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What do you do with your dashcam? Why did you get one?

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I mainly got a blackvue for autocross videos (lots in my sig thread + more on u-tube.
After seeing Gasdoc's accident video I thought it would be a good idea for anything like that that could happen too.
You can potentially get the L plate # of crazy drivers without needing to write it down.
cool pictures/pretty places - Driving through Prairie creek I came upon a heard of 30-40 female and really young female elk and they just stood there on the road puzzled by my car. I starting ringing my bell and they moved a tiny bit but I was then in the heard and walking with them down the road, could have pet some out of my side window!(if I had 2 memory cards I would have this video : (

I watched video of my car coming back from service - 250 miles on a flatbed tow that was not a tesla ranger/driver. Dash camera shows speed of the car still even though the app wont since the car is in park.
+ I got to see where the driver ate and stopped. after this I kind of want the rear cam too since I was wondering if the driver got pulled over at some point (pretty sure he was just resting and checking wheels straps)
 
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When I dropped my car off for service, they unplugged the camera. I was totally fine with that. I respect their privacy. What they are talking about while working on my car is none of my business :)

Regarding resolution. I had many different cameras. Reading license plates is a big deal. It makes all the difference between hard evidence or just a description of a car that looks like many other in that area. I have done tests about readability of license plates and found it's often not readable on video even when I can clearly read it with my eyes. The issue is that the lenses are so wide that even when you are close to another car, it is only a small area of the image thus not enough resolution to read the letters. So I made it a point, when I get in a scary situation I read the license plate out loud so it's captured on audio.
 
I (inadvertently) filmed my whole service appointment yesterday... Very unexciting:

When I had my BMW, I did the same thing, never thought about it. However, the day after picking my car up from the dealer for some service work, I noticed a scratch on one of the wheels. Now, I didn't know for sure that the wheel was perfect when i dropped it off, and I didn't want to blame them for something that may not have been their fault. Thus I turned to the video. Frankly, given that the wheel is obviously on the side of the car, and the camera points forward, I saw nothing of interest... until they drove the car to park it outside. The guy driving was swearing to himself that there were no spots to put my car (aside from a few specific things, I could care less what someone says... and his comments were all about finding a parking spot, no issue to me)... however, his commentary did highlight his annoyance about finding a spot, so when he finally finds one, with a great big traffic cone in the middle of it blocking it for some reason, HE DRIVES OVER THE CONE and parks my car.

Did the cone damage my car? Not that I could tell, but it was just grossly negligent. I took it up with the service manager, explained the only reason I was looking was to prove nothing indicated an issue with the wheel, and shared the video with him. He quickly wanted to know what they could do for me. I didn't push it, got a detailing, a scratch removed on the paint, and yes, the wheel got repaired, all his suggestions. Camera paid for itself that day. Still, I don't typically look over such footage, I just got oddly 'lucky' in that one circumstance.
 
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I mostly just capture silly things I see on the road or that people do. I hope to never need it for theft or accident protection but its there just in case.

Today there was a table in the middle of the highway (about 1 sec into this video):

 
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I've had my Blackvue 550 about 2.5 yrs, it is a hassle (has some issues with SD card and the timestamp is always screwy) but it paid off last week when the SUV with a trailer hitch decided to back up to me while we were waiting to turn left. Front end damage to my Model S would be assumed to be my fault without honesty from both parties (unfortunately rare) or video. I uploaded the video to my insurance agent who was impressed. I suggested they should offer a discount to drivers with dashcams.
 
After reading how many on this Forum have the dual channel Blackvue 650, I looked into buying it. But after spending a lot of time on the Dashcamtalk forums, I quickly realized there are superior systems out there. Eventually I bought the dual channel Thinkware F750. Except for the slightly larger size of the front camera it is superior to the Blackvue in both features and video quality. And it is easily available to buy at my local Best Buy.
 
... superior systems out there. Eventually I bought the dual channel Thinkware F750. Except for the slightly larger size of the front camera it is superior to the Blackvue in both features and video quality. And it is easily available to buy at my local Best Buy.
This interests me. A lot.
Could you share details of how/where you mounted and wired it, which power line, and did you connect the Tesla rear cam, a Thinkware rear, or no rear?
Thanks in advance!
 
Yes, for the laughs I wish I had a 360° dash cam with mic when I was pulled over Monday for driving in an HOV lane. As a pilot project, for six weeks now, only a whopping 4-mile HOV stretch in my province is open to single-occupancy EVs and not all the police are used to it.

Officer: Hello, license and registration. You were driving in a lane reserved for buses, taxis, and car-pooling.
Me: And electric cars.
Officer: This is an electric car!??

He then walked back to look at the green license plate with EV logo (standard ones are blue), returned, apologized, and even offered an escort so I could quickly get back into traffic.

At least the forward-facing camera with no sound protects me in case of incidents like this one:

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014...s-traffic-ticket-after-stop-caught-on-camera/

I wish I could see that video, but all there is is a 30 second advertisement followed by a black screen.
 
This interests me. A lot.
Could you share details of how/where you mounted and wired it, which power line, and did you connect the Tesla rear cam, a Thinkware rear, or no rear?
Thanks in advance!

Im having it installed later this week at Mobile Solutions in Calgary. In theory it's installation should be no different than other front and rear camera systems out there. Ideally to enable the parking mode, it requires to be connected to both a constant 12V and one that turns off when the car is off. This way it knows when to switch in and out of park mode. It has a 1080P rear camera that is far superior to the Blackvue's 720P rear camera (as you can see in many YouTube reviews comparing the two cameras). So will not be using the Tesla rear cam.

I'll post again a review of the Thinkware after its mounted. I'll also be able to tell you how they wired it.
 
My question is, if you're in a state that has such wiretapping laws, can't you just erase the audio track on the video before sending it off to the authorities or insurance companies? How can they prove their audio was recorded?

You are correct that it is the audio that causes you trouble. If your camera has a feature that allows you to turn off the audio you are going to
be better off with that than claiming that the audio somehow mysteriously dissapeared. For most accident situations, the audio probably won't be of another party anyhow.

FWIW, my reading of the Massachutsets case is that as long as you haven't concealed the dash cam, you are going to be OK with recording the police. I suspect that this will eventually be the settled law in all two party consent states. I think that only Illinois is a holdout right now.
 
I installed a dashcam after an accident where the other driver lied and my insurance (Progressive) didn't do a damn thing even though they knew it wasn't my fault. Wish I would have done it sooner. I was planning to install one next year but poof accident accelerated that plan.
I highly encourage every owner to get some form of a dashcam to protect themselves.