New driver. Is it worth having a Dash cam?

[ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmy]

My DC has passed their test this week and driving instructor recommended a Dash cam.

Do you use one? Did you buy one when your teen passed? Are they worth having? if so, which one?

Thanks

Yes, always. Ask the driving instructor to suggest one suitable for the car. Different makes are suitable for different vehicles. You need a front and rear cam.

I think all drivers should have them. There are so many crazy people on the roads nowadays - those that have no respect of the Highway Code and others who will deliberately cause an accident to claim money. If you have footage of what happened, especially as a new driver, then it helps with insurance claims, especially if there are no witnesses. If you can afford front and rear cams then even better. Most driving instructors have them nowadays, so maybe get them to advise which one they use. I do have one, but can't even remember what make it is without going in to my car and looking.

Yes, certainly. Both our cars have them, front and back.

We keep talking about getting dashcams and we’ve been driving 20+ years. There’s some absolutely dreadful driving out there.

Have one anyway, they are brilliant if there is an accident rather than people recollecting what happened.

My car has collision avoidance and shortly after Ds passed his test this kicked in but he couldn't work out what he had done wrong for it to trigger. We could all look at the footage on the laptop rather than the tiny camera screen and see there was nothing, something like an insect must have flown near to the sensor for it to happen.

We have front and rear dash cams in both cars. It also means you can monitor their driving at any time and they are aware of it. We have these ones and they are just plugged into charging ports. Dh watched some videos and tucked all the cables away behind all the liners in the car. The camera comes on automatically when we start the car.

https://viofouk.co.uk/product/a129-plus-dual-dashcam-front-rear/

I would also recommend maybe all watching Ruby Dash Cam (or other dash cam videos) together on Youtube so you can see if your teen can spot where there are likely to be issues. One is positioning on a roundabout and people exiting from a lane other than the left lane. It helps make them aware of where it goes wrong. Also BigJobber who used to be an insurance claims worker and he will tell you who is at fault for accidents. It helps them get aware without them being in the situation.

Thanks for replies

Do people hard wire them?

I think everyone should have them, not just new drivers.
Bought mine 12yrs ago (a Garmin) and have just moved it from car to car.

Would recommend getting on hard wired, better than having cables trailing and on show. Stores like Halfords will fit them if purchased there or look for a local auto electrician

I wouldn't drive anywhere without one. DD retained her no claims when she was shunted at speed into the car in front of her because the dash cam footage showed how hard she was hit. First year of driving, so it would have been expensive without this.

Yes, get one for front & back.

I bought mine from Halfords and they fitted it with all the wires tucked away.

The sooner the manufacturers factory fit them the better.

Id say it’s an essential for a new driver.

Thanks everyone 😊

I would hard wire if possible, it enables parking protection on mine (if the car is hit while parked up it starts recording).

Ive been thinking of a dash cam but know nothing about them .Apparently hard wired ones are better.
How do you download the footage? If it’s compatible with a smart phone , don’t you need to have Bluetooth in all the time ? And unlimited data ?

How to you get the footage from an SD card ?

100% yes! Front and rear. Yes I would get it hard wired, mine is. In our work vehicles we also have internal dash cams to evidence the driver wasn’t (or was) doing anything they shouldn’t be at the time of accident

Ok do you know how you download the footage ? From an SD card ? Do you need a laptop or computer?

If it works off a smart phone do you need Bluetooth on the whole time and unlimited data?

Yes definitely.

Marking place to see if anyone is able to reply with more detail about how they work.

Update- we bought one from Halfords and had it hard wired.

It is a ‘next base’ we paid extra for them to fit it.

There is an SD card which records and you can watch or it will over-write if you don’t erase it all.

The dash cam I have will download over WiFi to an app on my phone it’s a fairly new nextbase one. It can also be downloaded via an sd card.
the work ones are called samsara suitable for remote viewing etc and probably rather costly and overkill for a personal vehicle

Also it’s advisable to inform your insurance company if the dash cam is hard wired in. Some may take the view that it’s an electrical modification and they should be made aware.

That may be true but I’d be careful about what their policy is in the event of an accident and the footage not working.

I was advised by an insurance broker years ago with home insurance, that it’s best to say you don’t have a working burglar alarm , even if you do.

He said it hardly makes the premium go any lower anyway and in the event of alarm not being set or working properly, it may invalidate a claim.