I had a little "almost incident " a while back .....guy merging onto the xpressway didn't see me because he didn't do a shoulder check . It turned out OK , scared my wife a bit , but I managed to steer onto the left shoulder and avoid contact . I got to wondering , for purposes of reporting it had an incident taken place , maybe a dash-cam would be a useful item .
I have one in the pickup, just leave it on all the time. It has shown a truck go through an intersection just in front of me, we missed each other so no harm no foul. But if we did collide, I would have had a record of it to back me up. It's a better insurance policy than insurance!! Border guards/custom agents are real leery of them though. Got pulled into secondary at Sarnia after declaring items I had bought. Paid the duty etc. and then was greeted by four agents who wanted to check over my pickup. No biggy...have at it. One of the lady agents picked up on the fact that the camera was running, and asked why? Because I just leave it on all the time, doesn't seem to bother the battery at all. Also asked if it would record sound. Yep! It sure does. I was told to stand over by a small wall and wait. The four had a short conflab on the other side of the truck out of earshot. One of the guy agents left and went back to the 'office' they came from. The other guy came over and stood by me and we had small talk while the two remaining women agents searched the pickup and opened the parcels that I had just paid the duty on. The agent standing with me also asked why the camera, and why was it was on? Same answer, 'I leave it on all the time, and I always have it on in the States.' I explained to him that the scam of someone backing into you at a light, and saying that you hit them causing them whiplash etc. is real concern and threat. The scammers even have it figured out that if they are the first to stop at a light, and then pull just a bit farther ahead than normal, you will likely pull up to them. Now they back into you with a good whack and bail out complaining of whiplash, injured backs etc. because you hit them. And if you look at the scene , that's just what it looks like. They are now sitting where they should have been....and your bashed into the back of them. Sure looks like your fault, and who going to believe you. They have convenient (paid)witnesses, (it is a scam after all) and you have some big problems.
Well, the agents did their thing, found nothing out of order (didn't expect they would) I was on my way and it was a happy ending. Did it thwart a possible hassle? Don't know for sure, but it seemed to be shaping up like one until the camera was spotted. So I just leave it on, and get left alone. Seems to work for me!!
Hmm never really gave it serious thought but it depends on how much and where u drive. In Carls nick of the woods well maybe its not needed and he is probably right. When into bigger municipalities the percentage of a incident climbs etc. Its pure numbers and volume of traffic.
The insurance industry as we know is keeping the share holders happy and i do understand the questions they ask....scamers.
It hurts all of us . Its easy to sue anybody you think can pay up....and lots of idiots win.
My wife was involved in a serious accident last year but it was clearly a case of the other guy being stupid. A camera would help somewhat in the evidence. We lost wages and a decent vehicle but ....its doesnt matter i still have her.
Her car did the job but she is still feeling the effects 9 months later.
As Sniper stated in his post sometimes that proof will help the innocent person driving walking etc prove there case.
E-bay or Amazon will be visited.
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gotta be young and dumb before you get old and wise
Do they only scan straight ahead or is there some peripheral vision ?
Not really any peripheral (meaning it can't see 180 degrees) but I do believe there are some camera's that have two lenses' so they can show where you're going and where you've been.
Although peripheral would be nice, if a single lens camera shows you entering an intersection on a green, then midway through you get t-boned, it will be obvious that whoever hit you was in the wrong.
Along those same lines, a single view camera can also show if you were hit from behind and pushed into the vehicle in front of you or hit (at a stoplight for e.g) or hit while driving along, in your own lane, doing nothing wrong.
Watch these two videos if dash cams interest you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZJjDLnZ5ZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0Hv2TQpNbs
-- Edited by chips on Wednesday 2nd of March 2016 08:32:12 AM
Sniper the "women agent" didn't happen to be a redhead was she? I had a go-round with her a few years ago. I bought a pickup that she thought was "too cheap" according to her. Supervisor finally straightened it out
Chips , so the driver of the roll back car claims it was all a mistake now that the camera caught him and his try for extortion money .............When I was selling cars for 20 years I had a lot of people come in for a car after theirs had been written off in an accident or severely damaged to the point they wanted out of it . The conversation would get to the accident itself and I NEVER had one person say it was their fault . Never . So there are , apparently , thousands of accidents out there where nobody was at fault ....maybe that's what they meant by " no fault insurance "
Sniper the "women agent" didn't happen to be a redhead was she? I had a go-round with her a few years ago. I bought a pickup that she thought was "too cheap" according to her. Supervisor finally straightened it out
No, no redhead involved. ( I generally like redheads. Ok, I know, to much information.) These two were young, could have even been trainees. I was more taken by the change in demeanor, body language especially. It was more like 'we'll show this old fart where the bear pooped in the bushes'. Until the camera was spotted....and then it was more like 'Whoa!! Hold up...he's got a camera'. It was when I was asked if it picked up sound, and that clinched it. You just knew it bugged them a bit. If you remember the Sarnia layout, they get you to park up to the short retaining wall, the camera was looking across the road to the Currency Exchange building so it wasn't seeing anyone, just the vehicles going by. But it could hear them!! I haven't had any great problems with the border crossings, and it's not the reason for it. But it does keep everybody on the straight and narrow...even me.
-- Edited by Sniper on Wednesday 2nd of March 2016 05:37:30 PM
Chips , so the driver of the roll back car claims it was all a mistake now that the camera caught him and his try for extortion money
Yeah, the whole story is the driver of the roll back car actually did phone the cops because he thought it was illegal for the other guy to be filming people without their permission therefore the video could not be used as evidence (which isn't true). The cops arrive, see there is no damage and send everyone home.
Next I read that the roll back guy is in trouble for attempting insurance fraud over $5000, seems he must have gone to his insurance company and filed a claim at which point the claim investigation reveals the video and the previous police interaction. The general public were PISSED at this guy and people were phoning his place of employment and complaining (he worked for a bank as I recall) and there were threats on his life, people also found out where he lived etc.
The video clearly shows the "accident" to be nothing more than a light tap, so for this guy to be charged with fraud OVER $5000, he must have been claiming injuries too.
As stated in the video ..... no one is going to believe that someone BACKED UP on the 401, hitting another car and that's exactly why the scammer did it. It's the perfect crime .... well, except for the dash cam.
Notice that not a single witness stuck around ......
Here's the story telling of the roll back moron being charged.
had one the picture, china (same as "The Source") just quit after 3 months. If you buy local as about any warranty. Video was nice, some people put one to the front and one watching the rear.
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Fords Rule ! If it ain't designed and manufactured in North America it sucks ! I don't do rice, pasta, fish and chips, sauerkraut, Ikea or other third world motor vehicle !
I got one for the drive home from work in the mornings @ 630 am,we have a ton of contractors up here from the cities and they drive like idiots,they have to get into the traffic line no matter if room or not. I use it all the time now,picked one up for the wifes car also...like it was said above cheap insurance....
has anybody hit their insurance company up for a discount because they do have one in their vehicle, just curious. the day is going to come before long that they will be offering 2 prices, one with and one without and eventually one in or no insurance, from that company.
has anybody hit their insurance company up for a discount because they do have one in their vehicle, just curious. the day is going to come before long that they will be offering 2 prices, one with and one without and eventually one in or no insurance, from that company.
I haven't bothered to ask. I figure this is just a tool to help me out of a situation. The problem with attempting to get an insurance discount would mean the camera has to be active at all times while the car is being driven .... as stated, my camera is activated when the car is started and turns off with the car BUT my camera is definitely low-end (first one was a cheapie off eBay, the others are identical but were bought at Princess Auto) and I would hate to have to explain to my insurance company that when I actually DID need the camera, it had stopped working. To be honest, I haven't had a camera fail yet, I just don't want my insurance company relying on it.
Regarding my wife refusing to allow me to install one in her car .... I don't use the suction cup (for glass mounting) that comes with the camera, I make a permanent metal bracket that gets mounted to the inside of the car, above the windshield. The problem with this is, she parks in a Go Train parking lot every weekday so she fears some piece of garbage is going to smash a window/damage her car just to steal a $40 camera (she's probably not wrong) and she feels putting the camera up and taking it down every time she drives the car is just too much of a hassle.
-- Edited by chips on Friday 25th of March 2016 07:46:24 AM
