Should I Get a Dash Cam?

Your Facebook feed may contain plenty of action-cam footage of everything from downhill skiers to walking the streets of the big city, but you rarely see someone post a video taken by a dash camera. However, the global market for these gadgets is rapidly growing and finding lots of new success in the United States.

Even though it’s not always exciting, dashcam footage is good to have because it protects you. Unlike a camera that’s intended to capture memories you want to relive, dash-cam footage is more of a document of what happened. You can submit it as proof in court.

What Is a Dash Cam?

A dash cam is a video camera mounted in your vehicle, staring out through your windshield. The name “dash cam” is a little bit of a misnomer — while many dash cams are made to be mountable on the dashboard, most are often mounted on the windshield itself to stay out of your way while driving.

Unlike normal cameras that record only when you choose to record, a dash cam should be recording every time you drive. Obviously, not all of that footage will be necessary, and most modern dash cams come with what’s called loop recording, where any old footage is automatically deleted to make way for new footage and prevent a full storage capacity from causing you problems.

The goal of a good dash cam is to be as seamless and low effort as possible. Simply attach the dash cam to your window or dashboard, ideally in a spot that is clean, dry and a neutral temperature, and allow the camera to run without obstruction. This allows for a constant recording of your driver’s POV whenever the vehicle is operating. Still, why should you get a dash cam in the first place?

Legal Protection

Have you ever been in a car accident? Accidents can happen anywhere at any time, regardless of who’s around to see them, and you can be left without any support in a case that was entirely not your fault. Without a dash cam, though, when you’re filing a police report, it’s often your word against the word of the other driver.

If you’re lucky, you might have some witnesses who can corroborate your story, but in general, you’re relying on the police officer who responds to the accident to determine who is at fault. With a dash cam, there is no “he said, she said” — the dash cam provides digital documentation to show the responding officer when you make a report.

Just such a situation is when a dash cam comes in handy. With the ability to call up footage of the incident, you have a much better case to make and could potentially avoid paying high insurance fees or even damages thanks to the proof provided in the footage you collected. It’s the kind of thing you hope you’ll never have to use, but in everyday driving the camera remains out of the way, unobtrusive, quietly monitoring and recording events.

Preventing Insurance Fraud

Insurance fraud has existed nearly as long as insurance has — it’s been traced as far back as ancient Greece. People seeking to get easy money from car insurance companies will cause car accidents, usually forcing you to rear-end them by driving dangerously.

With a dash cam installed on your car, you can prove to your insurance company the accident wasn’t your fault — even if you rear-ended the other car — because the other driver’s dangerous driving behaviors will be captured on video.

The video recording can also be useful for parking accidents when you’re not in your vehicle. If the dash cam is still enabled when you’re away from your car or truck, it can capture footage of the vehicle that crashed into you. This evidence becomes much more important when you’re making an insurance claim, because it proves someone struck your car.

Become a Better Driver

Athletes and other professionals watch videos of themselves to see where they make mistakes and learn how to improve. A dash cam can help you do the same thing for your driving. By reviewing the footage, you can see where you make mistakes behind the wheel and figure out the best way to improve your driving skills.

Video can also be a useful tool for teaching teenagers to drive — and keeping up with their driving skills and techniques while they’re driving. If you’re a parent with a new driver behind the wheel, a dash cam is a great way to review their progress. You can see if they’re speeding, driving recklessly or even if they encounter something challenging so you can give them advice on how to navigate such situations in the future. It can give you better peace of mind if you’re worried about your new driver spending time out on the road.

There Are Fun Reasons to Buy a Dash Cam, Too

Dash cams aren’t just for evidence of car accidents — they can catch amazing things you might otherwise be unable to document while you’re driving. A dash cam in a parked car recorded footage of the enormous Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded through the sky over Russia in 2013. It’s the kind of thing that happens so fast you’d never have time to pull out your camera or cell phone to take a picture before it disappeared forever.

On an off-chance, you might even record something truly impressive like the giant boulder one Russian driver captured blocking the road. What about that cross-country road trip you took last summer? Recounting the entire thing is impressive, but not nearly as detailed as being able to show your friends what you actually experienced on the road.

Documenting Your Trip

People might choose to fly to get to their destinations faster, but there’s still nothing quite like a road trip across the country. You can document bits and pieces of your trip with a cell phone or camera, or you can document your entire trip and all the amazing things you’ve seen with your dash cam! Once you get home, you can edit your dash cam footage into a fantastic clip show to showcase your trip along the highways of America.

Great New Features

The latest generation of dash cams brings HD support, a small footprint, long-duration storage, and useful features like night vision or automatic accident recording. When the camera detects motion that feels like a collision, it automatically saves the footage of time leading up to and following the event. That way, you’re never left without the exact footage you need.

Best of all, prices for these handy gadgets have come way down in recent years. You can now purchase a quality dash cam for between $100 and $300, depending on how much storage you’d like and the types of features you want. That’s much less than you would pay for an action camera, so you shouldn’t spend your money on a GoPro if you’re planning to use it like a dash cam.

Should You Get a Dash Cam?

Now that you know a little bit more about how helpful these cameras can be, are you planning on getting one? What kind? Will you use it to record your adventures, check on your family or just as a preventive measure? Let us know in the comments section, and be sure to drive safely.

Originally posted 6/11/2019 — Updated 7/22/2024