Most of the time, trips in your car are going to be uneventful, if not outright boring. You probably travel the same routes almost every time you drive. Most trips have nothing out-of-the-ordinary beyond a few tailgaters or someone with unusually loud music pulling up next to you at a stoplight.
Investing in a dashboard camera or dashcam may seem like an unnecessary expense. You know you are a safe driver and might feel like you don’t have much risk of getting into a crash. However, on the off chance that you do experience a wreck caused by another driver, a dashcam can be a crucial form of protection.
In many crashes, officers only have the testimony of the drivers involved
Unless your crash occurs near a business that has security cameras facing out onto the road or where there are traffic cameras at the exact right angle, there likely won’t be photographs or video footage of the collision occurring from outside your vehicle.
When police officers arrive to take reports and assign fault, they will have to make a decision about who is responsible based on what you and the other driver tell them. Some people will lie to law enforcement officers because they don’t want the ticket.
When it is your word against theirs, you might wind up taking the blame for a crash that you had no part in causing. With a dashcam, you will have footage that will show that the other driver ran a red light, turned into you without looking up from their phone or otherwise broke traffic rules.
The secondary benefits of a dashcam
Being able to conclusively show officers what happened in a crash is only one of the benefits of having a dashboard camera. You can also use that footage you have to go to court or negotiate with your insurance company.
If a police officer tickets you, the footage recorded by your camera might exonerate you if you try to fight that traffic ticket. Finally, if you witness something incredible during your daily commute like a double rainbow or unusual animal, you will have footage that you can review and possibly share with others.
The costs associated with installing a dashcam will more than pay for themselves if you ever need the footage that the device records after you get hurt in a crash.
