[sirtastic]

Question for those of you with dash cams: What do you use and why?

Seems like a ton of options available. Some expensive and some not. Many features to consider like storage limits, power source, integrated rear-view cams, etc.

[dsfyu404ed]

I've got a G1W. I use it because I don't want to get screwed over by an idiot in front of me. I also drive a POS in a nice place and get frequently bothered by law enforcement (stopped for under 5-over...or really?) and if you bring an umbrella it usually won't rain.

The most common close call I have in my truck is slowing down to stop in a right or left turn lane and having someone cut me off to get in the lane while I'm stopping. I've only ever seen close calls but if more than one or two people do that when pulling up to one turn then it's gonna be hard for everyone to have enough space to come to a stop without rear ending someone.

When driving my 90s compact (not my DD) in traffic I've had two very close calls where people blast through one lane of dense traffic in order to pull out onto the road and cut me off (I assume because they don't see me). Both times I went jumping over curbs to avoid T-boning or rear-ending them.

[sirtastic]

How did you manage the wiring?

[dsfyu404ed]

I took a 12v outlet from the junkyard, wired it in parallel with the stock one (hot in run) and located it under the dash. The camera is powered by a USB plug so I just used an adapter I had lying around. I drilled a hole through the trim for the cord and used a grommet to keep it clean looking and prevent the cord from wearing out.

[petercooper]

I use a standard Blackvue HD camera because it was recommended to me - the quality is high enough to make out details (like plates) and it has good low light performance. It works long enough to ensure if I have an accident I can pull the card out and be good to go (I don't need hours of recording, right?)

It has front and back cameras, but I only use the front one as I'm too lazy to wire it in and assume 99% of likely trouble is at the front of the vehicle (yes, people can rear-end you, but in my country that person is almost automatically in the wrong).

[sirtastic]

Do you just plug it in when you hop in the car or did you wire it yourself?

[benmanns]

Usually dash cams come with a 12v/cigarette lighter charging cord. In my car, the 12v ports turn on and off when the car turns on and off. The cameras are designed to start up and start recording when they receive external power, and have small battery or capacitor that lets them save files and turn off when the external power source is turned off.

[sirtastic]

My car doesn't turn off my lighter port when car is turned off and I'm not sure I'll remember to unplug it every time I get out of my car which could result in a dead battery. :/

[benmanns]

There are dash cameras that are designed to be run 24/7, and you typically need to hardwire them to your battery. That way you can capture any vandalism/comprehensive damage that happens when the car is parked. From what I understand, they can go several days recording on the cars battery, so you could check the actual power usage or look for an always-on camera system that is designed for such use. You'd still need to run the car every couple days to keep the battery fully charged, but if you drive a lot it would work fine.

[petercooper]

benmanns basicaly has my setup down. It's plugged into the 12V cigarette lighter port, the cable is wrapped numerous times around a display my car has built in, and the wire just dangles the 4 or 5 inches from the camera to there - it's not in my view so doesn't bother me.

[FraaJad]

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-dash-cam/

[rwmj]

I use this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GNWO6S6

The reasons: It's very cheap, and has worked fine for about 6 months. It does however have an absolutely terrible user interface. The more general reason why I use a dashcam is to avoid he-said-she-said arguments about who caused an accident.