Dash cams

[OriginalBigAl]

As a more wide ranging debatable topic with references to Mr Bricktops recent , " Goodbye all " post. Just to say I am absolutely sure that no laws were broken in that post and its not a condemnation of his completely legal actions, which along with others I do when I deem necessary.
Most people will install Dash cams to provide evidence against others for any eventualities that may occur on their travels. Should these incidents occur and are serious enough for Police involvement the pictures would hopefully reveal that you are not at fault and make any prosecutions and insurance issues be more in your favour.
The opposite could also be true if its deemed that the fault or any contributing aspects to the incident was your responsibility.
What are the rights of the Police to access your footage , assuming you do not want to divulge their content voluntarily, do you have to be arrested, or do they have an instant right of access? The evidence your dashcam could provide could see you in serious trouble, and see you in a bad light even though those images might not tell the whole story . Do any of us know what our rights are in these cases , I assume we have a right to remain silent and any evidence we give could be used against us , do those that apply to the silent ( 5th columnist ) witness we have so willingly installed to protect us ?
The simple answer is , don't do anything wrong or even slightly wrong , but sometimes life takes over and we can find ourselves in situations , which may or may not be of our making which several metres down the road mean we make decisions whose consequences can be dire, some of which may be recorded for "experts " to decide blame without the context of the origins of the incident.
Basically are dashcams good or bad ?

 

[Alb]

If the footage contains evidence related to an alleged crime the Police have a right to seize it.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Agreed^^^^

I've always thought that they could seize whatever they wanted if your suspected of an offence.

Having been around a very long time on the road (since 1985) I really like having my Dashcam recording at all times.

For example this morning on the A40, I could see way off in the distance, a Tractor, and I wondered how long it would be, before everybody in the left lane would see it and take action by moving across.

There was a dark grey van that made a right meal of this action, by pulling over extremely late, and causing those of us already overtaking to lose 20 mph.

I said to my wife "That is a prime example of the driver doing anything except the business of driving and concentrating on the road"

Low and behold if he wasn't on his phone.

I for one, was not surprised in the least.

I've yet to decide whether to report him or not. Sainsburys/Argos)

I absolutely despise phone use.

Sadly the rear camera is only 1080p and not a high enough definition for prosecution.

 

[siteguru]

Basically are dashcams good or bad ?

They are both, depending on the circumstances. Just look at the many dashcam channels on YouTube ... so many clips where the cammer castigates the other party for some alleged infringement, yet it's the cammer who is the utter wally.

@Bricktop X PWR yeah - the resolution doesn't make it clear enough; he could simply be scratching his ear for what it shows.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

They are both, depending on the circumstances. Just look at the many dashcam channels on YouTube ... so many clips where the cammer castigates the other party for some alleged infringement, yet it's the cammer who is the utter wally.

@Bricktop X PWR yeah - the resolution doesn't make it clear enough; he could simply be scratching his ear for what it shows.

Agreed.
As a defence I'm sure that's what would be said.
Although, if a copper saw him, he'd be fooked.
My wife and I saw the phone clear as day on the way past.

I have reported in the past and I got the driver to court.

He was done for Driving Without Due Care.

I did have to agree to testify in court and was happy to do that seeing as he put my life in danger.

He had noticed a cyclist very late and swerved onto my side of the road to avoid him, he is quite clearly only giving the cyclist minimal space, and not the 1.5m required, this caused myself to quickly steer left to avoid a head on.

All looks controlled in the picture, but we were both doing NSL and it all happened in the Blink of an eye.

Half his car had crossed over to my side.

In the picture he is cutting back in.

 

[5teep]

Agreed.
As a defence I'm sure that's what would be said.
Although, if a copper saw him, he'd be fooked.
My wife and I saw the phone clear as day on the way past.

I have reported in the past and I got the driver to court.

He was done for Driving Without Due Care.

I did have to agree to testify in court and was happy to do that seeing as he put my life in danger.

He had noticed a cyclist very late and swerved onto my side of the road to avoid him, he is quite clearly only giving the cyclist minimal space, and not the 1.5m required, this caused myself to quickly steer left to avoid a head on.

All looks controlled in the picture, but we were both doing NSL and it all happened in the Blink of an eye.

Half his car had crossed over to my side.

In the picture he is cutting back in.

View attachment 32786

I know it's not the cyclist's fault but some of them (like this guy) court disaster by not being visible enough.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

The Vauxhall incident is a good talking point, from his point of view , long sweeping left hand bend , NSL, trees bushes and hillside providing long shadows across the road and cyclist in dark clothing. Not much excuse for not paying attention but he most likely saw the cyclist late, his? attention divided with the approaching Mr B, made a poor decision and got away with it. Had a Traffic cop been following and witnessed the event , even though it was a moderately close call , could he demand to see his Dashcam footage ( if available ) even if he was only going to give the driver a verbal and not proceed with any other action? and could the driver legally refuse. I agree that if the consequences were worse then that's a done deal , but is there a cut off point somewhere.?

 

[siteguru]

You're not obliged to voluntarily give over any dashcam evidence - it would have to be formally demanded via a court summons. (AFAIK / IANAL etc.)

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

I would have thought that the "Imaginary" following policeman would have had all the evidence on his own camera.

Then I suppose what happened next would have been up to him.

As it happens, I submitted my footage and it was used in court.
He pled guilty and got 6 points and £180 fine. (DWDC)

Sadly, I no longer have the original clip anywhere or I would have posted it.

 

[Rolfe]

A month or two ago I wished I'd had a dashcam. I was driving into the village where I live, and entering the 20 mph zone. There were two cars in front. The one in front was doing 20 mph, and close to the crown of the road. Two things happened almost at once. The car in front signalled right and almost immediately began to turn right. The car behind him (in front of me) suddenly pulled out, overtook the turning car, and sped on at about 50 mph. Still in the 20 mph zone.

A slight difference in timing and the second car would have smashed into the driver's side of the first car. As it was, he JUST missed him. One could maintain that the first car signalled late, but he was doing the speed limit anyway, and his positioning on the road was a bit of a tell that he might be about to turn right.

If I'd had footage of that I'd have been tempted to send it to the police anyway, even there was no accident, because the manoeuvre was in my opinion dangerous driving.

 

[Gadget Geek]

I've got a few clips I've kept. One I sent to the police of a woman making a complete pigs ear of driving around a roundabout. Fortunately there was no one else on the roundabout. I believe that she had a provisional licence and thought that a "P" plate meant she could drive around on her own. I had an email back to say action had been taken against the driver.