Car Cameras and Black Boxes in Canberra?

screaming banshee said :

Picked up a in car camera for both cars from officeworks for about $90 each, suction cap to the windscreen, cigarette lighter input, records whenever the ignition is on (via cig lighter power) and constantly writes over oldest data on the SD card. HD video give us about 4hrs on a (16 or 32 gig, I cant remember) card. Reviewed a few recordings and the quality is pretty good, you get to record yourself yelling abuse also.

Not a bad option, I might check it out. This is all we need.

If you already have an Android phone, windscreen holder, and car charger you can get a very good free app that will do as much, if not more, than many of the basic dedicated cameras on the market:

http://www.dailyroads.com/voyager.php

Good point too… I do have an old Android phone I was going to leave installed as a dedicated GPS anyway so I could look at this. Should do at least 720p. I’m keen on recording the rear though too.

Thanks, good suggestions.

So can video footage be submitted as evidence in a court?

screaming banshee said :

Picked up a in car camera for both cars from officeworks for about $90 each, suction cap to the windscreen, cigarette lighter input, records whenever the ignition is on (via cig lighter power) and constantly writes over oldest data on the SD card. HD video give us about 4hrs on a (16 or 32 gig, I cant remember) card. Reviewed a few recordings and the quality is pretty good, you get to record yourself yelling abuse also.

Not a bad option, I might check it out. This is all we need.

If you already have an Android phone, windscreen holder, and car charger you can get a very good free app that will do as much, if not more, than many of the basic dedicated cameras on the market:

http://www.dailyroads.com/voyager.php

Good point too… I do have an old Android phone I was going to leave installed as a dedicated GPS anyway so I could look at this. Should do at least 720p. I’m keen on recording the rear though too.

Thanks, good suggestions. The Android phone combined with a rear camera would make a fantastic cost effective solution, just need a way to automate it. I already run ‘Tasker’ on my phones so there may be a way through that. Plus I get a free GPS nav system.. Bonus…

So can video footage and a phone GPS log be submitted as evidence in a court? Why were the other sites taken down that posted footage of scumbag drivers?

Just wondering if a smartphone would be ideal for this, if you get a dashboard/windscreen mount for it.

The new ones have GPS, a camera, and a lot of in built space. You get a place to mount the phone out of the way. It does other things (e.g. play music, receive calls, GPS tracking or navigation). And then you take it with you when out of the car. You also use a single charger to charge the phone anyway.

Needs the right software, and a phone with a wide angle lens maybe.

There are plenty of idiots on the road, and yet I rarely have a problem.

Learn to drive properly, be careful, and you’ll be fine.

I agree there are some very poor drivers out there, however everybody (yes, I mean everybody) makes mistakes and not everyone is out to get you. It’s going to get interesting when someone with one of these cameras installed is involved in an accident they are actually responsible for, and their camera footage becomes the evidence used to effectively convict themselves.

You’d better wear your tin foil hat under your crash helmet next time, perhaps complimented with a bubble wrap suit.

Picked up a in car camera for both cars from officeworks for about $90 each, suction cap to the windscreen, cigarette lighter input, records whenever the ignition is on (via cig lighter power) and constantly writes over oldest data on the SD card. HD video give us about 4hrs on a (16 or 32 gig, I cant remember) card. Reviewed a few recordings and the quality is pretty good, you get to record yourself yelling abuse also.

Are you sure that this is correct? Wasn’t the Jim’s mowing guy charged for hitting that cyclist based on video footage? And I’m pretty sure that an insurance company would be very interested in video footage if they could try to use it (at least as supporting evidence) to recover costs against a third party (surely it would be as good as or better than photographic evidence taken at the scene).

This is all I had in mind. I’m sure it’s funny to some but I don’t find visiting a friend with now brain damaged and slightly crippled children funny. I wasn’t laughing when I visited him in hospital, or 10 years later when he is still fighting for compensation due to someone pulling out in front, leading to his car being wrapped around a stoby pole.

This year alone I’ve seen many accidents, someone driving in to oncoming traffic on Coulter Drive at night, wrecked cars and ambulances coming back from the snowy’s and mangled bikes on the side of the road.

There is only so much defensive driving can achieve, but yes it’s a good start, common courtesy also goes a long way.

Well it seems there are dedicated systems for up to $500, with cameras from $80.

Like this one http://www.AutoBlackBox.com.au/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=96

Seems like a good investment if it saves a great deal more in legal costs.

The odd time I get off my pushie and abuse the environment in the lazy person’s machine, I find it quite a relaxing experience. Almost never strike any of the hoonie type behaviour you’re suggesting is the norm. Perhaps that’s because most of my driving is outside peak periods?

Anyway, bro, chill. Per km you’re actually very safe on Canberra’s roads. Adhering to speed limits and copping a tradie’s horn isn’t actually dangerous, and if you accept that tradies are little children dressed up as big people and ignore their tanties, you’ll find that once they’ve had their little tantie and moved on, you can relax.

Amen, Rollersk8r!