Reader Question: Dashcams?

Here’s the latest reader question, along with my reply! 

Marcus asks: Do you recommend any dashcams? I was thinking about getting one for liability reasons.

My reply: I not only recommend them, I urge them. I consider a camera rig to be as essential these days as a radar detector; even more so. And not only for liability reasons – though this is no small thing. Being able to prove that someone else’s error (or worse) caused an accident (or worse) is invaluable. It is no longer He said vs. She said. It is: This is what happened; see for yourself. Certainly well worth the $200 or less a good video rig will cost you.

But there is another reason to keep a video rig in your car. AGWs are probably more a threat than other drivers. Just the presence of the camera – especially if it is capable of live-streaming (smashing the camera/deleting the files won’t help the AGW) is often enough to keep an AGW within the bounds of the law – which, granted, isn’t much these days but it is something. And if he goes beyond the bounds of the law, you now have evidence that may save you from much grief (and possibly, jail). It could also be key in a civil suit/settlement situation.

Twenty years ago, such measures would not have been necessary. AGWs did Hut! Hut! Hut! then, too – but it was much less common because it had not yet been routinized and normalized, which it is now.

Remember: Your testimony – what you claim an AGW did or did not do – is generally considered “hearsay” in court and worthless as evidence while whatever an AGW says is treated as physical evidence.

Having video evidence equals things a bit.

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