You need a dashcam

[Studio25]

OK, maybe you don't. I've tended to be a bit nit picky about what I download (lane discipline, people doing 45 in a 60 zone and staying at that speed when it drops to a 30 zone, etc). I've had a couple of weeks without my dashcam, and have had no incidents to report. So today, I put the card back in and wasn't expecting to be pulling the card out again any time soon, when this happens within ¼ mile of home:

[Studio25]

Wide angle makes it look like he was further away than he really was.He was maybe five feet away from me by the time I stopped. Also makes it look like I was going faster than about 25mph.

[Accyexplorer]

The video won't play for some reason or other.
I always wanted one after watching a insurance scams programme were folk stopped at traffic lights and then reversed into the car behind claiming that it was their fault.Still i never got around to buying/justifying one.
That being said,There is at least 1 time per week that i see some stupid [deleted] driving like a complete [deleted] and wish i had a dash cam to report them

[gpick24]

I used to have an app on my phone (Isymdvr I think) but got fed up of the messing about with it, ended up deleting it because it took up a lot of storage. When my SatNav eventually gives up the ghost I`ll probably get one with dashcam built in.

[maxthecollie]

I have one that I use and it's surprising what you see. Regularly on Dunkenhalgh way coming from the motorway drivers using the right hand lane because the left hand lane is queing and cutting someone up to go into Accrington.

[Gordon Booth]

What lovely clear video. Much better than you see on those Russian Youtube videos.
Seems like a good idea, save a lot of arguing with the other driver and the insurance company.
What sort is it, Studio25, might be a good investment?

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by maxthecollie

I have one that I use and it's surprising what you see. Regularly on Dunkenhalgh way coming from the motorway drivers using the right hand lane because the left hand lane is queing and cutting someone up to go into Accrington.

This also happens in a morning at the lights at the top of Blackburn Road in Clayton.
Cars queue in the left lane and as they get nearer the junction, they force their way into the right hand lane to go to Accrington....It drives himself mad and there are usually a lot of expletives let rip when this is happening.

[Studio25]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

The video won't play for some reason or other...

Not sure what technology YouTube uses, but I think it's "Flash" - video is playing fine for me even on the PC that's got an out-of-date Flash version and guest access to Accyweb.

If you click on the word YouTube at the bottom right of any embedded YouTube video, you'll be taken to their website to view it, rather than embedded in a forum.

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

What lovely clear video. Much better than you see on those Russian Youtube videos.
Seems like a good idea, save a lot of arguing with the other driver and the insurance company.
What sort is it, Studio25, might be a good investment?

It's a Transcend DrivePro 200 - they are more famous for their memory products, so I'm surprised the video quality is so good (notwithstanding the dirty windscreen, sorry). Audio quality is extremely poor, as you can tell, but audio is rarely important. Currently £90 at Argos. I got it for Christmas, and actually wanted another type, which had a built-in GPS receiver to show my speed and location, but my wife decided that my detailed research was less important than those of the random people who post anonymous reviews on Amazon and got me this one instead.

They are all pretty clear these days. If you're thinking of one, check out the quality for day and night driving, especially what happens when there's an oncoming car with headlights on. Make sure it has a wide field of view, so that it can see at least both corners of your bonnet when mounted on the windscreen. It means you'll get barrel distortion on the video (look at the bendy lamp posts as they are passing out of view) but it's meant to record evidence, not look pretty. Also, it needs a very long power cable so it can be routed around the screen and not left dangling down the middle.

The DrivePro can create its own wifi hotspot so you can download to your phone or tablet. I've only ever used this if I've been stuck in a parked car waiting for a family member. It's always far more convenient to pull the memory card out and stick it in the laptop when I get home. I'd much rather have had a speed readout than the wifi gimmick.

With its 16 GB card it records about 2 hours of 1080p 30fps video and erases the oldest when full, so you're really on a video loop. The same size card would record more or less driving depending on the frame size or frame rate. There's a big red button on most of them which you can press to protect the current event from being overwritten. On this camera, it's a stupid system where the 10 secs before the press and 50 seconds after the press are protected. That's no use, it needs to be the other way around.

If you're looking for one, it's worth visiting techmoan.com. His reviews are respected enough that dashcam manufacturers send him cameras to review. It's a developing market, so the one I wanted is no longer in his favourites list, so maybe my wife was right after all. (In my defence, the one she got isn't on his list either.)

As far as I'm aware, Direct Line is the only insurer that offers a discount for having a dashcam. I use Swinton, but no worries - if my insurer's case can be made easier by having access to the camera footage, they can buy it from me and claim it back from the other party.

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

...Cars queue in the left lane and as they get nearer the junction, they force their way into the right hand lane to go to Accrington....It drives himself mad and there are usually a lot of expletives let rip when this is happening.

Would it be against any forum rules to have a thread of dashcam videos of this happening (the cutting up, not the expletives)?

You might consider buying your hubby a dashcam just for the benefit to his blood pressure. I don't get anywhere near as mad as I used to, because there's the knowledge that their antics will be on YouTube within hours for other people to see. It's very therapeutic.

There's a facebook group called "Idiot UK drivers exposed" which gets a couple of videos per day added. It's all far, far worse than anything I experience on our local roads.

[Margaret Pilkington]

He has a dashcam, but he can't get it to stick to the windscreen...and anyway he is a technophobe...and yes I can hear you muttering that you don't need much technical knowledge to work one of these, but he has had an Ipad mini for 12 months now and still gets in a tussle with it(even a three year old can use one of those).
It might help his blood pressure, but it would do mine no good at all

[RainbowSix]

IMO they are essential these days.
At some point the insurance co's are going to make our insurance cheaper if we have one fitted.
But I'd fit a dual cam that does front and rear.

They do aid you in the event of any mishaps.

Check out Techmoan on youtube for his review of a lot of them.

Forget phone & sat nav apps - keep them dashcams only - that way the concentrate on the camera side only & do not impact on anything else.
You can also get them so they look like center mirrors, I would also only get one that had an LCD screen so you can see the video at the roadside, this can prevent you being blamed for a mishap or your car being taken from you by the police etc.

There are regular poster on youtube of their dashcam exploits.

[Studio25]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

...he is a technophobe...and yes I can hear you muttering that you don't need much technical knowledge to work one of these...

Nah - We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I'm incapable of anything but the most basic DiY or car maintenance. My dad hangs his head in shame at my total lack of knowledge and interest when it comes to football.

When someone's weaknesses are behind the wheel, though, that's worthy of ridicule. They are in charge of a machine capable of killing someone. Incompetence is not an excuse.

Some more vids for you all.

Cheap dashcam from China- £17 plus £3 for a magnetic mobile phone fisheye lens adapter.


Oncoming idiots thinking they are doing me a favour by warning of a speed trap


Example of how to cut someone up, run an amber light even though the junction is blocked, then realise your mistake and take evasive action.

[Gremlin]

Originally Posted by maxthecollie

I have one that I use and it's surprising what you see. Regularly on Dunkenhalgh way coming from the motorway drivers using the right hand lane because the left hand lane is queing and cutting someone up to go into Accrington.

I have one that on my dash cam Frank from last week, all the way down the off side and then tried to cut up Dill Hall across me, he came unstuck.
I never even notice mine. It tucks behind the mirror, wires though headlining and starts when ignition s switched on. Wide angle shows the edge of both windscreen pillars and is HD. Cracking bit of kit and I sometime take the card out to watch the antics its recorded. The language gets a bit blue at times when I've a mate of two with me.

[Gremlin]

Blackburn road, screen shots from my front facing camera. I'm struggling to upload videos for some reason.
and who was the lady who cut straight across the front of me on the roundabout on Sparth road. It gave my brakes a good warm up anyway.

[Gremlin]

Still shot clipped from my forward facing car camera.
I feel sorry for the lad, I bet the Mini is his pride and joy. does anybody know how he got on removing it.
At least he had a genuine reason for partly blocking Blackburn road.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Oh dear! Tears before bedtime.