Do You Have a Dashcam?

[maffyou]

I’d be interested to hear how it goes. 👍

[Otto_Octavius]

There is a guy who does pretty good dash cam reviews on youtube ('Vortex Radar' - awful name), and while he says that power banks can be used, he does mention that overheating could potentially be a problem. Dedicated dashcam batteries run off capacitors (or something like that) and are apparently not a risk as a result. So it can be done, but maybe is not the most practical or safe choice.

 

Basically, I would reccomend researching your model, and watching YouTube videos on it, you'll find what works best for you quick enough. For me, I think it will be a BlackVue, with the Power Magic Pro. It should be a clean install and shouldn't require much fiddling or maintenance after, other than screwing around on the app. 

 

I am nervous about attacking the trim in my car though, it's brand new! 😓

[maffyou]

I’ve been happily running a 512gw for about 2.5 years and it all runs f e. I’ve ordered the 522gw  midriff my new car and don’t doubt it will be just as fine. I’m curious as to how a power bank could possibly be used to keep recording going e.g. in a car park, on my drive overnight etc. It’s no big deal, just idly curious about the possibility. 

 

And yes, taking trim off can be terrifying!

Edited 27 June, 2019 by maffyou

[Otto_Octavius]

 

He labours some of these points, but you get the gist. I think he is better when he is actually reviewing the cams themselves, but this was to address a specific point.

 

The above all being said, we dont normally have an extreme climate in the UK or Ireland, so should not normally be a problem with using the power banks, and could be a handy solution the odd time.

Edited 27 June, 2019 by Otto_Octavius

[Otto_Octavius]

This is yer mans review of the model I'm likely going to get. I like it that he covers all the options for parking mode.

 

 

In terms of the options for me, the large battery ('Power Magic Ultra') just seems to big, and costs a fortune. You'd struggle to tuck that away.

 

The Power Magic B112 is a nice device and could be hidden, but is a bit rich for me considering the already considerable outlay on the Blackvue.

 

I'm thinking the Power Magic Pro, which is about 50 spondoolicks. That can be easily hidden. One benefit of that is that it cuts the power if the battery reaches a predetermined drain level, so as to be sure you can start it up again.

 

With the Blackvue parking mode settings, you can set it that the camera only starts under particular circumstances. e.g.  movement/ impact detected. It can be engaged by people walking by, which would be too sensitive, so I imagine I would leave the camera off in parking mode, but turn on impact detection. The real benefit of the Blackvue is it 'buffers' a minute or so behind, so if there is an impact, it doesnt only record from the point of impact, but gives you the previous moment also.

 

Edit: seems these batter packs can be used with any dashcam. Not sure about the PMP though

Edited 28 June, 2019 by Otto_Octavius

[uchuff]

There wasn't a poll answer that fit me but I've got a DDPai Mini 2 (Wifi, 1440P, Supercapacitor, small/discreet).

 

I mainly bought it as I like gadgets and figured eventually it might prove itself useful. That said I don't do much mileage so chances of me catching too much on camera are thankfully/hopefully quite slim. 

 

Bought it around Christmas, not caught much interesting except someone in a Shogun doing what I'd estimate to be at least 80 in the outside lane of a 50 roadworks on the Motorway, slamming their brakes on to avoid rear ending someone, spinning out and ending up and narrowly missing a couple of other cars before backwards up the verge on the inside. The kicker was they then undertook us a couple of minutes on a roundabout when we came off at the next junction, weaving in and out of traffic almost causing more accidents. Complete ****.

 

[MarkyG82]

So i have tried plugging in the power bank.  It works apart from it cannot be charged and supply power at the same time so no good for this.  I have another about somewhere so will see if that one is the same before taking it to the car.

[Ads230]

15 hours ago, NikTheGeek said:

I don't see the point unless you get a front and a rear. A front one won't help if you are rear-ended. It would only catch someone cutting across you or you going in to the back of someone. I see the point of getting 2 I suppose but then I have 3 cars so it would get expensive!

Disagree slightly with the no point of only a front one [forgive the paraphrasing], as you are able to show the context of your own driving in the case of being rear-ended or other accident types (i.e. if you slam on your brakes and someone hits you vs. slow down carefully or are static and someone hits you). Although you are correct that the disadvantage is you can't prove definitively that X car & X driver hit you at whatever speed due to lack of concentration / dangerous driving etc.

 

I have a front one because most of the incidents I've witnessed, I've observed before they happen - and so it's benefited me to have a copy of the incident just in case I can assist the victim(s) with any claims etc. down the road. Also, it's helped me improve my own driving by replaying footage of when/if I've done a Stupid myself ,or could've done something better. Finally, it's also helped twice in getting repayment for minor accidents by other drivers who I've sent the footage to directly since I bought it 2 years ago (so essentially paid for itself, including the insurance benefits).

 

Disadvantages of mine is that I've not got a rear-facing cam and my front-facing one has not got parking mode activated.

 

But I accept the risk that there's a few scenarios I'm not going to be able to capture. I may buy a rear-facing cam in the future, but there are more exciting things to spend the moolah on.

[Pody]

Im running the Blackvue 750s 2ch with the ODB power connection in parking mode.

Its on all night and does not hit the limits set to power off when it sees the battery current drop

 

This is on a new car with new battery,  time will tell if  this causes an issue,

I do occasional see the message on the dash that stop/start cant be used, unsure if this is related.

Edited 28 June, 2019 by Pody

[Otto_Octavius]

2 hours ago, Pody said:

Im running the Blackvue 750s 2ch with the ODB power connection in parking mode.

Its on all night and does not hit the limits set to power off when it sees the battery current drop

 

This is on a new car with new battery,  time will tell if  this causes an issue,

I do occasional see the message on the dash that stop/start cant be used, unsure if this is related.

 

😯 I should hope not! Do you never use stop/ start? It's just sometimes it doesnt work?

Edited 28 June, 2019 by Otto_Octavius

[Stoofa]

Thinkware F770 - Front/Rear setup here. All hard wired and the installer did a fantastic job, no sight of cables, no errors....it just works.

Peace of mind, would like to think I'd be vindicated if one of the idiots out there hit me.

[maffyou]

23 hours ago, MarkyG82 said:

So i have tried plugging in the power bank.  It works apart from it cannot be charged and supply power at the same time so no good for this.  I have another about somewhere so will see if that one is the same before taking it to the car.

Thanks, hadn’t considered that being an issue. I’m fairly sure I’ll never actually bother, I was happy enough with my setup before and guess I’ll do the same when the new car arrives but it’s fun to find these things out!

[MarkyG82]

In the power side of things do people who leave them on 24/7 have any issues with starting the car?

[Otto_Octavius]

1 hour ago, MarkyG82 said:

In the power side of things do people who leave them on 24/7 have any issues with starting the car?

 

You can get a device which switches off the power to the Dashcam if the batter drains too low.

[Stoofa]

19 hours ago, MarkyG82 said:

In the power side of things do people who leave them on 24/7 have any issues with starting the car?

None so far, as said above, voltage monitoring means the unit is powered down if voltage drops too far.

Best example for me was this weekend - Last Saturday (22nd) was the last time I drove my car, I then went to use it again yesterday (29th) - started on the first turn as always.

[maffyou]

22 hours ago, MarkyG82 said:

In the power side of things do people who leave them on 24/7 have any issues with starting the car?

Have happily left it in the car for a week in the airport car park without any issues, several times. Of course it’s designed to only come on, briefly, if it detected movement from an impact. 

[MarkyG82]

1 hour ago, maffyou said:

. Of course it’s designed to only come on, briefly, if it detected movement from an impact. 

 

Mine is designed to mark the recording on impact. Recording is permanent with overwriting once the cars is full (standard across the patch).

[gRoberts]

I've got a Rexing V1P, which is barely noticeable and if you have the passenger visor down, it's barely noticeable from inside the car too. 

 

If you ever get involved in anything, never let the other person know you have a dashcam. Just swap details and get your insurance involved.

 

You'd be amazed how many people will try and lie about the accident, i.e. how many people, fault etc. 

[maffyou]

2 hours ago, gRoberts said:

If you ever get involved in anything, never let the other person know you have a dashcam.

Interesting, why’s that? I don’t get why it would make a difference?

[gRoberts]

8 hours ago, maffyou said:

Interesting, why’s that? I don’t get why it would make a difference?

 

Why show your cards at a poker game?

 

Insurance companies will jump on anything, no matter how small to try and worm out of a payout.

 

You'd be amazed how people inflate claims and when you're stuck with a whiplash claim for 5 people after a cash for crash scenario, having that ace up your sleeve can allow them to incriminate them selves out of any claim what so ever.

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, gRoberts said:

 

Why show your cards at a poker game?

 

Insurance companies will jump on anything, no matter how small to try and worm out of a payout.

 

You'd be amazed how people inflate claims and when you're stuck with a whiplash claim for 5 people after a cash for crash scenario, having that ace up your sleeve can allow them to incriminate them selves out of any claim what so ever.

 

As per the question above, I'm still none the wiser why you wouldn't let it be known you've a dashcam?  Surely having visual evidence makes it much less likely for an insurer to 'worm out' as you put it?

 

If you're to blame for the accident I can understand why you wouldn't admit to having one ( in the hope you might be able to 'worm out' ), but if it's the other party then simply saying I have a dashcam and better still, telling the 3rd party it's still recording, may be enough to stop them turning in to Basil Fawlty, Victor Meldrew or worse still Reggie Kray. 

Edited 1 July, 2019 by Guest

[MarkyG82]

Also, if you tell them you have one then they are less likely to argue fault and the claim will go through easier/quicker.  If you don't tell them and wait till asked then you have an extra layer of hassle to go through.

If the other driver knows from the outset then you have more of a chance of 'agreeing' fault and you may not even have to organise the footage to be sent in.

[gRoberts]

48 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

 

As per the question above, I'm still none the wiser why you wouldn't let it be known you've a dashcam?  Surely having visual evidence makes it much less likely for an insurer to 'worm out' as you put it?

 

If you're to blame for the accident I can understand why you wouldn't admit to having one ( in the hope you might be able to 'worm out' ), but if it's the other party then simply saying I have a dashcam and better still, telling the 3rd party it's still recording, may be enough to stop them turning in to Basil Fawlty, Victor Meldrew or worse still Reggie Kray. 

 

Anyone likely to go "Reggie Kray" on you is more likely to try and retrieve the dashcam than admit to guilt. 

 

All you should be doing in the event of an accident is taking pictures, exchange details and say nothing beyond making sure they are ok.

 

If it was intentional, the offender may react negatively and lead to confrontation if they know they've been recorded.

 

Saying nothing, only benefits you.

 

Of course, it's personal preference, so feel free to do what you want

 

22 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

Also, if you tell them you have one then they are less likely to argue fault and the claim will go through easier/quicker.  If you don't tell them and wait till asked then you have an extra layer of hassle to go through.

If the other driver knows from the outset then you have more of a chance of 'agreeing' fault and you may not even have to organise the footage to be sent in.

You have no legal obligation to provide it, even if asked. It should be provided to your insurance company who will decide if they want to declare it straight away, or, if they feel there is potential fraud they have been known to sit on the evidence, allowing them to continue lying and then present the evidence to dismiss the claim and then present to the police for CPS to decide if it's worth pursuing.

[MarkyG82]

@gRoberts I guess it all comes down to how a situation is handled by both you or the third party.  If both side act amenable then the exchange of info like 'I have a dash cam' would be fine regardless of who the finger is pointing at.  If the other driver wants shot or is getting all 'Reggie Kray' then I agree, keep quiet and let the insurance companies work for their money.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, gRoberts said:

 

Anyone likely to go "Reggie Kray" on you is more likely to try and retrieve the dashcam than admit to guilt. 

 

With all respect I do not agree. Not only are the chances of that happening pretty remote, if there are any witnesses the person is going to have far much more to deal with than loosing their excess.

Quote

 

All you should be doing in the event of an accident is taking pictures, exchange details and say nothing beyond making sure they are ok.

So are you saying cameras are useless?  My Octavia is currently being repaired after hitting a deer. First question the insurer asked me when I reported the accident - do you have a dashcam?

 

Just thinking off the top of my head, another bone of contention is accidents at roundabouts. Rarely are roundabout accidents settled one way or another, they are usually settled 50/50 blame. Dashcam footage can improve that. 

Quote

 

If it was intentional, the offender may react negatively and lead to confrontation if they know they've been recorded.

Answered above.

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Saying nothing, only benefits you.

I disagree.  As others say, why go thru some long drawn process? Are you suggesting the process may go to court and you string along with it, then at the last minute when you present your evidence you whip out a laptop from under your coat and shout "Ah ha!", because that's what it sounds like.

Quote

You have no legal obligation to provide it, even if asked. It should be provided to your insurance company who will decide if they want to declare it straight away, or, if they feel there is potential fraud they have been known to sit on the evidence, allowing them to continue lying and then present the evidence to dismiss the claim and then present to the police for CPS to decide if it's worth pursuing.

 I think you're delving in to the realms of fantasy with that one. First of all the insurer doesn't give a toss about reporting fraud - at the end of the day that's only more work for them. If fraud is committed, what normally happens is they bury their heads in the sand and everybody pays for it thru increased premiums.

 

And to be perfectly honest, the police ain't much bothered either mainly because they don't have the money or staff to deal with it.

Edited 1 July, 2019 by Guest