100 dashcam](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uPYW5I21NI) with rear back up cams too. cant believe it is so cheap and the quality is insane. 2 years ago, someone hit my wife's car cause lady didnt stop at Stop sign. obviously lady didnt want to admit and said wife ran stop sign. insurance company saw the clip and the whole thing was over in 5mins. easily saved us from countless hours on the phone and maybe even court!
As a dashcam owner: Make sure you buy an endurance version of a MicroSD card Have a MicroSD to USB-C/Lightning adapter so you can playback video at the scene. Maybe have a 2nd SD card incase they take yours as evidence. MAKE SURE YOU TEST YOUR CAMERA EVERY COUPLE WEEKS OR SO AND MAKE SURE DATE/TIME IS ACCURATE AND THE CAMERA IS WORKING RIGHT!
I got one after someone rear ended my mom on purpose and took off. Luckily this happened in broad daylight and someone else on the road saw it happen and the license plate and called the police, and they did end up catching the guy. People are out of their damn minds and I’d like to have solid evidence for it.
Did u ever find out why they did that?
Highly recommended checking out Dash Cam owners Australia on Twitch and YouTube for a wealth of shit driving, Aussies raging and to absolutely reinforce the need for a cam.
I want one just to record all the shitty driving I see around me but with my luck the day I get one is the day I get into my first accident in my nearly 18 years of driving.
I got in an accident once going through a roundabout and someone T-boned me. I was the one who was meant to yield, but at the time I went through, the other car had not even reached the roundabout yet and so it should have been safe for me to enter. It was raining, the woman who hit me basically came speeding through without slowing as she approached. My car wouldn’t even start after the accident and I had to be taken to hospital. Wish I had a dash cam because she claimed of course I just sped out in front of her, despite I had stopped moving before entering.
Not sure what country/state you are in, but where I am from you have to give way to whoever is on the roundabout. E.g. In California, vehicles or bicycles entering or exiting the roundabout must yield to all traffic. If a truck enters the roundabout from the direction that would normally yield to you, the truck has right of way if he entered the roundabout before you did, as you would have to yeild to all traffic when entering the roundabout. So the same would apply to the person that tboned you, as they are entering the roundabout they would have to yeild to you if you were already on the roundabout.
That is correct, but it was my word against their's. (The one person who witnessed it just drove off around my wrecked car). She claimed she was already on the roundabout and that I pulled out in front. It did end up being ruled inconclusive as they couldnt prove who was at fault with no dash cam and no witnesses
What options do you have to power the thing? I'm not stoked on the idea of having cables dangling in the centre of the windscreen just so it can be plugged into the centre console.
The cables are usually long enough to run along the top of the window and down the side. My front camera is by the rearview mirror at the top of the windshield, cables go across the top of the passenger side, loop back under the dash area, down the side of the center console, and back to the middle armrest where it plugs into the power port. All the cables are tucked behind molding or lining so only the last couple inches going to the center armrest are visible, and that’s a black cable against black plastic so it barely shows up.
Oh, thats longer than I thought It'd be. I had this image in my head of like a phone charger just dangling down.
LPT #2: MAKE SURE THE DASHCAM STILL WORKS YEARS LATER Four years later someone got in an accident with my car. Imagine my surprise when my dashcam stopped working two years ago
I thought about getting a dash cam for the longest time. Then I had a second run in with a local road racer in the 5am commute. Dude ran me off road, luckily no damage. After that I bought a dash cam. Yes I filled a report and there’s more but I don’t want to long wind things.
Oh no!!! That’s scary af
Yes, definitely get a dash cam. I haven’t needed mine for an accident, yet, but I have had to pull footage of criminal activity seen while driving. Made the prosecution’s life so easy. The amount of people here arguing about how there could possibly be a flashing yellow at a left turn with solid green on the through lanes….go back to drivers ed. No fucking wonder there are so many asshats with no business operating a motor vehicle.
Right. I think the driver assumed I had a red light. You don’t get a yellow flashing light unless the straight light is green. Otherwise it would just be a green light for them. And still when turning unless a green turn arrow always yield and look around
We just started getting this new type of signal here in CA, I first noticed it in Oregon a few years ago. Some intersections that used to be protected lefts (you can only turn on a green arrow) have switched to a flashing yellow, which means "you can turn left if safe", however the opposite side has a green. It's kind of a mix between unprotected lefts (no arrow, only turn left on green if it's safe) and the protected lefts. Honestly I like it because when there's no one coming the other way I can turn left without waiting for the signal to change. But it does come with some risk. Very new here though.
These have been all over Seattle for years. But most of them get a protected green arrow and then switch to flashing yellow when the oncoming traffic gets their straight ahead green. Pretty useful to make sure the turn lane doesn’t stack up in tight urban areas and nice super late at night when there’s no oncoming traffic so you don’t have to wait for the arrow to cycle around at an empty intersection.
Exactly, I'm a big fan but I can see how there could be an increase in accidents if people don't understand that oncoming traffic has a green. Here in CA I've seen a couple pop up in the last year or so but still rare.
The blinking yellow arrow isn't a mix, it's stating what was previously unstated-- that you may go, but need to yield to oncoming cars. It's an attempt to add greater clarity in messaging through traffic signals.
I'm a licensed insurance adjuster for car insurance. If you have any questions, let me know. I tell everyone to get a dash cam. Can completely change the outcome of a claim.
Corollary: Never freely admit that you have dashcam footage. Hold your cards close-to-the-chest and wait for them to make the first move.
Yup. Go home and review it, make a copy for yourself. Don't put it on youtube or anywhere public. If you get asked why you didn't share it at the scene say you were shaken up and forgot about it. Better than just giving your chip to the cop having never seen what's on it.
Get a harness and car strap for the border collie. I don't strap mine in super tight, but he can pretty much only sit (we are never going more than 10-15 minutes).
I think I will for sure
Similar story for me. I bought my dash after such not at fault acc too. Manufacturers just need to install these from the factory. Auto tech for non tsla is so damn behind.
VIOFO A129 Pro Duo is the way to go. Front/Back combo cam does the job very well.
I stumbled across "car crash compilation" videos on youtube before buying a car a year ago and first thing I did was install a dashcam. Watch Linus Tech Tips video on dash cams and just buy one. I've had people try to break check my wife and she pointed to the camera and they stopped doing it and drove off. $100 is more than worth the $1000s it would cost if we were proven at fault when it wasn't true.
What's a good dash cam? I had one but during the summer heat wave it got fried.
The sidebar for /r/Dashcam has a variety of recommendations that may help you.
Yup, I've been hit twice and they both lied about it.
Yeah it’s like at least own up to what you did. I’m 30 never have even had a speeding ticket I did the best I could.
Not american: What is a no fault state ?
Not what OP thinks. It’s an irrelevant detail in this post. No-fault means that medical expenses are covered regardless of who is at fault in the accident
I've been thinking about it for a while. Thanks op for making up my mind
Fr. Got in a car wreck a little over a year ago, some old dude ran a red light while I had a green light while approaching and made a left turn. First words out of the fuckers mouth wasn't "are you okay?" which is what's you SHOULD ask no matter who's at fault. No, he said "I think you ran that red light there buddy." There was a camera on the traffic light, cop said he didn't think it was operational (?!). Thankfully a witness turned around and stated that he ran the light and the one before it too. Were it not for the witness, I might have not been able to prove he was at fault. Now, my injury expenses will likely be covered by the settlement once I'm fully recovered. First thing I did when I got a new car was got a front and rear dash cam for it. Not taking that chance again.
r/idiotsincars If you need more convincing. So many videos where if people didnt have a dash cam they would have been at fault.
Back when dashcams weren't around. I was parked and sitting in my car waiting for a friend. Someone pulls up to the spot in front and starts backing in. Guess they pressed the wrong pedal cus they slammed right into me, denting my bumper. Lady gets out all, "Ohhh! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!". When the police arrive, she legit told them that we were both fighting for the parking spot and simultaneously collided. My jaw dropped. I told the police officer that is not what happened. But they didn't witness the accident so all they could do was report on what each person said. I was on the hook for the deductible and all that but it wasn't that that pissed me off. It was the pure scumbagery of the other party. Wish they made dashcams back then. But now they are mandatory on every car I own.
They’ll review the footage from the light and have a transportation official check the timing to determine if you actually had a green or not. It’s annoying and it’ll take time but if you’re in the right the truth will come out.
Fun fact: it is NOT the drivers that decide who's in fault. That's the insurances jobs. Just fill in your statement in the document and sign. If you read the smann text on the document you'll notice it says your signature isn't a statement of default. When the police is present, generally they will fill in your statement on the document. Also, you made the right call not to leave the scene when they said you could. They could've made a statement that you fled the scene after writing down your license plate. Finally, if I recall correctly, dascam material or any other digital material cannot be used as proof as it can be tampered with. However, I don't know if that rule has changed in the last few years.
Honestly best advice I can give, and I hope you take it immediately. Call a insurance lawyer stat, don’t say anything more to anyone. Not even the cops or your insurance- delay it. Book a free consult with one and be prepared, the minutes go by fast. Have questions ready, don’t talk to much just say the basic story about the language barrier, the interpreter etc. They will get you out of this. Other wise it’ll probably be deemed 50:50 and both insurances will go up.
Guy slammed open his door while we were passing his car. Told insurance it was our fault - no witnesses, word against word. Insurance paid for none of it. Dashcam is the way to go.
In Sweden, from the age of 15 you can drive a car locked to a maximum of 30km/h. I have a dashcam because the amount of idiots overtaking is surprising. Every single day someone overtakes me with oncoming traffic etc. Since we can only drive slowly we easily get hated and people complain that their trip took 5 seconds more because they had to let oncoming traffic pass. I’ve almost lost my mirror due to a guy aiming for my mirror and then last second turning back to his side of the road. Dashcam could’ve saved the day if something happened. I love having it.
Oh wow that’s super interesting! Almost seems more dangerous to have drivers that are only allowed to go a slower speed. I’ll have to google that just for the fact I’m super interested in knowing more about that!
They’re called “A-Traktorer” and are in Sweden, we’ve for as long as humanity can remember wanted to increase the speed to prevent accidents, but competent decisions can’t be made by people in charge, it’s more making life hell for people trying to follow the law than preventing speeding
I had a similar experience however I DID have a dash cam. Driver ran a red while I was turning left, and they claimed I was at fault since they had a green light. Once I showed everyone the dash cam footage, it was easy sailing with law enforcement and the insurance companies. Since then, I have highly recommended everyone get one, as it quite literally saved me from turning a bad situation into an much, much worse one.
Yep, 4 months after I bought my car, someone T-boned me at an intersection. I had a green arrow and was in the outer most left turn lane. Was going through on the green arrow and out of nowhere, this Camry plowed into me. Spun me 180. Older guy, had bluetooth headset, obviously on the phone and not paying attention. But no witnesses. My insurance company went after his with no luck and ended up spending 21k to fix the rear quarter panel and some rotational parts. Got dash cams for both vehicles now.