Understanding Dash Cams: From Basics to Advanced
March 6, 2024
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For businesses, dash cams serve more than just recording road incidents; they are valuable tools for improving overall operations, enhancing safety, reducing costs, and maintaining a positive reputation.
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In the event of an accident involving a fleet vehicle, dash cam footage can clarify the incident's details. This clarity is crucial for insurance claims, protecting the company from false claims and ensuring faster claim resolutions.
What Are Dash Cams?
Dash cams are video cameras installed in vehicles to record activities inside and around the vehicle. They can be mounted on the dashboard or windshield, with some models recording the road ahead, the interior of the car, or both. Certain dash cams are also designed to capture footage around the vehicle’s exterior to spot potential hazards.
The recordings from dash cams are useful for several reasons. They can help monitor driving behavior, which is especially beneficial for businesses managing their drivers. In events such as car accidents or thefts, dash cam footage provides valuable evidence. This evidence can be crucial for insurance claims, legal cases, and understanding the events leading up to an incident.
How Does Dash Cam Work?
A dash camera operates similarly to a typical digital camera, using a lens to capture light and focus it onto an image sensor. This sensor, composed of light-sensitive cells, converts incoming light into electrical signals, which are then transformed into digital data.
This digital data is stored on a storage device, such as an SD card, allowing for later viewing. Unlike standard cameras that capture still images, a dash cam continuously records video footage. The video undergoes the same conversion process as images before being stored.
Dash cams are typically powered by a cigarette lighter cable, though they can also be hardwired to a vehicle's fuse box for continuous power.
As long as the dash cam has power, it records footage of the road. Data management varies by model, and we'll explore those differences later.
Dash cams also come with additional features to enhance their functionality, including Wi-Fi, cloud storage, motion detection, night vision, and GPS tracking. These features work together to ensure the dash cam operates effectively. This is a summary of how a dash camera works.
How Much Do Dash Cams Cost?
When searching for dash cams, you have several options. For less than $100, you can find a camera with basic recording functions, typically priced between $70 and $80.
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However, if you desire additional features discussed earlier, be prepared to invest more. More advanced dash cams, priced at least $400, offer functionalities like GPS tracking and parking video surveillance, which can be invaluable in recovering your vehicle in case of theft.
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Alternatively, you can find mid-range options with a mix of features. A dash cam with capabilities such as 4k resolution, night vision, and in-car video surveillance monitoring may cost around $200.
The Benefits of Using Fleet Dash Cams
Dash cams offer a range of benefits for driving safety and accountability
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Comprehensive Accident Documentation: Dash cams continuously record in real-time, providing an unedited, transparent record of events as they happen. This is crucial during accidents, offering a clear view of the sequence of events and responsibilities.
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Precise Accident Reconstruction: Dash cam footage helps accurately reconstruct accidents by showing vehicle positions, speeds, and driver actions. This aids law enforcement, insurance companies, and legal proceedings, ensuring fair outcomes and reducing uncertainties.
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Preventing Insurance Fraud: Dash cams effectively deter and expose insurance fraud by capturing the entirety of an incident and revealing the truth against false claims.
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Promoting Safer Driving: Dash cams have the additional benefit of continuously recording while you are driving. Reviewing the footage can provide insights into your driving style, helping you identify areas for improvement and become a safer driver.
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What Are the Cons of Having a Dash Cam?
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Insurance Implications: Sharing dash cam footage can help reduce auto insurance costs if it proves you weren't at fault in a collision. However, it's important to note that your insurance rates might not change if the footage exonerates you.
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Installation Issues: Placement of the camera is crucial. Improper installation can create significant blind spots, impacting your view and safety while driving.
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Distraction: Installing and managing a dash cam can be distracting, especially if it’s not done correctly. Ensuring the camera is secure and not obstructing your view is essential to avoid distractions.
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Theft Risk: Dash cams are often visible and cannot be easily hidden, making them attractive to thieves. This visibility can increase the risk of your vehicle being broken into.
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Legal Consequences: If your dash cam footage shows that you were at fault in an accident, it can be used against you in court. This could be detrimental if you were confident you weren’t responsible for the incident.
How Does a Dash Cam Manage Data?
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Continuous Recording: Most dash cams continuously record video, similar to how backup cameras display a live feed on a monitor. This ongoing recording ensures all driving activities are captured.
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Storage: Dash cams typically save footage on SD cards or flash drives. These storage devices usually have limited capacity, so when they become full, the dash cam overwrites the oldest recordings with new data. To prevent data loss of important footage, users can transfer videos to another storage device before they are overwritten.
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Event-Based Saving: Some dash cams are equipped with sensors that detect sudden braking, impacts, or other unusual activities. When such events occur, the dash cam automatically saves the relevant footage and sometimes uploads it to the cloud. This ensures that crucial evidence is preserved even if the SD card is full.
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Cloud Storage: Advanced dash cams can transmit video footage to cloud storage, allowing users to access the information from other devices besides the dash cam itself. This feature is particularly useful for preserving important data and accessing it remotely.
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Selective Data Management: Certain dash cams are programmed to manage data selectively, often prioritizing the preservation of specific types of recordings, such as collisions or theft incidents. This ensures that critical events are always available for review.
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These data management features make dash cams valuable for both personal and commercial use, providing reliable evidence in case of accidents or other incidents.​
How Do Dash Cams Record Videos?
Dash cams record videos using different methods, typically involving storage devices, cameras, and sensors.
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Your dashboard camera can record videos in one of the following ways:
Incident Recording
As the name suggests, an incident such as a sudden impact, braking, or accident will trigger this recording. The feature ensures the camera saves the video before, during, and after the event.
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The camera saves this footage in a separate folder on the storage device. Consequently, these recordings are protected from being overwritten during loop recording when the SD card is full.
Continuous Recording
This feature refers to the camera recording footage continuously, often called loop recording. Most dash cams use this method.
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Thanks to this mechanism, new footage automatically overwrites old footage once the storage is full, ensuring that recording never stops.
Parking Mode
When you park your car and turn off the engine, the parking mode feature allows the dash cam to continue recording.
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This feature is helpful as many things can happen in a parking lot when you're not around. The camera can use a G-sensor or motion sensors to activate recording, or you may need a hardwiring kit.
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Overall, parking mode is important for enhancing your car's safety.
How Can You View Dash Cam Recordings?
Accessing footage from a dash cam varies depending on the model and how it stores data.
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Most dash cams use SD cards. You can remove the card, insert it into a computer, and view the videos.
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Some cameras offer Wi-Fi connectivity. Once connected, they can upload videos to the cloud, allowing you to view footage from various devices.
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Bluetooth is another technology used by some dash cams for viewing recordings. Others send data to a mobile app, enabling remote access anytime.
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Storing recordings in the cloud not only provides easy access but also simplifies editing and sharing.