Car Cam

[jonmobrien]

Sorry if this has been discussed before but I have not seen any mention of this.

With so many accidents and he says / she says proof of fault; insurance scams; random acts of nature; road rage happening around our cars (/trucks, motorbikes, etc), and with the rise of dash-cams, I don't understand why dash-cams are so expensive, especially the ones with GPS-tracking, LCD display, logging, G-Sensor, etc, many hundreds of dollars for the cheapest one - when we all already have all the hardware, camera, gps, G-sensor, screen, CPU, microSD / wifi /3G storage options already - why are we doubling up on costs to get a dash-cam?

Especially in Australia where (since 1st Nov 2012) we now have no mobile phone road rules severely restricting the use of phones and GPS in the car - the GPS device (including smartphone GPS) must be mounted in a secured mount properly to be used. And when mounting our Android smartphones properly for GPS-use, what just so happens to be on the back of our phones aimed directly at the road in front of us? A still/video camera!!!!

I don't understand why someone hasn't written / ported some of the good user-friendly, responsive software used in the dedicated dash-cams for the Android.

Instead of a tiny percentage of drivers handing over hundreds of dollars for a dedicated dash-cam, with your GPS-smartphone mounted by its side for mapping, I envisage thousands or more paying several $s each for a decent configurable app - such that you could have a widget that you simply tap as you mount it and it starts recording, looping after a pre-set time, with an incident-button to write-protect the current recording, and switch the recording to a Hi-res hi-frame mode if the default is below the maximum.

There could be several pricing models - a cheap $1, or maybe free option with ads overlaid in the recording itself, a $2-$5 option ad-free with low-res or some limitations, and a premium $10-$20 option with all the bells and whistles.

I'd pay $20 for one device that did my bluetooth phonecalls, musicplayer, gps navigation and dash-cam recording, with one hardware cost and one device to mount and dismount each time.

 

[Speed Daemon]

I live in the US where the laws may be different, so what I know may or may not be helpful to you.

Here in the US many things, from hand-written logs to videotapes are perfectly acceptable evidence. Granted, having stuff that's hard to fake, like a recording system that adds data from GPS satellites can be more persuasive in court, but if you have a videotape and your word under oath about when and where it was recorded, you have better evidence than someone who only has their word to offer.

Here in the US the police can't afford to collect a full set of evidence for every traffic incident. So it's up to the victim to collect their own evidence. Insurance companies often advise carrying a disposable camera in your car. With American drivers becoming increasingly hostile on the road (and well-rehearsed in how to lie to the cops) spending a couple hundred bucks on a camcorder and leaving it running all the time is a pretty good idea.

 

[general eclect]

Here's a good reason for on dash cams.

 

[Davdi]

Here's what you need: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.roboticode.dashboardassistpro

Video recording of your trip, GPS speedo and other useful info.. It's on my WFS

 

[Bob Maxey]

Here's a good reason for on dash cams.

I'll say . . . WOW!

Goes to show you, stuff happens, and it often happens quickly.

 

[general eclect]

 

[Revenant Ghost]

Here's a good reason for on dash cams.

Spoiler

Spoiler

All I gotta say is, holy ****!