Dash Cams

[Indubitably]

I am a Technological Dinosaur so I need some help regarding Dash Cams. Having had two close shaves this past week I feel a dash cam might be of help. I have noticed that of late driving standards are getting really bad. I had the benefit of receiving advanced driver training.
Both incidences were vehicle joining the main road from my left. The second was a woman that just pulled out of Tescos and it was only the fact that I had been taught defensive driving that averted a collision. Both drivers were in the 30'ish bracket. Bith seemed oblivious of me!!!!!
I lease a 2008 GT EAT 8 from Motability so my insurance excess is minmal but not the point, the car has a hoist fitted and any off road time mean my Wife cannot access her wheelchair. Motability cover cars off raod with a temporary car but not fitted with a hoist. Also, when I went to Motability in 2018 my then insurer supplied me with a print out back to where their records started telling me I had 22 yrs no claims. I have no intention of blotting that.
I am trying to remember my salient points.
What I am asking is can you 'forum' members help please with advice. Do I need to have both front and rear cameras. I would prefer not to spend too much on the camera/s. Are they simple to use? Can the 'card' be read on a computer as I do not use a smartphone. Injuries received as the result of violence means I have both physical and mental problems.
I hope you can help with this please and I will try and post this diatribe
Thank you

[myglaren]

To answer a couple of minor points. I have had two dashcams, both came with front and rear cameras. I never fitter the rear mounted cameras although that is what I bought the first one for, rear vision from the Civic was very poor and I had to reverse in to a tight spot in the dark most nights. That camera saved our bacon when a Volvo slid into the Civic one snowy morning. Car was written off but there was no argument who was at fault, although she did try to argue but the dashcam record shot her down in flames.
Yes, you can remove the card and drag the files onto a computer without too much difficulty, which I did.
But, returning the card to the camera I misaligned it and ruined the card and the camera.

The replacement I found it easier to plug the camera into the computer and transfer the files then re mount the camera in the car.
Didn't help with the latest incident. A lorry attempted to occupy the space that I was in with unfortunate results. The camera was thrown off the screen but when I downloaded the videos it had stopped recording last September. The previous one would overwrite the oldest file continuously which makes sense as it is usually the most recent recording that is of interest.

These two only had the small screen on the camera so use as a reversing camera was rather limited but I was initially inspired by one with a 10" screen the replaces the interior mirror and can show forward view, reverse view or both. That was about £120, the ones I had were about £35 - the first was given to me by my son who had bought a 'better' more expensive one that wasn't actually any better.
I have bought a few for my kids and grandkids that have fortunately never had to be used in any legal sense.
There are many YouTube videos worth consulting to get a feel for them, particularly the ones with the 10" display.

[Sloppysod]

I can't add much, but I had a small Nexbase camera, for a few days, took it back for three main reasons,

• 1, when the sun was low in the sky all I recorded was glare,

• 2, it wasn't easy to find a suitable mounting place that it would not block my view or stop me using the sun visors .

• 3, the small screen was a little distracting at night.

I'm not sure how those that have a small LED for "night vision" are. Surely an LED that small will probably illuminate then end of you bonnet at most if you're lucky.

If I were to buy another, it would be smallest I could find/afford without a screen, and probably be one that downloads video onto my phone so l'm not fiddling with micro sd cards. I have seen some that come as a pair - front & rear.

[Gibbo2286]

I've got one of the very cheap small ones in the top right corner of my windscreen that seems to be ok but I'm a bit doubtful of its use as evidence because I forget to set the date and time on it.
Been tempted to lash out the money and get Halfords to fit a front and rear set up.

[ozfrog]

The recommendations I have seen in Australia - from people I know and trust - are for Blackvue and Thinkware. They recommend those two brands because of their ability to read number plates at night.

I purchased the Thinkware model that was in stock locally at the time and I’d like to give you a report on my findings, especially regarding the claim to read number plates at night. Unfortunately, I can’t do that.

The Thinkware is a nightmare to install and I haven’t done it yet, despite having purchased the item close to a year ago. I know that I’m not the most technical person around, but neither am I the least, yet this thing has me completely baffled. I was conversing with someone online recently about dashcams and he told me that he had been given the same two recommendations as I had. (It wasn’t by the same person, I’m sure, as he lives at the opposite end of Australia to me.) He has two cars and he bought one of each brand of dashcam.

I don’t remember the story about why he needed to replace a dashcam, but I do remember that it wasn’t a failure of either of the two he had purchased. He might have sold the car, but whatever the reason, it was the Thinkware dashcam was the one that had to be replaced. I was going to ask him if he replaced it with the same brand, but he beat me to it. “No way am I going to buy another Thinkware. Good dashcam, but what a nightmare to install!”

I did purchase a couple of the little cheapies that were around, maybe 10-12 years ago. They were surprisingly good for their time and their price. But if you want/need to read number plates at night, don’t buy one of them. They also didn’t stand up to the Australian sun very well, although that’s unlikely to be a problem in your part of the world. I still have one of those cheapies, and it might still work, for all I know. But the case is very warped. I know where the camera is, but I’ll have to find a power cable if I want to test it.

I found some footage taken with one of the cheapies. I don’t know why I had kept it. If I figure out how to upload a short video to this forum, I’ll post a very short example of its capabilities.

There’s also group in Australia, I think called Dash Cam Owners Australia. They do reviews on many makes and models of cameras, and if you’re awake when they’re awake, I think you can live chat to one of their staff or volunteers. It’s been a while since I went down that path with them.

And finally, there’s a site called ozbargain.com.au where people post, funnily enough, bargains they find! But people also ask questions, and dashcams is something I have seen come up quite a bit. You might care to look there, too.

I’ve taken up too much of your space and time. Cheers

[Paul-R]

You say it's a nightmare to install. Can you give us some specifics?

[Gibbo2286]

You say it's a nightmare to install. Can you give us some specifics?

He's in Australia, everything is upside down.

[ozfrog]

You say it's a nightmare to install. Can you give us some specifics?

He's in Australia, everything is upside down.

Is that specific enough?

I said in my post that I purchased the Thinkware dashcam nearly a year ago - and I haven’t installed it yet.

I made a few attempts at reading through the installation booklet. Bad experience. If trying to understand the installation booklet is that bad, and others have commented to me that they found it a nightmare to install, I didn’t push myself very hard with attempting to install it. I honestly can’t be any more specific than that. Plus, as I said, it was nearly a year ago. My forgettory is better than my memory, especially when it comes to things that I would prefer not to remember!

[Gibbo2286]

Do you not have a local auto electrician to install it for you ozfrog?
I have family (sister in law, nieces and nephews) just up the road from you in Brisbane who seem to get all their car needs sorted pretty quickly. they are though pretty capable DIYers.

[ozfrog]

just up the road from you in Brisbane

Driving at normal highway/motorway speeds, what’s the longest (time) drive you can do where you live?

And what distance would that cover? Just a rough estimate will do.

And I don’t remember from my times driving in England, do you have any toll roads?

After you’ve answered those questions, have a look at what I’ve said about ‘just up the road from you in Brisbane’

Spoiler: show

From my house to Roma St Station - I had to pick a spot - that’s in the centre of Brisbane, I have two main choices for the route that I’d take.

The shorter time and distance route is estimated to be 13 hours driving time and 1 207 kilometres. No allowance was made for toilet breaks or food. I wouldn’t need any fuel stops because the 406 would easily manage that distance on a single tank of fuel. There are no tolls on that route, but it is the main route for heavy vehicles between Brisbane and Melbourne, so I’d be battling with them for the whole distance. That’s not my idea of a relaxing Sunday afternoon drive!

The alternative route is the one most people would take. Most people don’t live inland, like I do, so the first option wouldn't even come into their thinking. This second route is described as having fewer turns - an interesting point to make, I think - but it also requires tolls to be paid. Some $25 AUD worth of tolls! It also takes between 20 and 25 minutes driving time longer than the first route. But I would have to factor in the fewer heavy vehicles, but add the growing number of tourists using coastal roads. What a choice!

Anyway, your simple ‘just up the road’ turns out to be a journey of at least 13 and a half hours! And as much as I love my 406 - both of them - I’m not as young as I once was, and trips of this distance take it out of me just a little bit. I’m not even considering the journey in any of the other cars.

As far as your comment about auto electricians is concerned, Peugeots are not the most favoured cars in this country. Auto electricians seem to have a special hate for them. And local auto electricians have a special hate for my Peugeots. I have an ongoing problem with the cabin/heater fan in my earlier model 406. Basically, it doesn’t work. And no matter what resources I provide any auto electrician with, they will look at the car, maybe even start working on the problem fan, and suddenly say that they can’t fix it. I’ve had excuses such as, our comprehensive book for car electrical systems doesn’t cover Peugeots, the wiring diagram I provided them (from the dealership) is in French(!), there are no keys to explain what all of the symbols mean, we can’t trace the wiring to the resistor (PP2000 told me what resistor is causing the problem). Maybe I do need to go to Brisbane and visit your relatives after all!

Something I’ve never understood about England that maybe you can help me with. You’re a ‘metric' country, really, aren't you? So why are your sign post distances and odometers in miles, and your speedometers in miles per hour? I was last in England in 2012, and that really puzzled me then. My wife, who is American, felt right at home reading everything in miles!

My goodness, this has gone way off topic!

EDIT:
I think I remember at least one toll road - Dartmouth? There may be more, but I either didn’t use them, or my memory has been overtaken by my forgettory.^©

[Gibbo2286]

When the UK went metric the people were not happy and in the miles/kilometres argument the miles lot won................so far.
My 'just up the road' comment was particularly for Australia, in terms of distance Brisbane is just up the road compared with say Sydney to Perth or Brisbane to Cairns on the barrier reef.
On one of my visits we were on the QL and NSW border, looking for a lunch break my sister in law didn't like the look of the restaurant so we moved on to the next one only to find we'd crossed the time zone and the NSW one was closed for the afternoon.

[ozfrog]

moved on to the next one only to find we'd crossed the time zone and the NSW one was closed for the afternoon.

Just as well you weren’t here in the ‘good old days’ of the railways. Different states had different gauges and if you wanted to travel by train from one state to the other, you knew you were in for a break of journey, usually in the middle of the night.

It was the early 1960s when Sydney to Melbourne was finally completed as a standard gauge journey. It was the 1970s when Sydney to Perth was completed. It was much later when the line to Alice Springs and then on to Darwin was completed.

We’re still waiting for Queensland to come out of the 18th century so we can tell them about what’s happening in the world.

And Tasmania? At least they had the good sense to stay away from Victoria.

But you didn’t take up my challenge.

And we’re getting further and further away from dash cams.

[Gibbo2286]

moved on to the next one only to find we'd crossed the time zone and the NSW one was closed for the afternoon.

Just as well you weren’t here in the ‘good old days’ of the railways. Different states had different gauges and if you wanted to travel by train from one state to the other, you knew you were in for a break of journey, usually in the middle of the night.

It was the early 1960s when Sydney to Melbourne was finally completed as a standard gauge journey. It was the 1970s when Sydney to Perth was completed. It was much later when the line to Alice Springs and then on to Darwin was completed.

We’re still waiting for Queensland to come out of the 18th century so we can tell them about what’s happening in the world.

And Tasmania? At least they had the good sense to stay away from Victoria.

But you didn’t take up my challenge.

And we’re getting further and further away from dash cams.

I had to look back for that. As Robert Llewellyn of The fully charged show says the distance you can travel depends on the size and health of your bladder .
I have a neighbour in her sixties who makes regular non stop trips to Glasgow about 350 miles, I doubt many would do more than that over here, truckers might.
I thought you 'out in the sticks' Aussies flew everywhere, when I was clearing my old garage stock I sold some Stromberg carburettor parts to a guy out there who told me he was in his 80s and he needed them for his plane.
There are still a few tolls here, mostly on bridges and tunnels but there is the M6 toll road from Birmingham to the north, a private enterprise motorway alternative to the original M6.

[Gibbo2286]

This might interest ozfrog: