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We’ve all seen those cool dash cam videos of meteorites, shooting stars, near-miss accidents, etc. But did you know that these cameras can actually save you thousands of dollars on your car insurance, help you get out of tickets, and even prevent you from going to jail? Here’s how.
What Is a Dash Cam?
A dash cam (or dashcam) is a dashboard camera. These cameras mount to the dashboard of your vehicle (typically from the inside) and aim directly at the road in front of your vehicle. There are also similar kinds of cameras that mount to the back of your car and aim at the road behind you. Most of these cameras come equipped with high-definition video and audio capabilities.
Benefits of Dash Cams
Dash cams provide a laundry list of useful benefits. Here are just eight of them.
Capture First-Hand Accident Evidence
With a dash cam, you can keep records of everything that happens in and around your car. This evidence can be used in court in most jurisdictions and there are countless examples of cases where dash cam footage saved the day. For example, if you get a ticket for failing to stop a stop sign but your dash cam footage shows that you did stop, that footage can be used to get your ticket dismissed.
Parents Can Monitor First-Time Drivers
Young drivers often need a guiding hand from parents or legal guardians before they fully come to understand the rules of the road. By installing a dash cam in their child’s vehicle, parents can keep their eye on their child’s driving habits even when they’re not together. They can then analyze the footage to help teach the first-time driver how to be a better driver.
Submit Dash Cam Footage to Insurance Companies
Many car insurance companies today offer safe driver discounts. These discounts typically require you to have a demonstrably safe driving habit, which often includes having a squeaky clean driving record. Sometimes, however, you can submit footage from your dash cam to your insurance provider to fasttrack that discount or to prevent your insurance from raising due to other causes.
Share Dash Cam Videos With Affected Parties and Police
When involved in an accident, most of the time, it’s just your word against theirs and whoever has the most witnesses has the best chance of winning the case. However, there are few witnesses more reliable than hard, video evidence. By showing your dash cam’s footage to the police and other individuals, you can increase your chances of walking away from an accident without a ticket and without being sued.
Document Scenic Drives or Road Trips
This benefit isn’t a legal benefit like the others we’ve talked about, rather it’s a life benefit. If you’re the type of driver who likes to take the scenic route, a dash cam can help you keep a record of the most beautiful sights on your road trip while freeing up your hands to stay on the wheel.
Record Surroundings of a Parked Vehicle
Too many people leave their vehicle somewhere they think is safe just to come back later and find that it’s been vandalized, stolen, or damaged in some way. With a dash cam, you can monitor the surroundings of your vehicle even when you’re not around, enabling you to potentially identify the individuals responsible for such damages.
Record Inside a Vehicle
If you drive for Uber, Lyft, a taxi company, etc., then you know how unruly customers can be. Unfortunately, you probably also know that your company is more likely to take their word than yours. With a dash cam recording the inside of your vehicle, you can keep yourself protected from criminals, thieves, and liars and keep wrongful complaints off your record.
Encourage Safe Driving
If somebody else frequently drives your vehicle, installing a dash cam in the car can help encourage them to drive safely. After all, one of the leading causes of road rage and criminal behavior behind the wheel is the belief that nobody is watching or able to identify the driver. With a dash cam, the driver is fully aware that their every action is being documented and is therefore less likely to drive recklessly.
Disadvantages of Dash Cams
Of course, like any new technology, dash cams aren’t all benefits. They come with a few noteworthy disadvantages as well.
Distraction While Driving
Some dash cams have monitors attached, which enable the driver to view the footage live. Unfortunately, many people find that their eyes are naturally drawn to nearby screens, which can result in you spending more time looking at the screen than at the road ahead of you. This distraction can lead to tickets, accidents, and worse.
Encourages Theft
Some more expensive-looking dash cams can invite burglars to break into your car and steal them. This goes for touchscreen displays, navigation systems, radios, and just about every other kind of technology that can fit in your car. If a thief can see it and they think they won’t get caught, they just might break in and try to steal it.
Invasion of Privacy
Most people hate the idea of being constantly watched, let alone videotaped. In fact, installing dash cams in your company cars might incite your employees to revolt. In some states, depending on the local privacy laws, you might even get sued.
Is a Dash Cam Worth It?
All things considered, dash cams are definitely worth the money. They can help to prove your innocence in a court of law, save you thousands of dollars in fines and insurance premiums, and even catch criminals red-handed.
The 5 Best Dash Cams
Looking to buy a dash cam? We’ve assembled a list of what we believe to be the five best dash cams on the market today. We’ve considered qualities like overall price, user experience, camera quality, and more. Here are the results!
1. Nextbase 622GW
The Nextbase 622GW is an excellent overall option. At around $400, it’s one of the more expensive models, but it offers stunning 4K footage at a rate of 30 frames per second, bluetooth connectivity, and even super slow motion at a rate of 120 frames per second.
2. Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2
Garmin has been a household name for new car add-ons for decades and the Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2 reminds us why. At just over $100, this is the most affordable of all of the dash cams on our list and that low price doesn’t sacrifice much of the quality. Of course, it’s lacking many of the advanced, luxury features of the Nextbase 622GW, but it has all of the basic features necessary to make for a great, affordable dash cam.
3. Thinkware U1000
The most expensive model in our top-five list is the Thinkware U1000, but that’s because it comes in a bundle that includes two luxury cameras: one front-facing and one rear-facing. The front-facing camera shoots footage in crystal clear 4K ultra high definition (UHD) and the rear-facing camera captures pristine images in 2K quad high definition (QHD).
4. Miofive
Miofive’s dash cam is another great budget dash cam for drivers who don’t feel like spending half a grand for all the bells and whistles that come with luxury models. This device offers 4K footage similar to higher-end models with 5G WiFi connectivity, 64 gigabytes of onboard storage, and a few other nifty features that put it well above similarly-priced cameras.
5. Nexar
The Nexar Beam Dash Cam is the third budget camera on our list and the fifth-best overall dash cam on the market. Qualities that set it apart from its competitors is its unlimited cloud storage, dedicated “parking mode,” and convenient stick-and-go suction mount. The downside is that the camera quality does not meet the standards set by the other four devices on this list.
