Dash cams are in-car systems that can make video and audio recordings of your driving journey. As soon as you get behind the wheel and start the ignition, your dash cam will begin recording. As you can imagine, dash cams are extremely handy in the event of an accident—you can use the footage recorded to prove that you’re not at fault. Of course, your dash cam won’t continue storing all recorded footage. At some point, depending on storage limits, it will begin to overwrite footage—meaning that, if you have footage you want to keep, you’ll need to transfer it ASAP.
The capability of a dash cam will vary depending on your chosen model. Some dash cams, for example, will have a parking mode that enables it to start recording the moment something bumps into your car—pretty handy if your pesky neighbours keep scraping past your car. Additional advanced features can include GPS tracking, speed monitoring and low battery usage.
There are two main types of dash cams:
To say that dash cams are becoming increasingly popular amongst motorists would be an understatement. In fact, a survey carried out by Aviva with 2,134 motorists, found that one in four drivers currently use a dash cam in the UK. Of these motorists, three in four believe that others should do the same. And it’s only going to increase. According to 2017 research carried out by the AA, dash cam ownership has increased from 1% to 15% in just four years. One can only imagine what it might be like in the next few years.
Can’t quite see the appeal to forking out for a dash cam just yet? That’s fine—we’re going to lay out some of the main advantages to installing a dash cam below.