Dashcams and the plod
Author
Discussion

MiguelCotto

Original Poster:

110 posts

84 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
Thinking of buying a dashcam to protect myself in the case of an accident, though I've heard some horror stories about drivers having their dashcams confiscated by the police, them trawling through the files on it and then a driving ban ensuing when they've discovered something naughty.

Is there anyway to protect yourself from this if you've installed a dashcam? Is there a cam anyone would recommend which could be erased or have it's SD card ejected in a moment's notice to prevent such a thing happening?

Any advice welcome. Cheers

LosingGrip

8,857 posts

188 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
Simple answer is don't drive like an idiot...

But unless there is a major crash they won't look at dash cam footage. Unless you are someone who uploads it to Youtube whilst doing silly speeds.

MiguelCotto

Original Poster:

110 posts

84 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
LosingGrip said:
Simple answer is don't drive like an idiot...

But unless there is a major crash they won't look at dash cam footage. Unless you are someone who uploads it to Youtube whilst doing silly speeds.
Is it not true though that they can be confiscated in road traffic stops? I've heard that before

kestral

2,234 posts

236 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
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MiguelCotto said:
Is it not true though that they can be confiscated in road traffic stops? I've heard that before
Correct. Quite a few motorcyclists have been hung by that method.

bluezedd

1,286 posts

111 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
If you're really worried, just take the micro SD out and gub it. Unless you're writing over the data, you won't be able to erase it properly. When you delete files, they're still there until they are overwritten.

Edited by bluezedd on Friday 22 November 16:31

Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

290 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
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There have also been situations where examination of dashcam footage has exonerated the driver or rider. In this situation I can well believe some officers would be tempted to go fishing for other incidents in order to get a prosecution anyway.

LosingGrip

8,857 posts

188 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
MiguelCotto said:
Is it not true though that they can be confiscated in road traffic stops? I've heard that before
Something major then yes (section 19 PACE allows for seizure of items if it's evidence of an offence). Speeding offence? Minor due care? No, it won't be. It isn't proportionate to do so.

Who me ?

7,455 posts

241 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
bluezedd said:
If you're really worried, just take the micro SD out and gub it. Unless you're writing over the data, you won't be able to erase it properly. When you delete files, they're still there until they are overwritten.

Edited by bluezedd on Friday 22 November 16:31
I use a nextbase, which will record over when the card is full. Simply enough to use a minimal size card as there's a protect feature if there's a file you wish to protect( and a format feature for stuff you'd sooner not seen).

MiguelCotto

Original Poster:

110 posts

84 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
[quote=Who me ?]

I use a nextbase, which will record over when the card is full. Simply enough to use a minimal size card as there's a protect feature if there's a file you wish to protect( and a format feature for stuff you'd sooner not seen).

[/quote]

Thinking of going for a Nextbase 522 with a rear cam and 32gb SD card in the deals on at the moment. Is that cam's card easily and quickly ejected mate? Do you know?

Even with it being ejected, does the cam have any ability to retain files on the base device without the card inserted?

I know there's the whole link to your phone/app too so I'm not sure how that'd all.work in the even the cam was taken by the plod?

WarrenB

3,100 posts

147 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
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MiguelCotto said:
Thinking of going for a Nextbase 522 with a rear cam and 32gb SD card in the deals on at the moment. Is that cam's card easily and quickly ejected mate? Do you know?

Even with it being ejected, does the cam have any ability to retain files on the base device without the card inserted?

I know there's the whole link to your phone/app too so I'm not sure how that'd all.work in the even the cam was taken by the plod?
Bloody hell man what do you get up too that you want to hide so badly?!

With no memory card the camera is basically useless with no internal memory that can store videos. The memory card just slides and clips into place, easy enough to remove.

Linking to your phone basically just transfers files from the SD card to the phone wirelessly. No SD card, no videos!

But as someone said before, don't drive like a knob and you'll be fine. I've had my dash cam for a couple of years now and pretty much forget it's there. My driving isn't perfect and it would probably hold some incriminating evidence should it ever be seized (nothing major, straying over the speed limit slightly, ignoring red lights on empty traffic controlled roundabouts at 3am, etc.), but the chances of that are pretty minor unless you've been driving like a complete bell end.

Kev_Mk3

3,639 posts

124 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
LosingGrip said:
Simple answer is don't drive like an idiot...

But unless there is a major crash they won't look at dash cam footage. Unless you are someone who uploads it to Youtube whilst doing silly speeds.
What about the idiot who hits you while your driving sensibly?

anonymous-user

83 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
Kev_Mk3 said:
LosingGrip said:
Simple answer is don't drive like an idiot...

But unless there is a major crash they won't look at dash cam footage. Unless you are someone who uploads it to Youtube whilst doing silly speeds.
What about the idiot who hits you while your driving sensibly?
Then you wouldn't want to delete the footage.

I think the op is being a bit paranoid. There's thousands of cars/bikes with dash cams and the police have only done a handful of people cause they've driven/ridden like tools.

Heidfirst

200 posts

116 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
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If you are worried about them finding that you went slightly over the speed limit then most will let you disable the gps speed info - indeed not all dashcams have gps to start with.

DaveH23

3,355 posts

199 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
In order to for the Police to take it off you they need to pull you over.

When was the last time that happened?

15+ years ago for me. There isn't enough police on the road in my opinion.

MiguelCotto

Original Poster:

110 posts

84 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
WarrenB said:
Bloody hell man what do you get up too that you want to hide so badly?!

With no memory card the camera is basically useless with no internal memory that can store videos. The memory card just slides and clips into place, easy enough to remove.

Linking to your phone basically just transfers files from the SD card to the phone wirelessly. No SD card, no videos!

But as someone said before, don't drive like a knob and you'll be fine. I've had my dash cam for a couple of years now and pretty much forget it's there. My driving isn't perfect and it would probably hold some incriminating evidence should it ever be seized (nothing major, straying over the speed limit slightly, ignoring red lights on empty traffic controlled roundabouts at 3am, etc.), but the chances of that are pretty minor unless you've been driving like a complete bell end.
Ha, just want to be on the safe side mate. Cover every base. Heard some horror stories. Is the SD easily ejectable in the Nextbase cams?

If you have a rear cam too, how is the footage recorded? Is it split screen and paired or seperate clips?

With a 32gb SD you apparently only get two hours of 1440p footage, is that just continually written over when in use?

Anyone know what you'd do in the event of an insurance claim anyway, do you personally submit the footage of the accident, ie the immediate time before and after or do you have to send off the whole SD card?

MiguelCotto

Original Poster:

110 posts

84 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
Heidfirst said:
If you are worried about them finding that you went slightly over the speed limit then most will let you disable the gps speed info - indeed not all dashcams have gps to start with.
They've convicted people without that info though, just basing off milestones driven past to calculate speed etc.

WarrenB

3,100 posts

147 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
MiguelCotto said:
Ha, just want to be on the safe side mate. Cover every base. Heard some horror stories. Is the SD easily ejectable in the Nextbase cams?

If you have a rear cam too, how is the footage recorded? Is it split screen and paired or seperate clips?

With a 32gb SD you apparently only get two hours of 1440p footage, is that just continually written over when in use?

Anyone know what you'd do in the event of an insurance claim anyway, do you personally submit the footage of the accident, ie the immediate time before and after or do you have to send off the whole SD card?
Honestly I wouldn't worry about it. Unless you're obviously attracting attention from the police I don't think they'd take much interest in the dash cam anyway.

You just need to click the SD card out, easily done with a finger nail. Takes less than a second.

The only footage that isn't overwritten is stuff that has been 'protected' or 'saved'. They can auto save if they think you've had a bump, but you can disable this. It goes off a motion sensor/G sensor. Mine thought I was in an accident every time I went over a speed bump or drove down a potholed road. Otherwise it'll just overwrite everything.

Not sure on the insurance, but I'd assume they'd only want to see what happened on the run up to an accident, enough to prove that you weren't responsible for it at least.

anonymous-user

83 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
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Even if your car is upside down after rolling three times and you are hanging from the roof by your seatbelt worrying about the flames you can still eat/destroy a micro SD card. #theyllnevertakemealive or some such...



anonymous-user

83 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
OP, do you believe everything that some bloke in a pub tells you? If so, I may have a bridge to sell you.

Keep calm and carry on. You are not on the Five Oh want list, unless you are.

Flibble

6,538 posts

210 months

Friday 22nd November 2019
quotequote all
Heidfirst said:
If you are worried about them finding that you went slightly over the speed limit then most will let you disable the gps speed info - indeed not all dashcams have gps to start with.
Surely GPS speed info wouldn't be admissible anyway? It's not exactly accurate.