Dash Cam for CCW

[Jeb Stuart]

Most of us most likely have seen the commercial where a road rage driver accused a innocent man of brandishing his weapon. I had a road rage incident about a year ago and it has really got me to thinking.

I had a incident a few years back when a Man in a Pickup truck on a Early Sunday morning came flying down the road. I looked to make a turn and saw his car coming way down the road. I pulled into his lane like I have thousands of time. I did not realize how fast he was going so he came up to my rear quickly. He had plenty of time to move over to the other lane. He did move over and got next to me and would swerve his truck close to the side of my car.
I would slow down and not engage him in any conversation. He keep this up, constantly yelling, constantly swerving his car into my lane next to me. And pulling in front and hitting the break.
I remained cool, again did not engage him in anyway. Finally I saw a turn in the road and quickly waited until the last second and did a quick U turn and then more turns. He could not find a turn to follow me as it was a divided median. and blocked off.
I had my cell phone at the ready, but did not want to take pictures of him and his reckless driving as I felt this my anger him more. He was already out of control.

One of my fears is also this guy saying I pointed a gun out and threatened him. Something I would never do, but this was the type of man that would say this. Since then I have thought about this and have been looking for a camera that will video tape myself in the car and simultaneously filming the car in front. One accusation can change your whole life. He does not have to be true.

Dash Cam.---My GPS has a dash cam, but did not have this at the time.

Dash cams for Uber drivers is something I am looking at now. Not for UBER but for CCW in a vehicle. Here is a link of why one may be needed.

https://www.ridester.com/best-dash-cam-for-uber-lyft/

I have often wondered what was going on this guy. Something in his life was going South. And the sad part, was he had a young boy in the car that I could see was very frightened. I really felt sorry for the kid.

Dash cam thread

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/dash-cam-for-ccw.849375/

 

[paulsj]

There are plenty out there with short fuses and bad temperament. You are lucky he did not have a gun. Can you imagine being a cop trying to pull him over. I can imagine that job truly sucks especially with so many guns out there. This means life and death decisions have to be made in split seconds. No thanks.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Pulling over any car, or walking up to a house with a domestic disturbance has to be something that would begin to rattle the nerves for sure. If I am not mistaken, most Officers are shot while making those calls to a domestic quarrel.
I remember once some years ago in the neighborhood I lived in, I heard a car going down the road in front of my house. The engine noise was terrific. I could here him traveling through a number of streets, tires squealing, cars being hit, and finally one big loud crash. I was already out of bed, so I went out. Saw this car wrecked and flipped over and the car he hit that was parked on the street totaled. The driver had a few friends with him. When I told him, he could have killed someone, his friends jumped me verbally. "Hey, he just broke up with his girlfriend, so ^^^^ off.
In their minds, he had a justification for his actions. This is the type of world we live in today.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Watch this video and tell me, if think a action by this guy who in fact does a lot of gun reviews, was a major mistake. At least IMO I never would have done what he attempted to do. Never. And I was surprised to see him make what I think could have had actions go completely wrong. So again, see if you can find what I am talking about.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CCW/comments/6ivimg/dashcam_stop_of_youtuber_hank_strangedisarmed/

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

That Hank guy was an idiot for moving his hands towards his gun when the officer asked him where it was. I would say he's lucky he didn't get guns drawn on him.

On the flip side I think that officer was inexperienced to get that worked up over someone claiming to be legally armed. I would voice a strong opposition to an officer wanting to remove my gun.

I dont know what the law is where that was filmed but here you are not supposed to get out of your car when stopped and I actually prefer that versus having to get out like he did.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

That Hank guy was an idiot for moving his hands towards his gun when the officer asked him where it was. I would say he's lucky he didn't get guns drawn on him.

On the flip side I think that officer was inexperienced to get that worked up over someone claiming to be legally armed. I would voice a strong opposition to an officer wanting to remove my gun.

I dont know what the law is where that was filmed but here you are not supposed to get out of your car when stopped and I actually prefer that versus having to get out like he did.

Bingo! I could not believe this when I saw it and you could see the officer flinch. And this is some guy who has a YOUTUBE giving reviews and advice. What a joke.

 

[lemaymiami]

If it was me... The last thing I’d ever want on my personal vehicle is a dash cam... But each to his own...

 

[armoredman]

There are plenty out there with short fuses and bad temperament. You are lucky he did not have a gun. Can you imagine being a cop trying to pull him over. I can imagine that job truly sucks especially with so many guns out there. This means life and death decisions have to be made in split seconds. No thanks.

That sounds straight out of the Brady Bunch, didja notice that? And yes, LE often have to make split second decisions that will be armchair quarterbacked by others for months at leisure.
Dash cam? Facing forward, great idea, maybe even two, one forward and one backwards, but filming myself, not too sure about that one. Worth some thought, that's for certain.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

That sounds straight out of the Brady Bunch, didja notice that? And yes, LE often have to make split second decisions that will be armchair quarterbacked by others for months at leisure.
Dash cam? Facing forward, great idea, maybe even two, one forward and one backwards, but filming myself, not too sure about that one. Worth some thought, that's for certain.

I would not be want to have it on myself all the time, but if in a situation where I was in a road rage incident, like I described, and could turn it on separately on myself would be great. I would guess a lot of us have seen the commercial where the guy describes how he was placed in the same spot and the man enraged actually called the police and said he pointed a gun at him. He was arrested and thrown in jail. Fortunately he had insurance and a lawyer was sent to him.Why would you not want a way to protect yourself?
My wife and a similar experience. One day I came home and she was visibly shaken and so was my young son. A man enraged got out of his car, and started screaming at her and hitting the window trying to break it.
Fortunately others saw this going on and the Police arrived. Now what if he had broken the window. He may have killed her. What if she had a protection and killed him? Yes a inside cam would be great to have. Because without proof, she would be arrested for murder.Again, why would you NOT want evidence to back you up? Just does not make sense.
Sounds like pretty cheap insurance.

Ps, I have a dash cam on my GPS now but only records to the front. and I can turn it on or off.

 

[Hasaf]

If it was me... The last thing I’d ever want on my personal vehicle is a dash cam... But each to his own...

It does go through my mind that, with a dash-cam, I have a subpoenable witness in my car at all times that I am driving. It definitely encourages me to be sure that everything I am doing, while driving, needs to be legal.

 

[Kendahl]

My wife had a similar experience. One day I came home and she was visibly shaken and so was my young son. A man enraged got out of his car, and started screaming at her and hitting the window trying to break it. Fortunately others saw this going on and the Police arrived. Now what if he had broken the window. He may have killed her. What if she had a protection and killed him? Yes a inside cam would be great to have. Because without proof, she would be arrested for murder.Again, why would you NOT want evidence to back you up?

The broken window would be evidence that he attacked her. It's a good reason to keep your windows up and doors locked when you drive. (I assume your wife was blocked so that she couldn't escape by driving away.)

When there is a disparity of force in favor of an attacker, the victim is permitted to use stronger force in self defense than he or she would otherwise. A disparity in size and strength, which is typical between men and women, is an example. Others are a physical handicap or a big difference in age.

 

[armoredman]

Fortunately others saw this going on and the Police arrived. Now what if he had broken the window. He may have killed her. What if she had a protection and killed him? Yes a inside cam would be great to have. Because without proof, she would be arrested for murder.Again, why would you NOT want evidence to back you up? Just does not make sense.

Curious - are you serious? The guy smashes her window, with witnesses, she uses deadly physical force in defense of life, and you say she is arrested because there is no proof? I am glad I don't live where you are, if with such clear proof I would still fear Standing my Ground in my mobile Castle. Amazing that people defending themselves in vehicles, even documented in the Armed Citizen reports, have not all be convicted and sent to prison without cameras recording at all angles.

Just does not make sense

Yeah, you're right, it doesn't make sense, to think that everyone HAS to have these all the times. I've already said the forward facing one is not a bad idea in case of accident, which is FAR more common than road rage, and one to the rear is not a bad idea either.

It does go through my mind that, with a dash-cam, I have a subpoenable witness in my car at all times that I am driving. It definitely encourages me to be sure that everything I am doing, while driving, needs to be legal.

That is not really a problem - I found a darn near foolproof method of not getting a moving violation. Don't break the law. My one and only moving violation was 27 years ago, knocking on wood.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

If it was me... The last thing I’d ever want on my personal vehicle is a dash cam... But each to his own...

I suppose the same thing could be said about body cams. If you're in the wrong it's going to help them bury you but dash cams have saved a ton of folks from insurance scams and some bad arrests. I don't have one but I'm considering it.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

That is not really a problem - I found a darn near foolproof method of not getting a moving violation. Don't break the law. My one and only moving violation was 27 years ago, knocking on wood.

I've had mixed results with just following the law. As a young man I was stopped for no reason the officer could or would articulate. I asked what I had done and he couldn't come up with anything. I was very naive about the law and the nature of the authority of The State back then.

Apropos of nothing I once had an interesting conversation with a friend of a friend that's town cop. He claimed that he could pull anyone over; essentially he claimed that if he followed someone for six or eight blocks at some point they'd generally do something that could be used to justify pulling someone over. Not that he seemed to do it. He seemed more interested in genuinely keeping the peace then in hassling people.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Curious - are you serious? The guy smashes her window, with witnesses, she uses deadly physical force in defense of life, and you say she is arrested because there is no proof? I am glad I don't live where you are, if with such clear proof I would still fear Standing my Ground in my mobile Castle. Amazing that people defending themselves in vehicles, even documented in the Armed Citizen reports, have not all be convicted and sent to prison without cameras recording at all angles.

Yep, sh

Curious - are you serious? The guy smashes her window, with witnesses, she uses deadly physical force in defense of life, and you say she is arrested because there is no proof? I am glad I don't live where you are, if with such clear proof I would still fear Standing my Ground in my mobile Castle. Amazing that people defending themselves in vehicles, even documented in the Armed Citizen reports, have not all be convicted and sent to prison without cameras recording at all angles.

.

Yes, I am very serious.
First of all she did not shoot the guy. I just a gave a example of what could have happened. And since when do all shooting have witnesses? Could be your word against others.Do you really think all witnes's tell the truth? Are you serious? Especially down where I live.
Yes, she could have been arrested if she had killed the man. We had a case a few years back and it was caught on CCTV defending himself, yet he spent a lot of time in jail, before being cleared. Any number of statements could be used to turn something around. Since when can witnesses be counted on? My gosh, there are a host of problems that could come about in a deadly force involvement. Not to mention a civil suite. Regardless, I think you get my point even without the example I gave you.
You feel you do not need a camera for your vehicle, and no proof needed if you did use deadly force other than your word, that is fine.
But you have to realize, Police now use them for their protection as well.

Suppose you did use deadly force, knew you in the right, but could not prove it. If their was a dash cam in the car proving you did nothing wrong, you would not want that evidence? Seriously?

Sure seems like cheap insurance. Got news for you. Innocent people go to jail all the time.Do you really think it could not happen to you? There are the way things should be and there are the way things are. And if anyone told you life is fair, then they were lying

 

[Hasaf]

That is not really a problem - I found a darn near foolproof method of not getting a moving violation. Don't break the law. My one and only moving violation was 27 years ago, knocking on wood.

I think you are treating my comment to a "have you stopped beating your wife?" type of loaded inquiry. I am also pretty careful to make sure that I am very legal in my driving. About the only one that sometimes gets me are hidden speed limit changes. However, similar to you, my only moving violation was over 35 years ago. the Dash-cam is just a reminder. The same as having a radar detector, I just want to know when I am being watched (and I have seen them used as safety devices).

Just an example of seeing a radar being used as a safety device, I was on a county road between Corning and 99 in northern California (I was just off the road and doing paperwork in my van when I saw this, which is why I was able to see the full process). It was a foggy morning and the CHP Officer saw a retread strip (road gators) on the road. He pulled off, turned on his radar, and then got out and pulled the strip off the road. He returned to his car, turned the radar off, and drove away.

It seemed odd, but the purpose was obvious. Enough people had detectors to create a general slowdown, and increase the alertness, of all traffic.

Back to why I have a dashcam. There are two reasons. The first was when (ok, one of the times) my daughter got hit while riding her bicycle. She is in her thirties and has never seen a good reason for the expense of an auto.

A driver tried bullying her with his auto. By her account, the driver, who she does not recall having any other contact with, looked at her, made a hand gesture and then pulled into her lane, forcing her against the curb. She is an experienced rider and did not crash. Even better, looking at her bike later she realized that she had taken some paint samples from his vehicle.

I told her to report it, and she did. The officer, that took the report, told her that there had been a couple of 911 hang-ups from where she was at the time she was reporting. I consider that good; that would indicate that some people thought she was going to crash and called. Once they realized she was ok, they hung up.

I then asked myself, if I had been one of the people witnessing it, what could I have done better? That was my decision maker, I added the camera. I had already considered it just for "bear walking across the road" pictures and the like (back when I lived in California, bear in road happened, but was rare enough to make it notable).

There is also the point that I visit Salt Lake frequently. I have never seen as much red-light running as in Salt Lake (yes, I wrote to the chief of police about it). That had me on the edge of adding a dash cam, I wanted to be able to document the green light if I were to get hit; for that matter, I wanted to be able to document the red light if hit from behind.

As you can see, I was already on the edge of adding a dash cam when my daughters incident push me over the edge and I got one.

Of course, even that has its issues. Winter last year I was driving through Wyoming and chatting with my wife on the phone (yes, a no-no; but I was in the middle of nothingness with no one around). A big ice and snow encrusted tumble weed crossed the road in front of me and I made the comment, "well, that will look interesting on the dash cam." It was just as I finished that comment that I entered a cellular dead zone.

Apparently my wife tried calling me back and was not able to, she was not as ammused as I was.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Not breaking the Law is one thing, proving it is another. I will keep my Dash Cam. (and by the way, I also have a unblemished driving record for three decades,) But I will not let that be my sole proof in court if that monster should ever raise his head. I want more than that. I want EVIDENCE. Contrary to what most believe, in today's world, your are guilty and have to prove your innocence.

 

[armoredman]

And you may do so, have a wonderful time, enjoy in good health.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

The problem I have with a dash cam in the car is we all have a little dirt on us when it comes to the road. You've NEVER gone 5,10,15mph over the limit? Never cut someone off even by accident? Never swerved or come close to the lines while changing the radio or adjusting the climate?

I wonder how many of the cases where a dash cam proved positive for a road rage victim the attorneys actually went back through the WHOLE length of data on the recorder.


For most folks having a "witness" 24/7 in the car probably isn't in our best interest.

 

[rtroha]

A few months ago one of the local police blotters described a motorist that was struck by another vehicle that fled the scene. Police used the motorist's dash cam to ID the vehicle and track down the hit-skip driver.

Several years ago I heard the following on the scanner: Cop says to dispatcher, "Both drivers claim they had the green light."

One of my co-workers at the school we worked at was sitting at the parking lot exit waiting to pull into the street. He was rear ended by a mother of a student. She told my co-worker her husband would contact him to iron out the insurance details. The next day, the husband called and told my co-worker, "So I understand you backed into my wife's car."

 

[Hasaf]

. . .
Several years ago I heard the following on the scanner: Cop says to dispatcher, "Both drivers claim they had the green light."

One of my co-workers at the school we worked at was sitting at the parking lot exit waiting to pull into the street. He was rear ended by a mother of a student. She told my co-worker her husband would contact him to iron out the insurance details. The next day, the husband called and told my co-worker, "So I understand you backed into my wife's car."

Both of these are easy. "let's just compare our dash cams and see what they show. After all:

• The lights may not have been working correctly
• the earth may have undergone a giant, but unnoticed, upheaval that pushed my car backwards

. . . I don't think so, but let's compare our dash cams and see. . . Oh, you don't have a dash cam. . . well, we can still look at mine."

 

[Elm Creek Smith]

My brother-in-law has driven for Uber and Lyft and won't drive without his dash-cam on that shows a forward view and an inside view. A while back his Dodge Magnum was rear-ended by a pickup truck while he was waiting at a light. The clown in the pickup claimed that my brother-in-law pulled out in front of him and hit the brakes. The clown's insurance paid for my brother-in-law's car repairs and medical bills.

I'm seriously considering the same sort of dash-cam.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

In the city I live in, they have already started installing dash camera's on school Bus. And they also started installing "Red Light" camera's as well. According to bus drivers, the amount that run their red stop lights in unbelievable Not to count the amount of rear end collisions when the bus is stopped. Seems some folks cannot see a huge yellow bus stopped with all kinds of red lights flashing I guess what is the latest on their facebook page is more important than a child's life. .

 

[Sypher....]

I figured by the title of the thread there were going to be recommendations for specific dash cams. Does anyone have any recommendations, or do I need to start a separate thread?
(if it comes across snarky, no intent to be)

 

[Hasaf]

The trouble with suggestions is that we have different needs, and some of our equipment is dated. For example, I have
WheelWitness HD PRO Dash Cam with GPS. While it was good when I got it, it is no longer what I would recommend for no reason other than age.

Some here have mentioned "vehicle interior" cameras, I have no need for that feature. I just want auto-on when I start the car. However, even for that, there are newer and better units on the market.

I would recommend first decide what features you want. Then do a more generic search for Dash Camera Reviews.