Dash Camera

[luckydude]

We had to do a formatting first on our Vantrue and go through some settings for preferences such as if you also want a voice recording. In response to others having poor video quality, ours is fantastic. I was shocked how clear it was.

It doesn't cost much to get a 4k/HD dash cam---$100-200 on Amazon. The video quality is outstanding. Some of the high-end ones have impact collision sensor and will automatically save the video clip (i.e., prevent it from being overwritten) when it senses impact. They will also have a button to snap pics.

 

[Sunset]

As folks have noted, I did leave out the formating of the card, and making some settings on the camera during installation.

My camera has a tiny screen on it, but I don't try to use it to watch a video, for that I take the card out and watch it on my large computer screen.

I do need to buy a new camera, so if anyone wants to suggest good but not too expensive ones it would be appreciated, as is hard to trust website reviews.

Interestingly, on our recent 1K drive, we passed a semi-trailer, and it had 2 cameras mounted outside the driver door, to record us as we passed by. I was guessing it's so if someone drifts against the side of the truck and then blames the truck, there will be proof for the driver.

 

[Koolau]

Curious how long most cameras store data. Also, as mentioned, how do you keep data once an accident has occurred? Thanks for any schooling!

 

[Qs Laptop]

Saw this dash cam footage from a couple days ago. Happened here in Minneapolis. In case you didn't know, the city of Minneapolis has put bike lanes on almost every busy street. This has effectively turned four lane roads into two lanes streets.

I guess a couple of people decided they were in a hurry and needed to use the bike lanes to expedite their transportation. If you are familiar with Minneapolis, this takes place on 28th Street east between 10th and 14th Avenues. The speed limit is 30 mph. This is right by Abbott Northwestern hospital (I was born there.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Minneapolis/comments/xri006/til_theres_an_express_lane_on_e_28th_st/

Take a look and those with dash cams, please let me know--is your video quality better than this? About like this? Or worse than this? (Would be best for this test to view it on a PC monitor and not your phone.)

 

[JoeWras]

Curious how long most cameras store data. Also, as mentioned, how do you keep data once an accident has occurred? Thanks for any schooling!

1) Most dash cams rotate the video. It automatically gets broken into 30 second (or so) snippets. As the cam runs, it deletes the oldest to make room for the new. It is a big FIFO queue. So "how long" depends on how much you drive, and how big your storage card is. I get a few hours of footage on mine before roll-off.

2) Some cams, like mine, tag video when there is a jolt from an accident. This "saves" it which means it won't be replaced. You have to manually delete it. It avoids overwriting. You can also save video via a button, or app, or screen.

3) Legally: saving video is a question for your lawyer. Anyone who has been in any sort of dispute regarding records know how worked up lawyers get over discovery, data retention and all that.

Saw this dash cam footage from a couple days ago. Happened here in Minneapolis. In case you didn't know, the city of Minneapolis has put bike lanes on almost every busy street. This has effectively turned four lane roads into two lanes streets.
...
Take a look and those with dash cams, please let me know--is your video quality better than this? About like this? Or worse than this? (Would be best for this test to view it on a PC monitor and not your phone.)

Must be enjoyable to bike in -30F degree weather. Raleigh is doing a lot of this too. I don't see the lanes being used in the less congested areas. With the invasion of app-based rental scooters and e-bikes near downtown, they are used a bit more in those areas. (City ordinance has an exception to allow e-bikes and scooters in road based bike lanes.)

My Garmin Mini 2 has comparable quality to this Aukey. Very similar, although my Mini can discern close-in license plates, so I guess it is marginally better. And just like my setup, glare is one of the biggest issues affecting quality. Sunny days on the windshield causes issue.

 

[Koolau]

Saw this dash cam footage from a couple days ago. Happened here in Minneapolis. In case you didn't know, the city of Minneapolis has put bike lanes on almost every busy street. This has effectively turned four lane roads into two lanes streets.

I guess a couple of people decided they were in a hurry and needed to use the bike lanes to expedite their transportation. If you are familiar with Minneapolis, this takes place on 28th Street east between 10th and 14th Avenues. The speed limit is 30 mph. This is right by Abbott Northwestern hospital (I was born there.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Minneapolis/comments/xri006/til_theres_an_express_lane_on_e_28th_st/

Take a look and those with dash cams, please let me know--is your video quality better than this? About like this? Or worse than this? (Would be best for this test to view it on a PC monitor and not your phone.)

Honolulu has done (and is doing this - taking driving lanes to make bike lanes.) I understand the theory, but after 5 years, it's not making any difference in the amount of traffic except now there is one lane less to handle car traffic. There are lots of issues with crossing the bike lane (almost hit the only bike I saw that day while doing a left hand turn off one-way King st. No way to see around the parked cars.) In all, it's more dangerous and doesn't accomplish the "mission." The only reason we (Honolulu gummint) did it was to get the FED dollars. YMMV

 

[Qs Laptop]

Honolulu has done (and is doing this - taking driving lanes to make bike lanes.) I understand the theory, but after 5 years, it's not making any difference in the amount of traffic except now there is one lane less to handle car traffic. There are lots of issues with crossing the bike lane (almost hit the only bike I saw that day while doing a left hand turn off one-way King st. No way to see around the parked cars.) In all, it's more dangerous and doesn't accomplish the "mission." The only reason we (Honolulu gummint) did it was to get the FED dollars. YMMV

Well, at least bike lanes make some sense in Hawaii, given the weather. But in Minneapolis? It's just plain dumb. I live in the suburbs but I have occasion to go into Minneapolis about once a month. I rarely see bikers on the roads in summer and *never* in late fall, winter, or early spring (basically Oct-Apr.) As you say, it just makes for more traffic congestion.

 

[Donno]

I have little to add to this discussion other than my own experience using a Garmin dash cam that will be 8 years old in January. The picture is decent, but I would only use it for proof in an accident, travel videos should use a better camera. I suppose it is similar to the video shown a few posts earlier.
The Garmin records in 3 minute videos and has a sensor that locks the video if the camera is jarred or I press the save clip button, then it saves the current video as well as the previous and next video clips
One of the most important things to consider about a dash cam in my opinion is how it is attached to the windshield. My Garmin uses a suction cup mount, which is the same one they use on their GPS models. What I have found is the cup will start to get less sticky as it gets older and I usually start finding the camera on the floor. What makes the Garmin unique is that I can buy replacements for next to nothing just about anywhere, so now I just keep 2 or 3 spares in my console and whenever it falls off I just replace it. With another brand, the suction cup mounts may not be easy to find or expensive.

 

[Sunset]

My $25 dash cam is about that quality. Good enough to help id a car, but not read plates as person zooms by.
In an accident, I would just unplug the camera after the accident and later pop out the memory card and copy it to my computer. Camera claims it will preserve the record, but why temp fate.

 

[Walt34]

My $25 dash cam is about that quality. Good enough to help id a car, but not read plates as person zooms by.
In an accident, I would just unplug the camera after the accident and later pop out the memory card and copy it to my computer. Camera claims it will preserve the record, but why temp fate.

I'm not sure about whether that would be admissible as evidence in civil court. It most certainly would not be in a criminal case, where only the "best available evidence" is admissible. In the case of a dashboard camera that means the original (NOT a copy!) SD card, and probably the original camera as well.

You say the copied file is a bit-for-bit copy and was checked with MD5 hash and every other means of verification? They don't wanna hear it - they want the ORIGINAL evidence and that is all that will do.

Now I get that the standards are higher in a criminal case, where one is essentially talking about using the power of the state to take away someone's freedom, vs civil court where you only have to have 51% of the evidence to prevail. But knowing that a higher standard is easily achievable (the original SD card and camera) and relatively cheap, I'd take both out of the car and keep them in a safe deposit box until needed. After making numerous backups, of course. Just in case.

 

[FIREd_2015]

I was almost in an accident several years ago and decided to get a dashcam. I purchased a couple of inexpensive dashcams from Amazon. They worked for a while but the cheap plastic melted in the summer heat when I drove to Arizona one summer. I eventually found one from Amazon that claimed it would survive the summer temperatures. I ended up purchasing two A118C on Amazon (one pointed front and other out the rear window) and they have been working now for several years. It's not able to read license plates unless I'm very close but is sufficient to document who did what in case I'm in an accident. I just checked on Amazon and it looks the latest version is now called A119. Several different manufacturers offer the same form factor but some of them use plastic that cannot handle the higher temperatures so be sure to do your research if you need one that can handle high temperatures.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm not sure about whether that would be admissible as evidence in civil court. It most certainly would not be in a criminal case, where only the "best available evidence" is admissible. In the case of a dashboard camera that means the original (NOT a copy!) SD card, and probably the original camera as well.

You say the copied file is a bit-for-bit copy and was checked with MD5 hash and every other means of verification? They don't wanna hear it - they want the ORIGINAL evidence and that is all that will do.

Now I get that the standards are higher in a criminal case, where one is essentially talking about using the power of the state to take away someone's freedom, vs civil court where you only have to have 51% of the evidence to prevail. But knowing that a higher standard is easily achievable (the original SD card and camera) and relatively cheap, I'd take both out of the car and keep them in a safe deposit box until needed. After making numerous backups, of course. Just in case.

What people report is that the cam footage helps settle insurance in simple accidents. This covers typical situations.

Now going to court is another standard. Your own footage can be used against you. And deleting it can get one deeper into hot water.

 

[Koolau]

What people report is that the cam footage helps settle insurance in simple accidents. This covers typical situations.

Now going to court is another standard. Your own footage can be used against you. And deleting it can get one deeper into hot water.

"Sorry, your honor. It must have been destroyed in the accident."

 

[Qs Laptop]

I'm intrigued with the idea of getting a dash cam. For those of you that have them, what features from the following list are:

• Must have
• Would probably get if I did it again
• Would get if money were no object

High definition video, i.e. 1440p or even 1944p
Night vision
Built-in display screen
Detachable camera on permanent mounted base (no suction cup)
Incident detector, sometimes called a parking monitor (G-force sensor)
32 GB, 64GB or 128 GB memory instead of typical 16GB
Built in GPS
ADAS (lane departure and collision detection)
Voice control
Hard wire to vehicle fuse box
Wide field of view, i.e. better than 140 degrees
Real time monitoring (check your vehicle's camera via phone app.)
Capacitor battery (instead of lithium-ion battery)
Two cameras (front and rear)
Four cameras (all sides of vehicle)
Time lapse feature (condenses hours of video to several minutes, as in a road trip.)

If I've forgotten anything, please mention it.

 

[Sunset]

I'm intrigued with the idea of getting a dash cam. For those of you that have them, what features from the following list are:

• Must have
• Would probably get if I did it again
• Would get if money were no object

High definition video, i.e. 1440p or even 1944p
Night vision
Built-in display screen
Detachable camera on permanent mounted base (no suction cup)
Incident detector, sometimes called a parking monitor (G-force sensor)
32 GB, 64GB or 128 GB memory instead of typical 16GB
Built in GPS
ADAS (lane departure and collision detection)
Voice control
Hard wire to vehicle fuse box
Wide field of view, i.e. better than 140 degrees
Real time monitoring (check your vehicle's camera via phone app.)
Capacitor battery (instead of lithium-ion battery)
Two cameras (front and rear)
Four cameras (all sides of vehicle)
Time lapse feature (condenses hours of video to several minutes, as in a road trip.)

If I've forgotten anything, please mention it.

Hard wire to vehicle fuse box - pretty much any can be hardwired, if you are slightly handy and can join wires.

Not Want:
After using them for years, I'd suggest almost any is better than not having one.
They all have night vision of some type, remember lights will reflect back on it.
Built-in display screen - barely useful, only used for aiming and setting settings. not watching.
Time lapse feature - Nope, purpose is for accidents, will use my phone propped up for travel movies with better video and audio.
ADAS (lane departure and collision detection) - DON"T want it as won't work well
Real time monitoring (..camera via phone app.) - nope, battery drain and range limited so useless, just set and forget is the camera I want.


Want in next one:
High definition video - But many lie about ability.
64GB or 128 GB memory - memory cards are cheap so why not.
Capacitor battery -
Two cameras - But probably separate, no need to have them both feed to one, separate means if 1 dies the other is still good.

 

[Koolau]

Want in next one:
High definition video - But many lie about ability.
64GB or 128 GB memory - memory cards are cheap so why not.
Capacitor battery -
Two cameras - But probably separate, no need to have them both feed to one, separate means if 1 dies the other is still good.

About what duration do you get from 64 or 128GB?

Battery? Isn't the unit wired into the car battery?

Two cameras (one front one back) or two front so there is a back-up?

Thanks!

 

[Sunset]

About what duration do you get from 64 or 128GB?

Battery? Isn't the unit wired into the car battery?

Two cameras (one front one back) or two front so there is a back-up?

Thanks!

The duration will depend upon the resolution, but will generally be a few days. plenty long since you will know when you crash.

Battery in the car, yes but the real time monitoring could mean, when you park the car and turn it off the camera stays on 24hrs/day and uses more juice to sent bluetooth (limited range anyhow) signal.
I took a trip and had an insurance dongle on my parked car and the tiny dongle noticeably drained my old battery so I'm sensitive to it.

I want 2 cameras, one front and one back. I've been rear ended a few times, and someday the person doing it will deny it. So having a video of the impact would be handy. Or when person passes you coming from your lane and doesn't quite move over enough so they nick the rear corner of your car, and then claim they were in the next lane and you changed lanes. Video would be good. People lie to avoid paying a lot.

 

[Koolau]

The duration will depend upon the resolution, but will generally be a few days. plenty long since you will know when you crash.

Battery in the car, yes but the real time monitoring could mean, when you park the car and turn it off the camera stays on 24hrs/day and uses more juice to sent bluetooth (limited range anyhow) signal.
I took a trip and had an insurance dongle on my parked car and the tiny dongle noticeably drained my old battery so I'm sensitive to it.

I want 2 cameras, one front and one back. I've been rear ended a few times, and someday the person doing it will deny it. So having a video of the impact would be handy. Or when person passes you coming from your lane and doesn't quite move over enough so they nick the rear corner of your car, and then claim they were in the next lane and you changed lanes. Video would be good. People lie to avoid paying a lot.

Yeah, I'm becoming convinced. I should get one of these (well, two, that is.) Thanks for the info.

 

[Dash man]

Viofo has a device that will prevent draining your car battery.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07JQ1JYPJ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

[JoeWras]

The only thing I wish I had was a second rear facing unit. I may just go ahead and get another mini 2.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I'm not sure about whether that would be admissible as evidence in civil court. It most certainly would not be in a criminal case, where only the "best available evidence" is admissible. In the case of a dashboard camera that means the original (NOT a copy!) SD card, and probably the original camera as well.

You say the copied file is a bit-for-bit copy and was checked with MD5 hash and every other means of verification? They don't wanna hear it - they want the ORIGINAL evidence and that is all that will do.

Now I get that the standards are higher in a criminal case, where one is essentially talking about using the power of the state to take away someone's freedom, vs civil court where you only have to have 51% of the evidence to prevail. But knowing that a higher standard is easily achievable (the original SD card and camera) and relatively cheap, I'd take both out of the car and keep them in a safe deposit box until needed. After making numerous backups, of course. Just in case.

I have never heard this 51% you speak of; are you thinking of comparative negligence perhaps or the preponderance of evidence (jury is convinced that there is a 50% greater chance the a claim is true)? Or, maybe I slept through that in law school.

Evidence is not a very easy subject to learn and the rules are full of exemptions, exceptions and "footnotes." That is even before considering a judge's interpretation of said rules of evidence. Case law books number in the thousand (probably millions) of pages of higher courts overturning/throwing out judgements because of bad evidence calls by lower courts. Oh, and now let's talk about juries...

As far as evidence and your dashcam, I would say it's in your best interest to not get rid of it or destroy it...even if the accident is your fault. -But, this is NOT legal advice.

 

[teetee]

I'm intrigued with the idea of getting a dash cam. For those of you that have them, what features from the following list are:

• Must have
• Would probably get if I did it again
• Would get if money were no object

High definition video, i.e. 1440p or even 1944p
Night vision
Built-in display screen
Detachable camera on permanent mounted base (no suction cup)
Incident detector, sometimes called a parking monitor (G-force sensor)
32 GB, 64GB or 128 GB memory instead of typical 16GB
Built in GPS
ADAS (lane departure and collision detection)
Voice control
Hard wire to vehicle fuse box
Wide field of view, i.e. better than 140 degrees
Real time monitoring (check your vehicle's camera via phone app.)
Capacitor battery (instead of lithium-ion battery)
Two cameras (front and rear)
Four cameras (all sides of vehicle)
Time lapse feature (condenses hours of video to several minutes, as in a road trip.)

If I've forgotten anything, please mention it.

I would also get n adjustable interior cam to record interactions with the law enforcement. Some dashcams come with 3 channels: front rear and interior.

Must have includes the buck converter (converts 12v to 5v) with the fuse adapter for hard wiring. If you want to preserve the male cigarette lighter adapter, get the female lighter socket instead of the buck converter and keep all the wiring hidden.

If the parking mode is preferred (to capture the ID of car thieves or vandalists), a voltage limiter will be needed.

You will likely need above 2k resolution and a good sensor to capture the moving license plates. But anything that works, even with 480p, would be beneficial.

 

[jollystomper]

Curious how long most cameras store data. Also, as mentioned, how do you keep data once an accident has occurred? Thanks for any schooling!

The camera I just bought stores about 4 hours 15 minutes of video on a 32GB sd card. In this case each video segment is 3 mins (I can set it to 5 mins as well). It has a "lock" function you can press that will keep the current video segment from being overwritten.

Saw this dash cam footage from a couple days ago. Happened here in Minneapolis. In case you didn't know, the city of Minneapolis has put bike lanes on almost every busy street. This has effectively turned four lane roads into two lanes streets.

I guess a couple of people decided they were in a hurry and needed to use the bike lanes to expedite their transportation. If you are familiar with Minneapolis, this takes place on 28th Street east between 10th and 14th Avenues. The speed limit is 30 mph. This is right by Abbott Northwestern hospital (I was born there.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Minneapolis/comments/xri006/til_theres_an_express_lane_on_e_28th_st/

Take a look and those with dash cams, please let me know--is your video quality better than this? About like this? Or worse than this? (Would be best for this test to view it on a PC monitor and not your phone.)

I have attached a frame from the camera I use. It seems very similar in quality.

 

[Walt34]

I have never heard this 51% you speak of; are you thinking of comparative negligence perhaps or the preponderance of evidence (jury is convinced that there is a 50% greater chance the a claim is true)? Or, maybe I slept through that in law school.

The "51% rule" is a frequently used but inaccurate figure of speech. To my knowledge it has no actual legal significance.