The Impartial Eye of the Car Dash Cam

Imagine this scenario: You’re driving down the road when an oncoming vehicle crosses the yellow line. It doesn’t fully enter your lane, but you aren’t able to react in time to avoid it completely. Your car gets sideswiped—it loses a rearview mirror and has damage along the length of the driver’s side—but no one is hurt. Then, when police arrive to take statements and write the report, you and the other driver give drastically different accounts of who was at fault and what happened. If there were no impartial witnesses to the collision, accurately determining liability may prove difficult. That’s where a recording of the incident can help out.

What are dashboard cameras?

A dashboard camera (dash cam) is a compact electronic device that features a video camera and a digital recorder to capture what the driver sees through the front windshield. It mounts to the dashboard or windshield of the vehicle and records such activity as oncoming vehicles or pedestrians crossing the street. It turns on when you start the vehicle and continuously records what’s going on. Some dash cams also record your speed; some track precise location via GPS; some even record what’s taking place inside your vehicle. Dash cams that are equipped with something called a G-sensor are able to detect an impact, which causes the recorded clip (including the seconds before and after the crash) to be saved in a special folder to prevent overwriting. The file can be played on the dash cam’s preview screen (if it has one) and/or downloaded to a computer for viewing.

Why use a dash cam?

According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (pdf), in 2022 there were an estimated 5,930,496 police-reported traffic crashes in which 42,514 people were killed and an estimated 2,382,771 people were injured. Those numbers emphasize the importance of taking precautionary steps when you’re behind the wheel of your car. And while there are some important things a dash cam cannot do (more on those later), it will provide an accurate, objective account of a driving event that can help settle disputes and determine liability.

Recordings can help prevent fraudulent insurance claims, provide evidence of your innocence in court in situations where you are wrongly charged with a traffic violation, and even allow you to monitor the driving habits of your young drivers. Dash cams that have internal batteries (in addition to being wired to the vehicle’s accessory outlet) are able to monitor your vehicle when it’s parked; if the device detects acceleration from an impact or vandalism, it starts a video recording. Some dash cams are dual channel, meaning they also have a rear-view camera, which captures activity behind the vehicle and can even be used as a live backup camera if the vehicle doesn’t already have one.

Does having a dash cam lower insurance?

Now that you see some of the benefits of having a dash cam, you might wonder whether car insurance is cheaper for dash cam users. Although car insurance companies generally don’t offer a dash cam insurance discount, it may be worth notifying your agent that you have one—let it be a part of a larger conversation about all your safe driving habits and your insurance needs.

Choosing a dash cam

When you shop for a dash cam, you’ll find that they’re available with a wide range of capabilities and prices. Options to consider include:

• Number of cameras. Some monitoring systems include a rear-mounted camera in addition to a front camera. Others may have dual cameras in the dash-mounted unit, one forward facing and the other rear facing to record activity in the passenger area.
• Video quality. A recording isn’t much use if it doesn’t have a clear picture. Top models have full HD image recording with night vision, image stabilization, motion detection and slow-motion recording capability. Some may have built-in polarizers to reduce dashboard reflections in the windshield.
• Ease of use. Touch screens and voice activation can help you adjust settings and more.
• Storage capacity/cloud storage. Choose between cameras that have removable memory cards that overwrite the oldest footage as the card fills and those that automatically upload the files to cloud storage.
• Features. Look for things like wide-angle viewing, parking mode, GPS capabilities and the option to alert authorities when a crash is detected. Other useful features include time-lapse mode, live streaming and smartphone connectivity.
• Setup. Some dash cams are easier to install than others. NOTE: Before you install a dash cam in your car, check with your state DMV to see if there are restrictions on where it can be placed or how it can be used.

Understand the limitations

As a final word, keep in mind there are a lot of important things a dash cam can’t do, including:

• warn you if you engage in risky driving behavior
• protect you from injury
• prevent distraction

It’s important to note that dash cam laws vary by state. For example, some states prohibit them from being in the driver’s line of sight, such as on a windshield. Familiarize yourself with your state’s laws before you install a dash cam in your vehicle, and if you take it on a road trip to other states, investigate dash cam laws in those states as well.

By providing impartial video evidence of crashes and other incidents, dash cams can be a valuable way to settle claims and resolve disputes.