Dash Cam Pros and Cons

Although I'd been thinking about installing a dash cam for quite a while, I didn't get around to it until a few days ago. I had an incident last week where I was the only witness to something. I may have to go to court on it, which will pit my words against the other person, but I'm not overly concerned about that. It sure would have been nice to have the cam then however, as there could be no argument at that point.

There is a TDC member right now, freqsounds, who's dealing with a mess concerning an incident with his new truck (https://www.tundras.com/threads/6-week-old-tundra-serious-front-end-issues.1649/). He insists there was nothing in the road for him to hit, while the dealership insists there was, and he did. In that particular case, a high-def video of the road sure would come in handy.

While in both of those examples a camera would be a benefit, I know there are certainly also cons to having one. Now that I actually do, I'm thinking about them much more.

Pros:
-Virtually incontrovertable evidence of the facts involved in an incident (whether I'm involved or not)
-Visual proof of my not being at fault in an accident
-Video record of a scenic drive

Cons:
-Visual proof of my being at fault in an accident (if the other person or the cop sees my camera, the footage will damn sure be asked for).
-A COMPLETE visual record of my driving (how fast, whether I roll stop signs, etc.)
-A complete record of everywhere I go (possibly including people and activities as well)
-Potentially being tied-up in a long court proceeding if I volunteer my cam's footage of someone else's situation

Does anyone else on here have one and if so, what's been your experience with it? Other pros/cons that I'm missing?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot- While driving in morning commute traffic a couple days ago (i.e. the worst driving time of the day), I found myself with a moral dilemma. As I was cruising along, I (and my camera) witnessed two very-near accidents. The dilemma came when I realized I had been subconsciously hoping they'd hit each other! I know, I know...

 

Where I use to work we had dash cams plus cab cameras in our trucks ( class 8). I dont know how many drivers butts it saved from the firing squads do to the camera there. One was where the police screwed up hit our truck said it was our fault when the camera said no no, of course the cop is not a cop anymore. I have been thinking about few myself for sometime now.

Imo they are worth having more pros and cons anymore and the technology is improving fast on them.

 

That's the bitch of it. I worry that if I volunteer one three-minute clip, the other person's lawyer is going to want the entire 64GB card's worth.

 

How about relocating dash camera to the grill? Like behind it somehow. I know, less field of view, but not seen. Then if you are in an accident or witness to, you can then decide if it is to your advantage to use it as evidence. (Go Pro?)

 

Grill wouldnt give you high enough to see what you need and wider view, on top of that it would need to be weather resistant plus power. (Go pro is to expensive for something like this to get destroyed). Also if the camera is there you run the risk of not getting the camera back as it and the sd card might be crushed in a accident.

 

That's a good point. How about roof light bar hidden camera. Probably could be done. Already have the power and mount but is it worth the hassle? Better to use your smart phone and only take pics to your advantage. Over all I think a dash cam has it's benefits. It will let you look over and over at the 1400 lb bull moose that took out your truck while you were trying drive and pour coffee at the same time.

 

Unless you can get the unit small enough and weather tight with good video quality I think your spinning your wheels. Imo if you can that would be a killer place. All the light bars (led) it would be very tough to conceal a camera in the unit. Most exploded ones I see there is about no room in the shell left.

Best place imo: is right above the rear view mirror spot. If you look at my build page where my mirror and gps are at is a perfect spot to hide a camera. I have 12v and 5 volt switched power right there.

 

Mine is not terribly hidden, but the interior is dark enough that it's not overly noticeable through the windshield unless you're looking for it or stick your head in/on the driver's window. Using the mounts it came with don't leave a lot of 'hidden' options. I'm still mulling over whether to fab a mount like I did for the UG so I can hide it a bit better. Also, it kind of needs to be within easy reach so I can hit the 'save' button (center button on the left) the moment something happens so it can't be overwritten.



I think the perfect situation would be to have a unit with a weatherproof remote lens (like in a lightbar), but controlled from inside the cab. Then you could put the controller anywhere instead of it having to be high on the windshield.

 

not a bad find.. china everytime i see china i want to

 

When I try to use my OEM back up camera with no adjustment capability at all , I want to it. I will deal with that later. The Tacoma for 16 comes with GoPro mount.

 

I like the light bar idea, but conceal it in a smaller version like the small square led boxes. Find an old used one to house the camera. Most people, probably nobody, would know unless you told them. You could have front and rear? I'm liking this idea, I'm just not good with electrical or wiring though...

 

You could buy all the required goodies and probably find a reliable shop that could wire it to your specs. You may know one already.