Is it worth getting an in-car video camera

Strider590

Is it worth getting an in-car video camera

Yes...

I got mine after a couple of non-accidents where under normal circumstances i'd have been held responsible by the insurance.
Lot's of insurance scammers out there too, especially in the big cities.

There was a great video on Youtube recorded by office workers who saw the same guy causing several accidents a day on a nearby traffic island.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpMVOfVS6KU

property.advert

Strider590 wrote: »

[/B]Yes...

I got mine after a couple of non-accidents where under normal circumstances i'd have been held responsible by the insurance.
Lot's of insurance scammers out there too, especially in the big cities.

There was a great video on Youtube recorded by office workers who saw the same guy causing several accidents a day on a nearby traffic island.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpMVOfVS6KU

Mr Plod has it and relies upon it in court.

Just how difficult is it to set up ?

Obukit

property.advert wrote: »

I become more and more convinced that some system would be a good investment, if only I can get what I want and justify the price.

I want something which can record from multiple angles, front and back, perhaps from the side and record it in decent resolution colour onto a massive hard drive with weeks or months of storage capacity. Power source is probably the problem.

Although it would be useful to have that I figure if someone hits you from behind it's more clear cut. The problems seem to occur when there's dispute about what lane someone was in, etc, which hopefully a forward facing camera would conclusively prove.

I think you would have a problem continuously powering a hard drive - would be fine with flash and you can get 64GB flash cards, but even that's less than 24 hours of decent quality video from one camera.

oldagetraveller

CaptainKidd wrote: »

I own one of those cameras and the footage isant to bad for the money, when the memory runs out it just records over itself again. The only problem i found is having to remember to turn it on and off every time you get in or out the car but i suppose if you wire it directly to the car then you could just leave it running incase anything happens at night.

I have a similar device (not exactly the same but a mini dvc) with the date/time embedded on the picture but in spite of following the instructions to set the current date/time it will not do so. TAG.TXT file etc.
Any chance of a "total idiots" guide on how this is achieved?

Strider590

oldagetraveller wrote: »

I have a similar device (not exactly the same but a mini dvc) with the date/time embedded on the picture but in spite of following the instructions to set the current date/time it will not do so. TAG.TXT file etc.
Any chance of a "total idiots" guide on how this is achieved?

First make sure you can see file extensions by going to tools, folder options, view tab, uncheck "hide file extensions for known file types".
This is hidden initially by default (which I always find really annoying), because it's often vital for helping someone locate a problem file.

Once the above is done, all of your files will appear to "change" names (do not be alarmed).

Image will become Image.jpg
Document will become Document.doc
Text Document will become Text Document.txt
The .??? extension tells your PC what program to use to open that file.

Create a new "Text Document" file on the camera's memory.
Open this document and enter all of the following code (copy paste):

echo %date:~6,4%.%date:~3,2%.%date:~0,2% %time:~0,2%:%time:~3,2%:%time:~6,2%>time.txt

echo [date] >TAG.TXT
echo %date:~6,4%/%date:~3,2%/%date:~0,2% >>TAG.TXT
echo %time:~0,2%:%time:~3,2%:%time:~6,2%=>>TAG.TXT

This create's the TAG.txt file for you, it also creates the TIME.txt file for the other version of the mini DV.
Save the file, close text editor and choose to rename the file as "time.bat".

Now double click that file and then quickly disconnect the card/camera and turn on/off the camera once/twice.

Time/date stamp should now work.

I cannot upload this script file for download because most antivirus software would not allow DOS Batch files (.bat) to be downloaded, regardless of it's contents.

vax2002

If you car is 2008/9 onwards, it saves the last few mins of driving records in the on-board computer, such a speed, braking, deceleration ect, the trouble is it is encrypted and even tho some have managed to download the data you need a crypto key from the manufacture to decipher it .
You will often see police accident investigators downloading it on to a laptop from accident scenes .
Now the problem with these cameras is, you can never permanently erase the data, so it could prove you were speeding, as most do and if you are in an accident, it would get seized as evidence and could ultimately see you blamed .
These things are for the drivers who think they are better drivers than anyone else, you can spot them, just look in your mirror, they are usually tailgating .
So as I warn, unless you travel everywhere at under the speed limits, think twice

s_b

These things are for the drivers who think they are better drivers than anyone else, you can spot them, just look in your mirror, they are usually tailgating .
So as I warn, unless you travel everywhere at under the speed limits, think twice

i sooooo disagree with this,i use mine in my transit and to conserve fuel never go over 60mph,twice up near peterlee on the A19 cars have cut straight across me to get off at a junction the camera proves if i ever clipped them that my driving was beyond dispute

Bob_the_Saver

grizzly1911 wrote: »

And me no problems so far.

I've used them for many year also buying for business, spent thousands and no issues.

Strider590

vax2002 wrote: »

These things are for the drivers who think they are better drivers than anyone else

And this is the misconception.... Just as with the increasing numbers of cyclists using video camera's, it's for our own protection.

Lets say for example, your following a car with a clear 2 second + gap between you, but unbeknown to you, the muppet driving it has no brake lights (it's not due for MOT, so he/she isn't bothered).
If they brake hard, there's no two ways about it.... You WILL end up implanted in their boot.

It's not your fault, but what proof do you have?

garethgas

Strider said:
Lets say for example, your following a car with a clear 2 second + gap between you, but unbeknown to you, the muppet driving it has no brake lights (it's not due for MOT, so he/she isn't bothered).
If they brake hard, there's no two ways about it.... You WILL end up implanted in their boot.

It's not your fault, but what proof do you have?

Of COURSE its your fault!
Having no brake light would be a contributing factor but ultimately, its your faulf if you hit him from behind.
Rather elementary stuff really but I'm not really suprised having witnessed your embarrassing driving standards.