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You’ve seen them on Facebook with Russian drivers in near misses with petrol tankers or meteorites falling from the sky, but dash cams are becoming more and more popular.
Here’s the top 5 frequently asked questions about in-car cameras.
Dash cams of some sort have been around for decades – remember those cop shows, where you see the officer arresting someone who’s been pulled over on the side of the road?
It recent years, in-car cameras have found their way into passenger cars as a way for drivers to monitor and record incidents that happen on the road. The demand for dash cams was borne out of the same need that they had been installed in emergency vehicles or trucks – to record any actions by the driver in the event of an incident.
Basic cameras are usually just windscreen-mounted with a forward-facing camera to record outside the car; while more advanced models have a rear-facing camera to record your behaviour as a back up, to prove you were not distracted (i.e. texting or calling) at the time of any incident.
This makes sure it doesn’t fill up all the space on the memory card with uneventful footage of trips to the shops.
Dash cams can be submitted as evidence as part of any legal proceedings, whether they’re accepted before the court is disputed, though – it’s probably best not to risk having to pay an expensive court case without consulting with a lawyer over any footage you may have recorded.
In Australia, it is legal to have an dash cam, but be aware that you are not allowed to distribute any recording of any acts that a person would reasonably expect to be kept private – such as if you are driving on private property.