
Ask HN: Do you use a dash cam? - lwhsiao
Last time this was discussed on HN was two years ago [1]. Since then, I&#x27;ve noticed more and more dash cams. Do you use a dash cam? If so, what do you recommend and why?<p>[1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10341625
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eltoozero
I've got an older model Lukas Blackbox LK-7900.

It's a no-brainer. I've had two instances where it eliminated any question of
fault which were otherwise going to be my word against theirs.

Literally went from collecting witness statements to implicate me in one
second to "oh you have a dashcam? Can I see the footage?" in the next.

The answer is "no" by the way, you give that to the insurance company.
Assuming its in your favor, otherwise you're under no obligation to furnish
incriminating evidence to anybody.

There is no downside.

Here's a wild accident I saw, dude lost a tire on the freeway. I pulled in
front and went to aid the driver when I saw he was totally out. Revived the
driver then pulled the battery cable with my letterman to stop the horn once
the cavalry got there. [0] Just another day on the road.

[0]: [https://youtu.be/A8keMz0fWO0](https://youtu.be/A8keMz0fWO0)

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AznHisoka
"lost a tire in the freeway" why does this (as well as flat tires) still
happen in the 21st century?

we dont just need self driving cars. we need self healing cars too.

~~~
pacala443
It still happens because very few people take proper care of their car. Some
of them neglect them so much that their tires literally pop off, like in this
video. OT, but this is why I don't believe self driving cars will become
mainstream any time soon. Not many people will buy a car that won't drive at
the first sight of a fault. There are thousands that drive with their check
engine light on and won't fix it until it breaks.

~~~
Gustomaximus
> this is why I don't believe self driving cars will become mainstream any
> time soon

Firstly your assuming cars will be down with any level of frequency to concern
people. This I doubt as cars are amazingly reliable these days and electric
(which should grow with driverless tech) should be further due to less things
to go wrong.

Secondly, driverless increases the chance of the non-owner model (probably
some all you can eat Uber type model) where you have hundreds of cars at your
disposal.

I think true self driving will delay a little due to the huge number of
scenarios systems are going to need to account for almost perfectly. From this
I guess we will get increasingly 'assisted driving' on freeways and know
roads. But even this will disappear fast as cars with driverless tech
requiring people to drive unknown areas will be uploaded and compiled to make
this a known area fairly fast if there is any level of traffic.

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kbaautumn
Had an accident several years ago, I was 100% sure that the other car ran the
red light. Of course the other driver lied and nobody was determined at fault
since there is no evidence nor witness (midnight). Later in police report I
saw the other driver is DRIVING WHEN SUSPENDED, NO WONDER WHY.

So I bought a dash cam. I recently bought a new one that acts like a rear
mirror (it also has a rear camera that I didn't use). I think it's pretty cool
so I don't need to stick it to my window and fall off due to day/night
temperature change. No accident ever since but it makes me feel safe :)

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railroad_jerk
I drive in Portugal. My first dashcam was JooVuu X, but it was always
extremely unstable and at the moment it seems to be abandoned by the producer.
I don't use it anymore. Such a frustration and a waste of money. So I recently
bought Viofo A119S and I'm happy with it. It's stable, it has a good quality
at day and at night and there is great support.

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waibelp
Would be useful but not allowed (not legally safe) in Germany. You may record
for private purposes but if you have an accident and you try to use the
records you offend against data protection resulting in fees up to 300k €.

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thisone
I just bought one, yes. I drive a back road (UK, so lots of bends and also
60mph) for a fair part of my commute and the last time I came around a bend to
see a car half in my lane, was the last straw. At least if I die in a 60mph
head on collision I want proof it wasn't my fault.

I purchased a nextbase 512gw second hand for £70 vs about £150 new. Seems to
be working well, the auto segment lock (hit a bump, it flags the recording
segment to not be overwritten) is a bit sensitive, but it does seem to be
learning a bit. It doesn't auto-lock as often anymore.

It's rather annoying that it expects to be always plugged in however.

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everybodyknows
Kdlinks X1, 1920x1080, 165 degree field of view. Good to have the high-res and
quality sensor, for a better chance at catching the license plates on hit-and-
run offenders.

Came with a Windows-only app that's a bit rough, but video is written to a
removable microSD, in files of a standard format readable by freeware tools on
Ubuntu distro.

One unhappy surprise: The camera will not recognize a card that has been
formatted by mkfs, whether as FAT or any of its variants.

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jpetersonmn
I've been thinking about building one of these, looks pretty cool. They want
quite a bit to just buy one, I wonder if they'll ever sell just the case.

[https://dride.io/](https://dride.io/)

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Can_Not
A cop lied saying I ran a red light. I instantly bought a dashcam after that.
I haven't had to pull the footage for any reason in the five years I've had
it, but it's well worth the security.

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EADGBE
Do insurance companies offer discounts for dash cams?

My current insurance has the "safe driving monitor". But this only grades your
style of driving...

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thisone
some UK companies do. from what I understand, you must have the cam on for
every drive (some require them to be hardwired), and the insurance company
will/can check up on your usage by requiring you to provide footage whenever
they ask.

