Dashcam for dummies

Over the last few years, as a result of there being a lot of driving for my job, I have seen a lot of stupidity on the roads.

As a result I resorted to using dashcams in both our cars.

I have also learnt that it is critical to have both forward and rear facing cameras operating at all times.

I've had incidents in my rear view mirror and on my tail that, when translated to a front-only view, look like it is my word against "there's".

When buying cameras make sure you get the highest resolution / image quality you can afford. This will make identifying offenders and reading their number plates much easier (read: possible).

You can get dual camera systems which include forward and rear facing cameras in a variety of configurations.

However, when I was buying the reviews of these types of dashcams did not leave me with much confidence that they'd be working when I needed them, so I opted for 2 stand-alone cameras per vehicle and simply arranged one as front facing and one as rear facing.

You should also ensure your cameras have built in GPS. This helps unambiguously locate the offense and also record your speed accurately.

The camera should also pretty much look after itself but you do need to check regularly that they ARE still working.

The memory modules you add should also be of a high quality, speed and temperature tolerant. So you'll definitely need to get better than the cheapest chip you can find.

The brand of Dashcam I currently prefer, and has worked quite well so far, is Navman. Here's a link to their current range at JB Hi Fi.

For my way of thinking I didn't need or want a large screen on my dashcam, I just wanted it to record high quality images. I figured I already have stuff in my field of view, the camera should be as discrete as possible.

When choosing a camera you should buy up to your price limit and not down to a budget (read cheapest).

I also decided to add the above shown stickers to the rear of my cars.

I figured if these prevented some stupidity that would be even better.

It is a pity that one of them has a spelling error, but I didn't notice that until too late. I did fix it with texta but that has since faded.

So far I have had to use the footage from these cameras twice and both times the police have taken my complaint seriously and tracked down the offender.

I don't enjoy being a tattle-tail but I enjoy being crashed into, injured or killed even less.

If reporting someone saves a life, especially the life of someone I care about, then so be it.

I will tell the world about the bad drivers and hopefully at least shame them into driving better or getting off the road altogether.

Safe driving and happy trails. David