i wonder how much it costs

 

Interesting points of views here.. I'm definitely coming from camp where I've been f'd before and I think its advantages are worth the weight of gold :
- rear-ended, guy took off before I had a good glimpse of his license plate
- hit by someone running a red as i made a left (I was fortunate to have a witness make an effort to turn around just to provide me his info. Without it, I would've been screwed).

Heaven forbid I ever find myself in a situation where i'm at fault and don't man up to it, but in the hypothetical situation where I roll over an innocent bystander or blow thru a red and im running away from the cops, I'd swallow the microsd card before the popo even realize my car is equipped with a video cam!

But in all seriousness, for those who are against it, do you find yourselves often driving recklessly? I just dont have the same mindset to understand the fear of being caught of 'something' (whatever that may be??).

 

Ah if only all fact patterns were so black and white... well we wouldnt need lawyers, and I would be out of a job.

There is no one scenarios that plays out in an auto accident, as you seem to put it. There is black and white, but mostly, shades fo grey. 90% of the time this goes down 50/50, and insurance companies split the cost after a bit of back and forth. You pay a deductable and go on your merry way.

The cam would be useful in the situation where 100% you were not at fault, and there are no witnesses. His word against yours - goes down 50/50, your screwed because the scumb bag didnt own up.

In that limited instance - the cam is your best evidentary friend. All other times, it either has no impact or could hurt you. That is, it will either show you are both at fault or that you are at fault. Do the math.

More importantly, the cam may show more than you being at fault. It could evidence other violations of the law. So even if you own up to the accident itself (which any decent person should do), you may not go as far as saying "officer, I was street racing a WRX when I took the corner at 60mph and caused the accident."

This is not legal advice.

 

Financeman is 100% correct - it would absolutely be subpoenaed by the court. You would have to hand it over, or be held in contempt - aka jail until you turn it over.

As to the "swallowing the micrcard." There is a body of law generally referred to as 'Spoliation of Evidence'. Meaning if you destroy evidence that is relevant to a lawsuit, or in anticipation of a lawsuit, you could face serious criminal charges.

This is not legal advice.

Lastly, as to the "ability to see who vandalized" am I missing something here?? Does this dash cam have face recognition software? Are you going to print off a picture of the person and run through police databases? Better question, you think the police give a **** about $400 of property damage? They would laugh. Unless you personally recongnize the person who vandalize, assuming you could even see their face (or that they vandalized the front of the car), the video is worthless. No one is tracking down the stranger. Best case, police will "put it on file." All you have done is create a home video of some hater messing up your beautiful G37. I wouldn't want to see it.

 

Thank you for your input RX. You obviously understand the risk of a camera better than any of us on this board. The world of litigation is seldom as straight forward as it appears.....I know that from experience :-(

 

RX, thanks for all your input. Definitely great to note all the possible angles that could be played out.

That is of course, only if they have reason to believe that such evidence existed in the first place. These dashcams are not commonplace as blackboxes are to airplanes.
I could be wrong, but I doubt any cop at the scene of a typical collision would scrounge around to see if theres a dashcam on any of the vehicles. Unless its severe, half the time the cops (around here atleast) dont even bother sticking around to file an official report.

 

Interesting debate it's like saying not to put a security camera on my home because the cops may use whatever they find as evidence against me.

It's the type of thing I can see taking my chances on.

 

Seems the general impression is it doesn't have an OFF switch. The premise of this device is it's for responsible drivers that abide by the law. If all your time spent behind the wheel is spent undermining road rules and regulations, it's probably not for you, eh? It's like saying you won't turn the radar detector ON before you intend on ripping down the interstate. (NOT saying anyone would actually do that...theoretical)

Fact is, whatever just happened to your car was probably recorded by one of the millions of security cameras, highway dept cameras, the schmeckle head walking down the street with a smart phone. You just didn't know it was recorded. If the cops want to find that evidence, they will.

Is the dash cam a good idea? Probably not. But, if you're constantly doing stupid things, it will probably never be on to begin with, assuming you own one.

If you let the kids have the car....this thing MIGHT open your eyes when they get back.

 

No, we are talking about dash cams and cars. I do appreciate the point you are trying to make - slippery slope. But I dont argue that you should avoid installing all cameras in all places .. they are a great technology with many useful applications. I threw in my 2 cents about why the dash may not be the best place for one.

 

We need MORE attorneys on this forum, maybe they can start a group buy for legal defense !!

 

Not if you believe a given attorney's opinion is the be-all end-all we don't.

RX Law was simply offering an opinion based on ambiguous / hypothetical / speculative scenarios. Ask 10 different attorneys (especially if they all have different areas of specialty) and you'll get 10 different interpretations and variations with emphasis/bias in different areas (related to their focus areas, which is natural).

The reason for courts/trials is the continuum of fact to fiction varies with every case. It's not a cookbook recipe that comes out the same every time, or that you can pre-judge with certainty.

Cases like these could rely heavily on privacy law and communications law, which are specialty areas most attorneys are not expert in, and the scenarios often lack precedent.

(RX Law: I'm not opining on your areas of legal expertise since I don't know them. Plus you recognized the need on your own to add a disclaimer which some here seem to be ignoring. I'm just making general comments. This thread has probably run its course, now that it's gone to speculating on scenarios that span a much wider range than could ever be covered, or outcomes predicted with any certainty. It's given some interesting food for thought though.)

 

All lawyers are risk adverse. It is our job to be. It goes something like this: Client has an idea; we tell them all the ways that idea could ruin them. Doesn't mean they listen. Most of the time it is a risk/benefit analysis. Is the risk worth the reward?

Generally speaking, and without getting into fact-by-fact, case-by-case - the dash camera usefulness (from a legal perspective) may be limited. As I point out above, the risk may outweigh the benefit. (what is the benefit - saving a $500 deductable?). Insurance plays a factor here. This is not legal advice.

Users have made some good contributions, such as pointing out the fact that a device may have an off swtich, or that there may be other uses beyond who is liable for an accident (monitoring kids... personally, I would never let them drive mine. I dont currently have any though). These factors do not substantially mitigate the risk or increase the benefit, in my mind.

Ultimately, no one can know how the camera will help or hurt in your individual instance. It varies case-by-case. The facts of your case would have to be examined by a qualified and competent attorney.

I practiced in civil litigation for a short time. Currently, I work in the pharmaceutical industry. Hence, RX Law.

This is not legal advice.

 

I do want to put one in my car. I have witnessed a few bad things happened to other people and almost happened to me where a camera would have helped. Just the other night, if it was not for the out-standing braking ability of the G, I would have t-bone an idiot who charged out in-front of us from a side street.

 

Must see: The reason why you need a dash camera (scam foiled) - YouTube

 

I don't mind investing in a capsule style one as long as I can tap into the rear view mirror for a clean install. There's a website selling power tap for rear view mirror but I can't remember what it's called. Not sure if it'll power the cam though.