Black Box

[sad old git]

Hello. I'm not sure if this is the right section but it has to do with motoring I suppose. I have noticed lately a lot of adverts for car black box/ digital dash cameras supposedly to help you if you have an accident. I really don't know much about these things except that they are stuck on your windscreen and record what is going on in front or 120 degrees around you but what about behind you?.Other than that if they are hanging down from your windscreen surely they can obstruct or distract the drivers consentration from the road ahead.I would be very pleased to hear from any of you fellow ABrs who have had experience of these gadgets or your opinions of such.Thanks to you all.

[Canary42]

As far as distraction goes, on the one I bought there was a flap which flipped over the device's screen to prevent distraction. There were explicit instructions as to which part of the windscreen you were legally allowed to fit it to avoid obstruction. As far as performance goes, I have no experience, it packed up very soon after my first drive with it and I sent it back.

I believe you can put another on the back window if you want to.

I look forward to other replies frpm ABers with more extensive usage experience.

[bhg481]

These things are simply small video recorders which record everything you see through the windscreen so can be used to settle disputes as to who was to blame for an accident etc. They are so small that they do not obstruct your view, can be placed behind the interior mirror and can be wired so that they start recording when you start the car and switch off automatically when youu turn off the engine. I fitted one to our car after we were stopped by the police in Austria and accused of causing an accident - I was able to convince them that the accident had already occurred when we passed the scene, but a video record would have made it simpler and saved us an hour or more. Imagine the situation where you have stopped, the car in front rolls backwards into you and the other driver accuses you of running into him/her - no problem with a recording.

[TWR]

I have 2 fitted, Front / Rear, fitted by a Auto Electrician for insurance purposes, not in your way for viewing, very good for evidence.

[Baldric]

We have them, cameras that is, in two of our Motors (front & rear) professionally fitted, the front ones are behind the mirrors in 'unswept' area of windscreen so don't obstruct the view in any way, and are legal, the rear ones right at the top of screens, out of Dog's way. Not needed them yet, but good to know they're there.

[gingejbee]

The latest Which? (August 2014, surprisingly!) has article and tests on dashboard cameras:

http://www.which.co.uk/advice/z-taxonomy-new-guides/how-to-buy/how-to-buy-the-best-dash-cam/

The main conclusion is....only buy a decent one, some (most?) are worse than useless!

[gingejbee]

....of course, you must subscribe (or take a £1 trial) to see the results of the tests ....but the article is useful in itself.

[hc4361]

I have a dashcam that records on to an SD card, has two forward facing cameras and a reverse camera.

The unit has a mirror which clips over the existing rear view mirror, making it very easy to install and unintrusive. The rear camera sticks to the rear window with double sided sticky pads and is very small and light. It connects to the front unit by a wire. Took less than 10 minutes to install the whole thing, the cables are completely hidden.

It has a 32GB SD card and if there is an accident it locks the video so it can't be written over.

When I reverse the car I can see the rear view camera image in my mirror.

For the money it is a good piece of kit. I am very impressed with the build quality

http://www.amazon.co.uk/E-PRANCE-Rearview-Cameras-Degrees-G-Sensor-DVR/dp/B00FDQ93WM