Dash cams

[RonYVickie]

A friend of ours who lives in Mexico has been running with a dash cam for several years. They are cheap to buy and a good thing to have when you are in the right. This is an e-mail we received the other day and I thought it might give a few people pause to consider using a camera - whether in Mexico, or right at home. They record in an endless loop and will start and shut off with the ignition. Here's the mail - note the use of the Telcel internet stick on the road. RYV
.............. I was driving to Jocotepec last Saturday and a bus cut me short as it passed and destroyed my left outside mirror. Sounded like a bomb going off. Damn driver was playing chicken, happens all the time. Buses and trucks come as close as they can when coming back into the lane and more than once I had to slam on my brakes to keep from being hit. We pull over and he says I should have moved over and it was my fault. A passenger from the bus comes over, Alicia, and spoke English and helped translate. I said I was going to call the police, he said he didn't have a phone, told him I did. I pointed out the dash video cam which I have hanging in my windshield which records as I drive, he got a funny look on his face. Later he pulls out his cell phone to make calls ! The passengers had to finish their trip on a different bus which pulled up later. While waiting for his insurance company to arrive I connected my laptop to the dash cam and pulled the video clip of his bus hitting my RV, it even has sound and you could hear the bus hit me. I showed him the clip and he was not very happy. Next, I hopped on the internet, I have a Telcel USB drive which connects me to the internet anywhere in Mexico. I pulled up the info to replace my mirror, $395 including shipping. The insurance guy arrives and I show him the clip and later he is talking to the driver and I understand he is reaming his butt. I also show him how much it will cost me to replace the mirror. I mention if I have the mirror shipped to Mexico the cost will double due to import duties. And, I determined how much this was in pesos, $5,012. So I had my ducks in a row for the insurance guy and he realized I wasn't some gringo pushover. In Mexico you really don't want to get the police involved if you can settle it among yourselves. The police are nothing but crooks and always want a bribe. I finally settled for $4,508 pesos, knew I wasn't going to get anymore than that and I was lucky to get this much out of them.

[dieharder]

Tequila wrote:

moisheh wrote:
For $30.00 you are going to get a child'd toy. Truckers spend upwards of $1000 for a real system. But good old Ebay and some sharp Chinese Entrepeneurs have some great deals on quality units. Here is a link to an ebay seller that is highly recommended. This is one of the most popular units but you have to be careful as some companies are selling knock offs of this baby.
ebay seller
There is a forum devoted to dashcams
dashcams

Moisheh

I disagree, the 24 dollar one I have produces excellent videos.

Same here. I don't understand anyone who says they need to spend in the hundreds to get a system that something under $30 does just as well. A fool and their money, I guess. Mine's working great on it's third year now.

[Bumpyroad]

mlts22 wrote:
Are the GoPros worth it for a dash cam that will definitely produce video when needed? I've even thought of having two dash cams in case someone reaches in and physically grabs one in an effort to hide their misdeeds. (However, I tend to be the cynical sort.)

no my $52 one does a great job.
bumpy

[mlts22]

A dash cam is a must have these days. A number of Austin road denizens have taken a page from New Orleans and are doing "swoop/squat" maneuvers (hop in front, jam brakes on), coming on a highway at 15-20 MPH (just to cause jams) or just deliberately running lights to cause a wreck. This is due to the insurance money, and a general anti-car attitude, especially if one drives something other than a subcompact.

From what I've learned (thankfully secondhand), a YouTube video of an incident gets stuff dealt with pretty quickly. No vid, you get a case ID from APD and have to argue word versus word with the other guy's insurance company.

A GoPro auto kit for $500 may be pricy, but having to pay some other schmuck's insurance deductible because they managed to outbrake your rig and lie to the police about it will be more expensive. Or even worse, have to pay bail money if the officer decides to file reckless driving charges based on the word of a liar.

I wonder what the best bang for buck is. Are the GoPros worth it for a dash cam that will definitely produce video when needed? I've even thought of having two dash cams in case someone reaches in and physically grabs one in an effort to hide their misdeeds. (However, I tend to be the cynical sort.)

[moisheh]

WA7NDD: Foxoffer has a good reputation. You will be pleased. I did just as you and read all the discussions first.

Moisheh

[WA7NDD]

Went to here "http://dashcamtalk.com" and read about the best dash cameras in detail. Then I went to YouTube and looked at the "Techmoan" videos on dash cams. I decided his assessment was correct.

The need for GPS and bump detectors, is not needed in a dash came, just a good picture with good looping, and date and time stamping. I also felt he was right about the battery: in that it the battery will go dead in the inexpensive dash cams and they are done.

I wanted a dash cam that ran off RV 12 volts and went off and on with the key, and not worry if the battery was still working to closed down the file. So I purchased a G1W-C, no battery only a charged capacitor with enough charge time to close the file and not corrupt it because the battery was bad, old or dead. The life span of a capacitor will be considerably longer then a few months to a year for a battery. I bought the mount,32gig memory, an camera for $92 free shipping from FoxOffer. Shipping from China.

We'll find out if I did the right thing. But I was not going to spend $300 on a GoPro to sit on the dash day-in-day-out, or mess with connecting and disconnecting a dash cam to use it for something other then a dash cam. I will wire the power connector to a socket that goes on and off with the key.

[Tequila]

moisheh wrote:
For $30.00 you are going to get a child'd toy. Truckers spend upwards of $1000 for a real system. But good old Ebay and some sharp Chinese Entrepeneurs have some great deals on quality units. Here is a link to an ebay seller that is highly recommended. This is one of the most popular units but you have to be careful as some companies are selling knock offs of this baby.
ebay seller
There is a forum devoted to dashcams
dashcams

Moisheh

I disagree, the 24 dollar one I have produces excellent videos.

[qtla9111]

Monterrey has a new system called Ecovia that runs 30 kms across the city. Each bus has a dash cam as well as cameras throughout the buses and wifi on board and in the security controlled stations. You can't use cash, you have to apply for a pre-paid card that is also an ID. Started service last month. Works very well and they are adding a total of 85 buses to the system.

Only problem is that the buses are Korean. Much thinner people than we now have in northern Mexico 🙂

[briansue]

When were in the Guadalajara area the newspaper had a story about all the bus accidents. Apparently the drivers get paid on a per passenger basis so they are all in a big hurry to get to the next stop first to get the most passengers so they can make more money. There is a movement to change things so drivers get paid a salary rather than a "commission". We wondered why the drivers are always in such a big hurry. It seems the more they rush the more they get paid. If that does not change the accidents will continue. The newspaper article reported how many people the drivers kill each year but I forget the number - a lot - one is more than enough. The dash cam idea will be a great weapon to use against these guys - everyone should have one in each vehicle. There could be a way to set it up so the chip can be removed quickly for saving if the vehicle is about to be stolen.

[Bumpyroad]

ddda9 wrote:


at $30 worth a "punt" if only to keep my son amused.

my $17.88 one will amuse him.
bumpy

[ddda9]

moisheh wrote:
For $30.00 you are going to get a child'd toy. Truckers spend upwards of $1000 for a real system. But good old Ebay and some sharp Chinese Entrepeneurs have some great deals on quality units. Here is a link to an ebay seller that is highly recommended. This is one of the most popular units but you have to be careful as some companies are selling knock offs of this baby.

Moisheh

at $30 worth a "punt" if only to keep my son amused.

http://www.szswill.com/car-camera.html

Any of here worth a punt?

[tony_lee]

I have a unit that cost about 140 dollars and we used it in Mexico. Stores about 4 hours of pretty good high definition on a 16Gb card

Was quite interesting replaying my forays into the centre of cities where I shouldn't have been in the first place - like the centre of San Christobel which weren't made for overwide class As, or Durango where I had to reverse back out of a street that gradually got narrower and narrower.

It also showed very clearly the impact between a protruding temporary roadworks sign on the tollway and the front door awning, but trouble is it was impossible to find English speakers at any of the toll booth offices to make a claim so the camera didn't do much good.

[sljkansas]

The local comuter Bus Company around here added dash cames to all the buses after the Drivers started complaining that when in rush hour traffic they were being cut off by cars and then the cars would slam the brakes on due to the heavey traffic and the bus would rearend them. After the first case went to traffic court and the recording was presented, the driver of teh car wound up with a big fine and had to pay to have the bus repaired. With my dually being my daily driver, I have had a lot of cars when comming off the ramp want to push in front of me when there isn't any room. (gas pedal closes the gap) I've been thinking of getting a dash cam, but wasn't sure which one to get. I'll be checking out the list post above.

[checca]

http://www.securitysystems.com/CarCamera.htm?a=64166


Look here ...

[moisheh]

For $30.00 you are going to get a child'd toy. Truckers spend upwards of $1000 for a real system. But good old Ebay and some sharp Chinese Entrepeneurs have some great deals on quality units. Here is a link to an ebay seller that is highly recommended. This is one of the most popular units but you have to be careful as some companies are selling knock offs of this baby.
ebay seller
There is a forum devoted to dashcams
dashcams

Moisheh