Dash Cams- concern
Author
Discussion

coppice

Original Poster:

9,756 posts

175 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
We are already a nation obsessed by CCTV - despite the fact that much of the UK has a very low crime rate we have more CCTV than anywhere apart from North Korea . I have nevr bought the 'If you have nothing to hide' argument as I find the idea of state intrusion , let alone private intrusion, into my not very exciting private life morally unacceptable. And now we have everybody wanting a dash cam; understandable if cash for crash is a problem near you (it isn't where I live ) and /or if you like doing some track day or similar recording- or even an early morning run at a brisk pace . The sinister thing I think is that we are turning into a nation of petty little grasses- we have seen it already-'look at him look at his bad driving';stick it on youtube , tell the police etc. What the hell is wrong with us ?

The Moose

23,702 posts

240 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
What makes you think that with public or private CCTV you're being monitored?

Just because you're filmed doesn't mean someone is sitting there with a pad and jotting down the times you passed by.

Nobody cares what you get up to. Get over yourself wink

dave7692

683 posts

160 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
I thought they were only used in the event of a crash.

If people really have nowt else to do with their day than try to identify driver's mistakes then, wow...

SteveSteveson

3,209 posts

194 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
coppice said:
we are turning into a nation of petty little grasses-
How old are you? 12?

anonymous-user

85 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
The Moose said:
Nobody cares what you get up to. Get over yourself wink
This.

Yes, a lot more people have dash cams now than they did a few years ago, but in the vast majority of cases the recorded material is simply never viewed or downloaded unless there was a major incident, ie they were in a crash.

The people you see uploading 'bad driving' videos to YouTube are in an absolute tiny minority of people. We a talking about a couple of hundred individuals out of a nation of approximately 38 million drivers.

naw

38 posts

167 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
I've just started running a dash cam through an app on my phone. Purely so there's an account of what happened if something goes wrong.
I wouldn't dream of uploading a video of someone else's driving onto the internet.
The look-at-this-bad-driving youtubers are just the latest generation of that little boy in school who would tell the teacher if you swore.

Toltec

7,179 posts

254 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
I thought this was going to be about the recording in your own dashcam being used against you.


CallorFold

860 posts

164 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
Just purchased a dash cam myself smile fun little piece of kit to play around with.

Now it's all set up though it will pretty much remain in my car until an accident occurs or footage is otherwise required.

There's too many of these "bad-drivers" to take the time to keep uploading footage of them! It would become a daily chore!

Coldfuse

518 posts

225 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
To play devils advocate, there was an article i was reading in the "Car" section of the times the other day about people who are using a website called "police witness" to upload clips of bad driving to and then the police will analyse it and act accordingly. I personally think that this is fairly shocking.

I'm certain i will never meet one of these "do-gooders" but its difficult to think that they are out there. I wouldn't say i was an amazing driver and i have done some stupid things sometimes, i wouldn't like the idea that the 1 time out of 100 i'm driving i get recorded.

chrisw666

22,655 posts

230 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
People who post others bad driving online or use their dashcams to report it to the Police are morons, a bit like the militant cyclists who do the same.

dave7692

683 posts

160 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
On another note my brother is considering fitting one to his tractor in some way or another because people's brains seem to shut down when they see him coming and bumps/scrapes are (relatively) common.

Naturally then the first thing the driver of the car gets out and says "its your fault because you're in a wide vehicle blah blah blah" when in actual fact he's usually doing sub-20mph and any incident could have been avoided if people would slow up for 5 seconds in wider sections of the road rather than try and squeeze past on the narrow bits because they have to go as quickly as possible.

Also he says the amount of abuse he gets on a weekly basis is genuinely laughable.

oyster

13,791 posts

279 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
chrisw666 said:
People who post others bad driving online or use their dashcams to report it to the Police are morons, a bit like the militant cyclists who do the same.
Presumably sending a video to the police of a scrote keying your car would be acceptable though?

Double standards?

anonymous-user

85 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
Coldfuse said:
To play devils advocate, there was an article i was reading in the "Car" section of the times the other day about people who are using a website called "police witness" to upload clips of bad driving to and then the police will analyse it and act accordingly. I personally think that this is fairly shocking.
It would be, but I'm not convinced it's actually true. The site charges you a "membership" fee (£60!) for it's service unless you buy a disctinctly "premium-priced" dashcam from them - and as far as I can see all it does it report it to plod just like any normal member of the public would do.

They've been very careful to make it look like they're affiliated with the police, right down to a quote from an ex-chief constable on the banner at the top of the site, but if you actually read the site there is nothing there that states there is any actual specific relationship or that they do anything an ordinary member of the public can't. It's a clever piece of work but IMO it's rather misleading (to say the least wink ).


Coldfuse

518 posts

225 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
oyster said:
chrisw666 said:
People who post others bad driving online or use their dashcams to report it to the Police are morons, a bit like the militant cyclists who do the same.
Presumably sending a video to the police of a scrote keying your car would be acceptable though?

Double standards?
I would point out that Vadalism is not a road crime.... i don't class road laws the same as REAL laws....

So yes, this is fine.

chrisw666

22,655 posts

230 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
oyster said:
Presumably sending a video to the police of a scrote keying your car would be acceptable though?

Double standards?
Not really, one is criminal damage. On the road things are rarely black and white, so where does it stop?

Will you be happy when some nosey wker reports you to plod for overtaking him while he was doing 60 on a single carriageway road?

9mm

3,128 posts

241 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
oyster said:
chrisw666 said:
People who post others bad driving online or use their dashcams to report it to the Police are morons, a bit like the militant cyclists who do the same.
Presumably sending a video to the police of a scrote keying your car would be acceptable though?

Double standards?
No, because one is criminal damage involving a loss to the owner and the other one is an everyday occurrence that frequently has no tangible consequences at all.

If you compare apples with apples, then yes, if a recording showed someone making off after a collision, then it should be shared with the Police in the same way you would if it was an act of vandalism.

Coldfuse

518 posts

225 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
charltjr said:
Coldfuse said:
To play devils advocate, there was an article i was reading in the "Car" section of the times the other day about people who are using a website called "police witness" to upload clips of bad driving to and then the police will analyse it and act accordingly. I personally think that this is fairly shocking.
It would be, but I'm not convinced it's actually true. The site charges you a "membership" fee (£60!) for it's service unless you buy a disctinctly "premium-priced" dashcam from them - and as far as I can see all it does it report it to plod just like any normal member of the public would do.

They've been very careful to make it look like they're affiliated with the police, right down to a quote from an ex-chief constable on the banner at the top of the site, but if you actually read the site there is nothing there that states there is any actual specific relationship or that they do anything an ordinary member of the public can't. It's a clever piece of work but IMO it's rather misleading (to say the least wink ).
I was not aware of that, 60 quid will deffinately put people off. Unless they are really determined.

chrisw666

22,655 posts

230 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
9mm said:
If you compare apples with apples, then yes, if a recording showed someone making off after a collision, then it should be shared with the Police in the same way you would if it was an act of vandalism.
That would be acceptable. I see why professional drivers have them, I don't understand why Bob needs one for his commute.

9mm

3,128 posts

241 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
It shouldn't take long to identify a few key members of 'Police Witness' (the caravan club would be a good place to start) follow them around for a bit and see how they like it.

9mm

3,128 posts

241 months

Wednesday 11th September 2013
quotequote all
chrisw666 said:
9mm said:
If you compare apples with apples, then yes, if a recording showed someone making off after a collision, then it should be shared with the Police in the same way you would if it was an act of vandalism.
That would be acceptable. I see why professional drivers have them, I don't understand why Bob needs one for his commute.
Me neither. In 30 years' driving I haven't had a dispute with an insurance claim. Nor do I spend more than a minute or two thinking about any bad driving I observe unless it's out-of-this-world life threatening. However, I do need to buy one of these devices for static recording in an attempt to catch a vandal. I'd be happy with another type of camera but it seems a dash cam would be the easiest solution.