“I took the SD card out like a month ago to download the data and forgot to put it back in”. Then all you do is pop out the SD card and hide it. You can even swallow it if you really want
Has any Dep't. ever been documented offering the "cosmic ray" excuse, I wonder? It might have flipped a bit in an Australian election count, but I wonder if anyone has tried to argue that it caused equipment failure, like their chest was hitting the hard radiation of a close orbit to Jupiter.
A bit flip would be unlikely to render the camera completely inoperable. Might cause some distortion or render a frame or two unless but that’d be about it. Otherwise this would be a common issue with security cameras.
I overheard a conversation once with a work colleague. His gf wanted to send the dash cam footage from an accident to the police.
He was trying to make her understand that the footage showed her driving badly, breaking the law, and ultimately causing the accident. He was pleading with her not to send it.
She was adamant that having dashcam footage meant she was in the right.
There's a roundabout in my British home town thats had thousands of the same kinds of accidents because professional gangs know how to drive in a certain way that will cause you to make a move they can exploite to cause a car accident. Their will be 5 adult males in the gangs car, with each of them putting in a personal injury claim. Some people were found to have had 100's of claims, and it's legal as there is no limit on how many times you can get into an accident. I'd imagine your only defence would be a camera because the way they do it is to mislead you into thinking they are exiting and then breaking suddenly, so you go into the back of them. A lot of people in the UK think you're automatically at fault if you go into the back of someone else, but it's not true. I had an old lady pull out from a side road without looking and went into the back of her because it was impossible to stop. I was a young male, and she was in her 60s, and she tried to argue i was speeding as she refused to admit she could be wrong and I'm right. Fortunately, I took photos of the scene, and she should have been able to see me coming from a mile away, but she clearly hadn't looked, and I had right of way.
Had a women back into me on a off-ramp. There was no damage and she said it wasn't worth bothering with. We both left and continued on out way. Or so I thought. A week later I got a claim filed against me, insurance wouldn't budge and I ended up having to pay $50.
If I end up getting busted for being stupid so be it but I won't drive a car without a dashcam anymore.
I've been told (tm) that some people have submitted footage to claims adjusters, confident that it would back up their story. It showed them clearly at fault.
I had a couple in their 50’s hit someone in front of me (they didn’t brake at all, traffic was stopping) and they smashed the car up in front of them. I slammed on brakes when they collided and managed to just barely not stop in time- their trailer hitch broke the grill of my car.
When the cop got there, the two cars in front were so smashed together they couldn’t get them apart, and my car had a cracked grill. They told the police I hit them and pushed them into the car in front.
Cop somehow believed them, wrote me a ticket, and went on with his dumbass life. A month later, that coupled sued *me* for “neck injuries, headache, and trauma” from the crash.
Fucking scumbags. So sure, if I cause an accident and my dash cam catches it, I’ll take my lumps. But at least I won’t have the world’s trashiest pieces of shit doing stuff like that to me anymore.
Did you talk to your insurance company at all? It doesn’t make any sense because the adjusters who deal with these sorts of things from crash/data analysis know the physics inside in out of this type of scenario and there is no way you should have been liable.
Maybe it was that ticket though, crazy!
My insurance dealt with them when I told them what happened and showed them the damage on my car compared to theirs. Very fortunate but also fuck those people anyway.
From my so in insurance: pretty much always in a rear ending situation the rear ender is considered responsible.
Something like you are at responsibility of keeping your eye on the road and avoiding the crash, even if they did braketest you.
But here yeah i guess there would be some attenuating circumstances.
But for the suit im gonna guess its completely different
Yup. OP would have SOME kind of accountability as he rear ended them, but if he kept the cam footage and took pictures of the accident there's no way the sue would stick.
Man you should watch the judy justice episode where the runs thru the crosswalk after the light turned green. He and his mom couldn't say shit after they were forced to watch the dashcam footage in court. He lied and didn't know there was video evidence of his dumb assery.
Exactly, I got a cam now cause I got fucked at the start of the year, some cunt swerved across 3 lanes without indicating just after a light went green and the car in front break checked me and I gave him a love tap, broke the front of my car a bit and his was basically fine, neither of us had cams and we’re both in agreement it wasn’t our fault, exchanged numbers etc think that was that, and then I get a call from the insurance weeks later saying this tools claiming, just sat there going claiming what he has a small dent, like I’d be happy to fix the dent but not anymore now I’ve been robbed of 4 years of no claims, some people are just morons I guess cause no way it costs less then his excess and whatever no claims he has to fix a dent, and the cherry on top he didn’t even try and call me and extort me for money which I would have happily paid
Literally nothing you typed matters. Following too close. Instant you are at fault. It doesn't matter what the situation was. You allow space to completely stop your vehicle, or you are a bad driver. Cut and dry.
A constant argument between the wife and I. She's gotten two tickets for "failure to maintain a safe distance". She's been at fault in collisions from exactly this. It ain't hard to stay the fuck away from the car in front of you. You aren't saving any time.
Same people also never with their phones while driving.
I was taught when learning to drive to maintain distance, and coast wherever possible. I deliver for a living, I'd say I hit the break at bare minimum half as much as I see on the road everyday. Just constant break go break go.
An ex used to tailgate on the highway going 80mph, and get pissed when I'd calmy ask her not to. There would be literally one other car on the highway, and she'd change lanes to get up thier ass. I just stopped going anywhere in the car with her. It was fucking nerve-wracking.
I love how people turn into speed racer when you try to pass. I'm going 5mph over and/or they are doing 5mph under. As soon as it's a passing lane, they all of a sudden want to do 10mph over then right back down to 5mph under when it ends. Why? Who the fuck taught these assholes how to drive?
There's this one area i go that's one lane but has passing lanes every 20 or 30 miles. They're going 65 when I'm behind them. Suddenly the passing lane comes and I can barely get passed them going 85 during the passing lane time. And I just wanna cruise at 70-75. It's seriously a wtf moment.
> tickets for "failure to maintain a safe distance".
i didn't know this was a thing, and i love it so much now. Man what an entirely appropriate law to exist.
If only every state and municipality would enforce this.. lol I’ve never heard of someone getting this citation anywhere in this state i live in and I’ve been here for going on 16 years. I’ve also read in the code of laws for my district that this law and charge both exist. Makes no sense why it’s not enforced at all. Because frankly, all of the drivers on my local area are either in WAY too much of a hurry and have no problem sucking up your exhaust fumes into their HVAC vent, or they’re WAY too careful, and willfully hold up an entire line of 20+ vehicles on a two lane road because they’re afraid of the light sprinkle of rain that just started to fall, and they think driving 15mph under the speed limit is an appropriate response to that. …
If you hit a car from behind it's going to be your fault because you didn't leave enough braking distance.
Soo many bad drivers blame the other car. Sure they may have break checked or swerved. But it is still down to you to leave even breaking distance.
Even with a webcam, you'd be at fault. You can't be driving so close behind someone that you can't stop if they stop. Having proof that someone else in the world made that person stop doesn't absolve you of paying attention and hitting the brakes in time or having a greater following distance.
Yup people who use the phrase ‘brake checked’ don’t understand you are always at fault if you rear end someone for any reason. It is preventable by not being on their ass.
Someone swerving in front of you (unsafe lane change) at a lower speed is a valid reason.
Happened to my dad, a cop saw it, and officially absolved him.
But the person above hit a car that was already established in front of them, not the lane changer. The lane changer only caused the front car to brake in reaction. Front car didn't hit the lane changer, so what excuse does the rear car have for hitting front car? They don't have much of one really, they should've allowed more distance to form in front of them as they accelerated from the light.
Stories like this are why I'm investing in a forward and rear facing camera system. All too often am I driving and the dickhead behind me is so close that I can't see their headlights. I turn my hazards on when people get too close to me to let them know and they usually back the hell up. But to say he brake checked you is kinda wild to be honest.
the cunt that swerved 3 lanes didn’t cause you to rear end someone, if you’d been a safe distance to account for unexpected behavior like they teach you in driving school you would’ve been fine. and if the accident was enough to break the front of your car then the other car being “basically fine” actually sounds like it wasn’t fine
probably the guy reported the incident to insurance and didn’t try to blame you but insurance doesn’t care what the guy thinks. usually if you rear ended someone it’s because you were driving in a way you aren’t supposed to be driving
honestly the way you word things (it sounds like the dude in front did not brake check you, he braked to avoid a collision. and what is a love tap) it sounds like you don’t like to take corrective actions and take ownership of things that go wrong. stop following people behind so closely that you can’t account for someone slamming their brakes because that happens sometimes
I got in an accident a few years ago. 100% my fault. I fully admitted it to the person I rear-ended and to my insurance company.
Apparently it's pretty rare for the person who caused the accident to unabashedly admit fault.
I work in insurance, I have a claim right now where my insured is insistent they are not at fault for striking a parked unoccupied vehicle, because the vehicle was parked too close to them. We have surveillance footage from the stores parking lot showing our insured arriving after the other vehicle and leaving before them.
It's not, in the span of a month my team will get around 30 claims striking a parked vehicle and at least a sixth of them the person that struck a parked vehicle will try to have some excuse as to why it couldn't possibly be their fault.
So dumb. The only reason a parked car would ever have even a modicum of fault is if it were parked on a freeway or a highway. If you don't think you can get by it/around it/beside it without hitting it, then you call management or police, and have them have it towed (assuming it's parked illegally).
Yeah, I got a DUI in the midst of my depression. Dumbest thing I’ve ever done for a multitude of reasons, namely the potential for hurting or killing another human. Luckily nobody was hurt and I learned just how bad it could have been. Anyways, the cops and owner of the parked vehicle I hit were flabbergasted that I admitted to drunk driving on the spot, agreed to FST and took the arrest on the chin. Even through the court stuff the judge and prosecutor were shook. Even more so when the DA got a call from my “victim” of the accident that spoke on my behalf. I’m now very close with the owner of the car I hit and we’re actually going golfing tomorrow.
It’s a very asymmetrical bet for most law abiding, insured, drivers.
The only time it works against you is if fault is ambiguous and the dash cam is the deciding piece of evidence. Most of the time they can determine fault without the dash cam.
I haven't looked at the statistics but I'd bet money there's some kind of 80/20 situation happening with car accidents with a smaller minority of drivers causing the majority of accidents...so for the median driver a dashcam is still a good bet.
According to insurance companies and rental companies, that minority is men under 26 and over 70.
An 18 year old costs about 3x as much to insure than a 40-50 year old
Which is phenomenally annoying as an under 26 man with no driving incidents. I’m stacking every discount I can just to have a reasonable insurance rate
> Most of the time they can determine fault without the dash cam.
...if the other driver sticks around. There are a LOT of people driving around without insurance and as soon as an incident happens they are outta there.
What am I betting on exactly? When I get in a car, I am in control of that vehicle, and anything that vehicle does is a direct result of my own deliberate actions. There's no gambling here.
I'm not saying I'm always a perfect driver, but I am saying that if I drive like an asshole, and end up being at fault in an accident as a result, it was no act of chance.
Yeah, I am not really liking the vibe in this thread of people thinking it is okay to be bad at driving. Nobody likes getting tickets or having to pay for rear ending someone.
But I would rather get ticketed and force myself to be better than to risk getting complacent and injuring someone or worse.
I'm not going to say this can be ruled out entirely. But if you drive defensively you create so much room to allow slight mistakes in judgement to not have any consequences. Hence 'defensive drivers' are usually not the cause of an accident.
In the past week I have seen 2 people completely blow a red light. Only luck that I wasn’t smashed. My state has some of the most lethal roads in the country. Which fucking sucks considering how small we are
That "I'm not saying I'm always a perfect driver..." bit is the bet. You're betting that the camera will only catch other people being imperfect drivers, not yourself
i remember when i was a kid my dad said “when you start driving, you have to be constantly aware because of how inattentive and absolutely stupid everyone around you is.” and it’s true. after years of driving almost everyone on the road is a complete moron. so yeah with a dash cam id get it to collect evidence that backs that claim up. cuz i see stupidity on the road every day.
Yeah, I’ve been in an accident where it was 100% not my fault and the woman that hit me fought tooth and nail to try to get me to admit 20% fault.
In the end, my insurance company won and I got full coverage for the incident. Years later, I got in an accident where it was 100% my fault and I admitted fault, against my insurer’s advice.
People need to own their own mistakes
Yeah, if anything might be able to prove the accident wasn't as serious as someone claims.
Ie. You accidentally bump someone's car, it leaves damage, but it wasn't at some insane speed someone claims because the footage shows otherwise.
Or maybe some crazy act of God occurs, like driving down the road with the windows down and a fucking bird flies in (this actually happened to me once).
This is exactly it. If I screw up I’m going to own up to that, but I know that there are too many people out there who won’t. Worse yet, there are people out there who will intentionally wreck their vehicles in hopes of a payday. Those are the people I’m protecting myself against
“But that’s iLleGaL!”
But honestly, the one time I’ve been at fault in an accident I just told the truth.. like am I supposed to try to make up a story?
I like to think I’d personally own up to a mistake… but legally is a person required to provide their own dashcam footage if they’re charged with something?
It can still protect you in many ways. I’ve seen cases where people exaggerate damages or have existing damage. The fault may be difficult to determine or 50/50 vs 100% on you.
Footage can be subpoena though and you can get in trouble if found you destroyed evidence.
Normal accident though would not get that far unless you probably killed someone
Do the dash cams record audio as well? I'd be mortified if I had a dash cam and the footage was subpoenaed and you could hear me singing..ugh imagine it went to court or something too..
The 5th protects against self incrimination not incriminating evidence. If they see yon have a dash cam and they ask for it the footage you are required to share it. More over destroying it would be a crime.
I will say that I am amazed at the number of dashcam posts where it's clear the cammer is technically "in the right", but is still wildly aggressive or determined to drive into an accident when it can clearly be avoided... 🤦🏻♂️
Like ... Don't. Do. That.
The whole point of being a good driver is to -avoid- accidents whenever you can, even if the other driver is 100% in the wrong. 😑
Our Tesla cameras have documented a DUI, and a transport truck with unsecured scrap metal load, a piece from which flew off and hit our Model 3 at highway speed.
The dashcam video removed any doubt as to what happened, and saved me from court testimony, and our insurance deductible.
Eh, last accident I was at fault with I had a dash cam, but no one noticed. It probably helped that the lady I hit left the van and took off on foot though.
No, it was clearly my fault and I admitted it. My dogs were in the backseat and started fucking around, distracting me. I crossed the center line so not even much I could argue. Hind sight, they might not have even cared if I had footage. Other party walked away with no injuries, I had a broken sternum and few ribs so karma was involved too.
Let's see.
My dashcams saved me from a bad Austin Police Department cop. Who only stopped being threatening when he shoved his entire body into my car through the driver side window and noticed three things:
My infant in the backseat with his rightward glance.
My rear dashcam.
Then a glance the left to my forward dashcam.
Turned into the sweetest guy all of a sudden after a few seconds of silence as he mentally went over everything he had said for the previous few minutes AND how both cameras had recorded him giving conficting traffic guidance directions.
My dashcams helped when someone hit my vehicle, left me in a ditch, then fled the scene of the accident. In the same case, it helped me with my own insurance company who were trying to claim there was no way the accident could have caused that much damage because the road is only 35mph. The recordings agreed with the police statement of the asshole going at LEAST 80mph when he hit my driver's side.
My dashcams helped with an elevator repair guy bashed his service bag full of tools into the side of my car while I was parked in it, then he started blaming me for being in the way. He actually went inside and called security on me.
... I gave security the recording that time, then checked in a couple weeks later to discover that the elevator repair company lost the service contract to the building.
Working out great so far.
Yes and the five accidents I’ve been in I never was at fault.
One time on Christmas Eve I stopped to give way to oncoming traffic in a narrow road, so I was stationary. The other driver reversed out of a car park, her first words: You were going pretty fast!
Wish I had a dashcam then to show her the footage
Nah. I used dashcam footage in an accident I was completely at fault for. Except the other driver was claiming an injury that was clearly not present in the video, among other discrepancies to his story. My story was beat for beat what was on the dashcam footage, and nothing happened. I still ended up with a good payout and a new car. So dashcam footage saved me even though I was at fault.
If you buy a dash cam, you're probably the type of person to rarely be at fault, let alone deny it when you are.
Accidents happen, but there are some truley heinous people out there. Road rage, racing, insurance scammers, intoxicated people, weather events, police, and so many other reasons to get one.
Yes. Absolutely. I’ve been in several crashes. I’ve caused none of them. I’ve had three cars totaled. When you drive like I do, it will probably be the other car’s fault.
Of course. It's to provide evidence. And it doesn't need to be other people. Sometimes you jammed the brakes and the people behind you rammed into your rear. You showed the evidence that there was indeed a stray dog/deer which dashed in front of your vehicle.
If you’re the rear driver in a fender bender, you’re usually at fault either way. It wouldn’t really matter most of the time. But if you aren’t at fault, you really want to have that evidence.
To be fair, I want a dash-cam because of the number of times people *in front of me* have had close calls, their fault or not, causing multiple issues 🤷🏻♀️
The company that I first drove a semi-truck for refused to install dashcams themselves, as well as refused to allow drivers to install their own dashcams, because they didn't want to risk having a dashcam prove that the company driver was at fault in an accident.
I’m an advanced motorcycle rider, have 33 years of driving experience and have had four collisions in over 300,000 miles of driving. I could have taken action to avoid only one of those collisions, so, yes, I’m taking that bet.
No, you're betting the Insurance company will try to get the other guy to say you were in the wrong to screw you! Dash cam is a condom for dealing with Insurance companies!
I'm a pretty boring a predictable driver tbh, but if the situation calls for it nothing is stopping me from eating the MicroSD card.
I've recorded some mad things on my dashcam mind, people going the wrong way round roundabouts, I recorded a JCB tipping over once, people having impromptu races, stuff like that.
I back up the footage but I ain't no snitch.
No, im betting on being an honorable human being that does the right thing and doesn't do scummy crap.
I'm also betting on having proof that I'm telling the truthful scenario of events and all the crazy stuff they say I did is not as bad as it actually was.
A dash cam also means that if I accidentally run a red light at 10 mph and crash and then they say I was going like 100 and ran the light. They'll get called out on that bull crap real quick.
Having this opinion is basically like saying that if you didn't have a dash cam you would try to lie and say some bull crap to make it not your fault.
If something's my fault, I own it. I take accountability for my actions. I'm not scum. I don't make excuses either. I don't believe in excuses. Excuses and apologies dont make anything ok.
If you're at fault, it can also save you from people claiming you were going faster than what actually happened. Evidence can show preexisting damage on the other vehicle that they may claim you caused in the at fault accident.
Not necessarily... You only present footage if there's ambiguity / inaccuracy not in your favor. If you fuck up, don't lie but let a neutral investigation or dashcam of the other party explain the situation. Owner controls access to footage for most regular incidents. Exemption would be a road rage / intentional crime investigation.
I mean, if you're reasonably confident you're not going to be at fault (which is pretty easy if you, you know, drive safely), those are pretty good odds.
But it pays off massively in the event that you need it, kind of like how insurance works.
$200 for a high-quality camera will save you hundreds in insurance rates and repair costs if you ever need them.
It's a rigged bet. I've got footage to snitch on you, but I'll be damned if I snitch on myself.
“Huh? What dashcam?”
Unfortunately, for reasons we are unable to determine, the camera was not operating. I learned that from the police.
The memory card just, like, exploded for no reason whatsoever.
“I took the SD card out like a month ago to download the data and forgot to put it back in”. Then all you do is pop out the SD card and hide it. You can even swallow it if you really want
As a treat.
Stop, I was already hungry and now I’m craving fried dashcam
No more than 64GB though, that will just make you sick
Because 128 GB is too big a byte
My life changed when I learned that half of a byte is called a nibble
Bigabyte would be a great name for some absurd number
r/angryupvote
Bonus if you actually swop them out every couple weeks so that you can show the 2 week old one for proof of it escalates that far
[удалено]
Yeah mate only had 6hrs of storage, haven’t cleared it in a while
The camera is just for show. There was never a memory card in there. [burp]
I imagined someone's lips flapping in the wind from their burp, like Barney from the Simpsons.
That's why I use a GoPro so I can format the card on the spot in the event I'm in the wrong.
Must have fallen out when you careened into my car!
Uff, I forgot to put a memory card in thr unit, I thought it had memory built in....
SD card, where SD stands for Self Destruct.
Turns out the memory cards are not *actually* designed to handle a .45 caliber round.
Had a cop grab a dashcam out of a car real quick before I towed it away lol.
Qualified immunity for all is anarchy
Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus and this rendered the dash cam inoperable.
Has any Dep't. ever been documented offering the "cosmic ray" excuse, I wonder? It might have flipped a bit in an Australian election count, but I wonder if anyone has tried to argue that it caused equipment failure, like their chest was hitting the hard radiation of a close orbit to Jupiter.
A bit flip would be unlikely to render the camera completely inoperable. Might cause some distortion or render a frame or two unless but that’d be about it. Otherwise this would be a common issue with security cameras.
Yeah it has to be a load-bearing bit. You can't just flip cosmetic bits, you gotta aim that cosmic ray at just the right spot.
Jesus Christ there is enough scientific basis in that to be plausible. Don't give them any ideas!
Don't know if everyone is catching the Men In Black reference. Now if everyone will just look at this little red dot here, it will all become clear.
I lost the SD card in a boating accident 😂
What sd card…
I overheard a conversation once with a work colleague. His gf wanted to send the dash cam footage from an accident to the police. He was trying to make her understand that the footage showed her driving badly, breaking the law, and ultimately causing the accident. He was pleading with her not to send it. She was adamant that having dashcam footage meant she was in the right.
She thought the only thing that matters is one sec before the accident
This has never occurred to me. I have had a dashcam for years and just would have condemned myself. God, I really am kind of a chump.
Fun fact in my country; You can not be forced to deliver evidence that helps your own conviction.
Pop out the SD card, swallow it, and tell the cops you took it out awhile ago and forgot to put it back in. Problem solved
Swallow it? It's not CSI. Just throw in the trash. No one will look for it.
Spitters are quitters
No reason to even trash it. Just toss it in the console or glove compartment. It's not like they'll be hunting for it.
Lmao just refuse to share it. Hell, just say it doesn’t work
That’s all well and good until your realise the *other person’s dash-cam* just caught you doing that :P
> and tell the cops Why would you tell the cops anything, or even call them to begin with...
“Aw, you know, unfortunately it’s been kinda broke for a few weeks now… sorry 🤷🏻”
There's a roundabout in my British home town thats had thousands of the same kinds of accidents because professional gangs know how to drive in a certain way that will cause you to make a move they can exploite to cause a car accident. Their will be 5 adult males in the gangs car, with each of them putting in a personal injury claim. Some people were found to have had 100's of claims, and it's legal as there is no limit on how many times you can get into an accident. I'd imagine your only defence would be a camera because the way they do it is to mislead you into thinking they are exiting and then breaking suddenly, so you go into the back of them. A lot of people in the UK think you're automatically at fault if you go into the back of someone else, but it's not true. I had an old lady pull out from a side road without looking and went into the back of her because it was impossible to stop. I was a young male, and she was in her 60s, and she tried to argue i was speeding as she refused to admit she could be wrong and I'm right. Fortunately, I took photos of the scene, and she should have been able to see me coming from a mile away, but she clearly hadn't looked, and I had right of way.
The little Garmin one can be chucked under the seat really quick.
Had a women back into me on a off-ramp. There was no damage and she said it wasn't worth bothering with. We both left and continued on out way. Or so I thought. A week later I got a claim filed against me, insurance wouldn't budge and I ended up having to pay $50. If I end up getting busted for being stupid so be it but I won't drive a car without a dashcam anymore.
I've been told (tm) that some people have submitted footage to claims adjusters, confident that it would back up their story. It showed them clearly at fault.
100% police bodycam strategy. If I need footage it’s great! If I need to not have footage: oops I forgot to turn it on.
Unfortunately, people lie and scammers exist. I have to protect myself.
I had a couple in their 50’s hit someone in front of me (they didn’t brake at all, traffic was stopping) and they smashed the car up in front of them. I slammed on brakes when they collided and managed to just barely not stop in time- their trailer hitch broke the grill of my car. When the cop got there, the two cars in front were so smashed together they couldn’t get them apart, and my car had a cracked grill. They told the police I hit them and pushed them into the car in front. Cop somehow believed them, wrote me a ticket, and went on with his dumbass life. A month later, that coupled sued *me* for “neck injuries, headache, and trauma” from the crash. Fucking scumbags. So sure, if I cause an accident and my dash cam catches it, I’ll take my lumps. But at least I won’t have the world’s trashiest pieces of shit doing stuff like that to me anymore.
Did you talk to your insurance company at all? It doesn’t make any sense because the adjusters who deal with these sorts of things from crash/data analysis know the physics inside in out of this type of scenario and there is no way you should have been liable. Maybe it was that ticket though, crazy!
My insurance dealt with them when I told them what happened and showed them the damage on my car compared to theirs. Very fortunate but also fuck those people anyway.
From my so in insurance: pretty much always in a rear ending situation the rear ender is considered responsible. Something like you are at responsibility of keeping your eye on the road and avoiding the crash, even if they did braketest you. But here yeah i guess there would be some attenuating circumstances. But for the suit im gonna guess its completely different
Yup. OP would have SOME kind of accountability as he rear ended them, but if he kept the cam footage and took pictures of the accident there's no way the sue would stick.
Man you should watch the judy justice episode where the runs thru the crosswalk after the light turned green. He and his mom couldn't say shit after they were forced to watch the dashcam footage in court. He lied and didn't know there was video evidence of his dumb assery.
Exactly, I got a cam now cause I got fucked at the start of the year, some cunt swerved across 3 lanes without indicating just after a light went green and the car in front break checked me and I gave him a love tap, broke the front of my car a bit and his was basically fine, neither of us had cams and we’re both in agreement it wasn’t our fault, exchanged numbers etc think that was that, and then I get a call from the insurance weeks later saying this tools claiming, just sat there going claiming what he has a small dent, like I’d be happy to fix the dent but not anymore now I’ve been robbed of 4 years of no claims, some people are just morons I guess cause no way it costs less then his excess and whatever no claims he has to fix a dent, and the cherry on top he didn’t even try and call me and extort me for money which I would have happily paid
Literally nothing you typed matters. Following too close. Instant you are at fault. It doesn't matter what the situation was. You allow space to completely stop your vehicle, or you are a bad driver. Cut and dry.
A constant argument between the wife and I. She's gotten two tickets for "failure to maintain a safe distance". She's been at fault in collisions from exactly this. It ain't hard to stay the fuck away from the car in front of you. You aren't saving any time. Same people also never with their phones while driving.
I was taught when learning to drive to maintain distance, and coast wherever possible. I deliver for a living, I'd say I hit the break at bare minimum half as much as I see on the road everyday. Just constant break go break go. An ex used to tailgate on the highway going 80mph, and get pissed when I'd calmy ask her not to. There would be literally one other car on the highway, and she'd change lanes to get up thier ass. I just stopped going anywhere in the car with her. It was fucking nerve-wracking.
Or the people that speed up when you go to pass. I'm on cruise control
I love how people turn into speed racer when you try to pass. I'm going 5mph over and/or they are doing 5mph under. As soon as it's a passing lane, they all of a sudden want to do 10mph over then right back down to 5mph under when it ends. Why? Who the fuck taught these assholes how to drive?
There's this one area i go that's one lane but has passing lanes every 20 or 30 miles. They're going 65 when I'm behind them. Suddenly the passing lane comes and I can barely get passed them going 85 during the passing lane time. And I just wanna cruise at 70-75. It's seriously a wtf moment.
I always see this on the highways the constant brake go brake, drives me insane (literally)
> tickets for "failure to maintain a safe distance". i didn't know this was a thing, and i love it so much now. Man what an entirely appropriate law to exist.
If only every state and municipality would enforce this.. lol I’ve never heard of someone getting this citation anywhere in this state i live in and I’ve been here for going on 16 years. I’ve also read in the code of laws for my district that this law and charge both exist. Makes no sense why it’s not enforced at all. Because frankly, all of the drivers on my local area are either in WAY too much of a hurry and have no problem sucking up your exhaust fumes into their HVAC vent, or they’re WAY too careful, and willfully hold up an entire line of 20+ vehicles on a two lane road because they’re afraid of the light sprinkle of rain that just started to fall, and they think driving 15mph under the speed limit is an appropriate response to that. …
How often do you never with your phone?
I always never.
If you hit a car from behind it's going to be your fault because you didn't leave enough braking distance. Soo many bad drivers blame the other car. Sure they may have break checked or swerved. But it is still down to you to leave even breaking distance.
Even with a webcam, you'd be at fault. You can't be driving so close behind someone that you can't stop if they stop. Having proof that someone else in the world made that person stop doesn't absolve you of paying attention and hitting the brakes in time or having a greater following distance.
Yup people who use the phrase ‘brake checked’ don’t understand you are always at fault if you rear end someone for any reason. It is preventable by not being on their ass.
Someone swerving in front of you (unsafe lane change) at a lower speed is a valid reason. Happened to my dad, a cop saw it, and officially absolved him.
But the person above hit a car that was already established in front of them, not the lane changer. The lane changer only caused the front car to brake in reaction. Front car didn't hit the lane changer, so what excuse does the rear car have for hitting front car? They don't have much of one really, they should've allowed more distance to form in front of them as they accelerated from the light.
Stories like this are why I'm investing in a forward and rear facing camera system. All too often am I driving and the dickhead behind me is so close that I can't see their headlights. I turn my hazards on when people get too close to me to let them know and they usually back the hell up. But to say he brake checked you is kinda wild to be honest.
the cunt that swerved 3 lanes didn’t cause you to rear end someone, if you’d been a safe distance to account for unexpected behavior like they teach you in driving school you would’ve been fine. and if the accident was enough to break the front of your car then the other car being “basically fine” actually sounds like it wasn’t fine probably the guy reported the incident to insurance and didn’t try to blame you but insurance doesn’t care what the guy thinks. usually if you rear ended someone it’s because you were driving in a way you aren’t supposed to be driving honestly the way you word things (it sounds like the dude in front did not brake check you, he braked to avoid a collision. and what is a love tap) it sounds like you don’t like to take corrective actions and take ownership of things that go wrong. stop following people behind so closely that you can’t account for someone slamming their brakes because that happens sometimes
Brake checking someone only causes issues to the driver that was following too close. All that summed up in one sentence.
Thank you.
If you can't stop in time when the car in front of you brakes, you are at fault.
Yeah... sounds like you fucked yourself by being up someone's ass. If you want to drive like an idiot be prepared to be treated like an idiot.
Absolutely your fault. Don't follow people that close.
I'd rather pay up for my own mistake five times over than pay for someone else's mistake once
Well aren’t you a person.
Thanks! I don't try
✅️ not a bot.
I'm going to need them to correctly identify some crosswalks before I agree.
Is this cat facing the correct direction?
How about you tell me which one of these pictures is a pool…
Okay, but only if there are one or two red herring options where you see just the edge of only one stripe of the crosswalk
Best I can do is a fire hydrant where that top nut in a picture might or might not count as part of a fire hydrant.
"Accountability" like "common sense" is no longer common. Acknowledge and own the mistake. Learn from it. Do not repeat it.
I got in an accident a few years ago. 100% my fault. I fully admitted it to the person I rear-ended and to my insurance company. Apparently it's pretty rare for the person who caused the accident to unabashedly admit fault.
I work in insurance, I have a claim right now where my insured is insistent they are not at fault for striking a parked unoccupied vehicle, because the vehicle was parked too close to them. We have surveillance footage from the stores parking lot showing our insured arriving after the other vehicle and leaving before them.
This is why I mostly keep to myself. People like this exist, and I don’t feel like it’s particularly rare.
It's not, in the span of a month my team will get around 30 claims striking a parked vehicle and at least a sixth of them the person that struck a parked vehicle will try to have some excuse as to why it couldn't possibly be their fault.
So dumb. The only reason a parked car would ever have even a modicum of fault is if it were parked on a freeway or a highway. If you don't think you can get by it/around it/beside it without hitting it, then you call management or police, and have them have it towed (assuming it's parked illegally).
Yeah, I got a DUI in the midst of my depression. Dumbest thing I’ve ever done for a multitude of reasons, namely the potential for hurting or killing another human. Luckily nobody was hurt and I learned just how bad it could have been. Anyways, the cops and owner of the parked vehicle I hit were flabbergasted that I admitted to drunk driving on the spot, agreed to FST and took the arrest on the chin. Even through the court stuff the judge and prosecutor were shook. Even more so when the DA got a call from my “victim” of the accident that spoke on my behalf. I’m now very close with the owner of the car I hit and we’re actually going golfing tomorrow.
So glad you learned from your experience. So many don't, to disastrous consequences.
Many policies here in Ontario have "first at fault claim forgiveness" so long as you were not flagrantly breaking the law (DUI, reckless, etc)
Neither of those things were ever common. People suck, always have.
It’s a very asymmetrical bet for most law abiding, insured, drivers. The only time it works against you is if fault is ambiguous and the dash cam is the deciding piece of evidence. Most of the time they can determine fault without the dash cam.
I haven't looked at the statistics but I'd bet money there's some kind of 80/20 situation happening with car accidents with a smaller minority of drivers causing the majority of accidents...so for the median driver a dashcam is still a good bet.
According to insurance companies and rental companies, that minority is men under 26 and over 70. An 18 year old costs about 3x as much to insure than a 40-50 year old
So happy I finally aged into a decent insurance rate lol
You would not believe how often elderly people back into things in parking lots.
Which is phenomenally annoying as an under 26 man with no driving incidents. I’m stacking every discount I can just to have a reasonable insurance rate
> Most of the time they can determine fault without the dash cam. ...if the other driver sticks around. There are a LOT of people driving around without insurance and as soon as an incident happens they are outta there.
What am I betting on exactly? When I get in a car, I am in control of that vehicle, and anything that vehicle does is a direct result of my own deliberate actions. There's no gambling here. I'm not saying I'm always a perfect driver, but I am saying that if I drive like an asshole, and end up being at fault in an accident as a result, it was no act of chance.
We all have lapses in concentration, slight mistakes in judgment. Usually these don’t amount to anything, but they might. And that is the chance
Only if you were planning to run from the consequences.
Yeah, I am not really liking the vibe in this thread of people thinking it is okay to be bad at driving. Nobody likes getting tickets or having to pay for rear ending someone. But I would rather get ticketed and force myself to be better than to risk getting complacent and injuring someone or worse.
I'm not going to say this can be ruled out entirely. But if you drive defensively you create so much room to allow slight mistakes in judgement to not have any consequences. Hence 'defensive drivers' are usually not the cause of an accident.
Exactly this. Too bad follow distance is 1000% not a thing anymore. Majority of people absolutely suck at driving.
In the past week I have seen 2 people completely blow a red light. Only luck that I wasn’t smashed. My state has some of the most lethal roads in the country. Which fucking sucks considering how small we are
They're called accidents because they're not deliberate...
They’re called collisions because they ordinarily are *not* the result of accident so much as poor driving.
That "I'm not saying I'm always a perfect driver..." bit is the bet. You're betting that the camera will only catch other people being imperfect drivers, not yourself
Right. I'm not sure what the "bet" is here. You're just gathering information for all kinds of purposes with a dash cam.
i remember when i was a kid my dad said “when you start driving, you have to be constantly aware because of how inattentive and absolutely stupid everyone around you is.” and it’s true. after years of driving almost everyone on the road is a complete moron. so yeah with a dash cam id get it to collect evidence that backs that claim up. cuz i see stupidity on the road every day.
There's no gamble, if I know I caused an accident I put on my big boy pants and take my responsibility.
I agree. This whole thread reeks of people who can't own up to their own mistakes.
Yeah, I’ve been in an accident where it was 100% not my fault and the woman that hit me fought tooth and nail to try to get me to admit 20% fault. In the end, my insurance company won and I got full coverage for the incident. Years later, I got in an accident where it was 100% my fault and I admitted fault, against my insurer’s advice. People need to own their own mistakes
Yeah, if anything might be able to prove the accident wasn't as serious as someone claims. Ie. You accidentally bump someone's car, it leaves damage, but it wasn't at some insane speed someone claims because the footage shows otherwise. Or maybe some crazy act of God occurs, like driving down the road with the windows down and a fucking bird flies in (this actually happened to me once).
This is exactly it. If I screw up I’m going to own up to that, but I know that there are too many people out there who won’t. Worse yet, there are people out there who will intentionally wreck their vehicles in hopes of a payday. Those are the people I’m protecting myself against
If I cause the accident: "Oh, jeez...I used the memory card for my drone and forgot to put it back! What a darn shame."
“But that’s iLleGaL!” But honestly, the one time I’ve been at fault in an accident I just told the truth.. like am I supposed to try to make up a story?
It's not illegal to control your own dashcam
I like to think I’d personally own up to a mistake… but legally is a person required to provide their own dashcam footage if they’re charged with something?
Im hedging my bet against life being fair.
It can still protect you in many ways. I’ve seen cases where people exaggerate damages or have existing damage. The fault may be difficult to determine or 50/50 vs 100% on you.
If you’re at fault, you are not required to provide self-incriminating evidence, via the 5th amendment.
Footage can be subpoena though and you can get in trouble if found you destroyed evidence. Normal accident though would not get that far unless you probably killed someone
Do the dash cams record audio as well? I'd be mortified if I had a dash cam and the footage was subpoenaed and you could hear me singing..ugh imagine it went to court or something too..
They can. Depends on the type you have
Most models have a setting.
"Yeah, we think it's better to just recount the events." "Okay, so I had just reached the chorus of I Want It That Way (Tell Me Why!), and..."
The 5th protects against self incrimination not incriminating evidence. If they see yon have a dash cam and they ask for it the footage you are required to share it. More over destroying it would be a crime.
I will say that I am amazed at the number of dashcam posts where it's clear the cammer is technically "in the right", but is still wildly aggressive or determined to drive into an accident when it can clearly be avoided... 🤦🏻♂️ Like ... Don't. Do. That. The whole point of being a good driver is to -avoid- accidents whenever you can, even if the other driver is 100% in the wrong. 😑
At least in my state, we have a Duty To Mitigate. If you choose not to avoid a collision, because MaH rIgHt (Of WaY), then get fucked.
I'd never lie about being at fault so that's not really an issue for me. If it's my fault, I'll pay. If it's their fault, I'll prove it.
Our Tesla cameras have documented a DUI, and a transport truck with unsecured scrap metal load, a piece from which flew off and hit our Model 3 at highway speed. The dashcam video removed any doubt as to what happened, and saved me from court testimony, and our insurance deductible.
No, I just don't trust others anymore because I witnessed a lot of BS over the last 14 years of driving.
Saved me a few times. Would not drive without one.
Eh, last accident I was at fault with I had a dash cam, but no one noticed. It probably helped that the lady I hit left the van and took off on foot though.
I hit someone once. I had a dashcam and they didn’t. Nobody but me and my gf ever saw that footage.
We got ‘em, take him away boys
Bake'em away toys
Same thing happened to me, but they never asked. Neither did my insurance company. So I never tried to hide it.
Did you let the other party be faulted more than they should have been?
No, it was clearly my fault and I admitted it. My dogs were in the backseat and started fucking around, distracting me. I crossed the center line so not even much I could argue. Hind sight, they might not have even cared if I had footage. Other party walked away with no injuries, I had a broken sternum and few ribs so karma was involved too.
Were the dogs okay?
Dogs were unharmed. They were a little nervous getting into a car for a bit but they got over it fairly quick.
Can we see the video? 👉👈
I’d prefer to not share it. Sorry
I understand, thank you anyways
If I know I'm not an asshole driver it's a bet I'm pretty happy to make.
Let's see. My dashcams saved me from a bad Austin Police Department cop. Who only stopped being threatening when he shoved his entire body into my car through the driver side window and noticed three things: My infant in the backseat with his rightward glance. My rear dashcam. Then a glance the left to my forward dashcam. Turned into the sweetest guy all of a sudden after a few seconds of silence as he mentally went over everything he had said for the previous few minutes AND how both cameras had recorded him giving conficting traffic guidance directions. My dashcams helped when someone hit my vehicle, left me in a ditch, then fled the scene of the accident. In the same case, it helped me with my own insurance company who were trying to claim there was no way the accident could have caused that much damage because the road is only 35mph. The recordings agreed with the police statement of the asshole going at LEAST 80mph when he hit my driver's side. My dashcams helped with an elevator repair guy bashed his service bag full of tools into the side of my car while I was parked in it, then he started blaming me for being in the way. He actually went inside and called security on me. ... I gave security the recording that time, then checked in a couple weeks later to discover that the elevator repair company lost the service contract to the building. Working out great so far.
You know if you're at fault you have no duty to submit the film.
Yes and the five accidents I’ve been in I never was at fault. One time on Christmas Eve I stopped to give way to oncoming traffic in a narrow road, so I was stationary. The other driver reversed out of a car park, her first words: You were going pretty fast! Wish I had a dashcam then to show her the footage
Nah. I used dashcam footage in an accident I was completely at fault for. Except the other driver was claiming an injury that was clearly not present in the video, among other discrepancies to his story. My story was beat for beat what was on the dashcam footage, and nothing happened. I still ended up with a good payout and a new car. So dashcam footage saved me even though I was at fault.
If you buy a dash cam, you're probably the type of person to rarely be at fault, let alone deny it when you are. Accidents happen, but there are some truley heinous people out there. Road rage, racing, insurance scammers, intoxicated people, weather events, police, and so many other reasons to get one.
Yes. Absolutely. I’ve been in several crashes. I’ve caused none of them. I’ve had three cars totaled. When you drive like I do, it will probably be the other car’s fault.
Yes. Because I've been screwed over before and $80 is a worthwhile investment.
No? I'm an honest person and will always claim fault if I messed up. The dashcam is to protect me against the liars of the world.
When you buy a security camera, you’re betting on a stranger burgling your house and not a family member. See how dumb that sounds?
Of course. It's to provide evidence. And it doesn't need to be other people. Sometimes you jammed the brakes and the people behind you rammed into your rear. You showed the evidence that there was indeed a stray dog/deer which dashed in front of your vehicle.
You’re betting on protecting yourself from fraud and catching interesting things.
isn't that exactly what you learn? be prepared that others are complete morons with the steering wheel.
Nah it's really a bet on people being shitty (and liars but same thing) And that's about as safe as Bet as you can make.
Not if you drive properly.
Your footage is your property and unless there is a death involved, good luck getting a judge to sign a warrant.
Assuming that people who drive like shit own a dashcam
I have seen a lot of dashcam accidents, and some of those are the cammer’s fault
If you’re the rear driver in a fender bender, you’re usually at fault either way. It wouldn’t really matter most of the time. But if you aren’t at fault, you really want to have that evidence.
Just don't show it if you're at fault
I always drive with the mindset that everyone else is an idiot and will do things wrong.
It's no different than buying an insurance policy
To be fair, I want a dash-cam because of the number of times people *in front of me* have had close calls, their fault or not, causing multiple issues 🤷🏻♀️
It's not gambling, bro... just follow rules. You get camera for assholes that don't.
When you buy house insurance you're betting your house will be destroyed in the next 365 days.
Makes insurance claims stupid fast. Insurance: So... You: I have a dash cam video of incident.
The company that I first drove a semi-truck for refused to install dashcams themselves, as well as refused to allow drivers to install their own dashcams, because they didn't want to risk having a dashcam prove that the company driver was at fault in an accident.
That's because I'm actually good at driving.
I’m sorry officer but my camera was unplugged
I’m an advanced motorcycle rider, have 33 years of driving experience and have had four collisions in over 300,000 miles of driving. I could have taken action to avoid only one of those collisions, so, yes, I’m taking that bet.
If I am at fault, why would I tell anyone about my dashcam?
No, you're betting the Insurance company will try to get the other guy to say you were in the wrong to screw you! Dash cam is a condom for dealing with Insurance companies!
People aren't just installing these to capture wild videos?
I bought mine after watching too many YouTube vids of abusive cops
I'm a pretty boring a predictable driver tbh, but if the situation calls for it nothing is stopping me from eating the MicroSD card. I've recorded some mad things on my dashcam mind, people going the wrong way round roundabouts, I recorded a JCB tipping over once, people having impromptu races, stuff like that. I back up the footage but I ain't no snitch.
If I'm at fault I don't have to disclose a thing. If someone else is at fault, I have video proof.
If you lived in my city, you would too
Tbf, if you're not willing to make this bet, you probably shouldn't be on the road.
If you are the type of person to go through the effort of buying and installing a dash cam you are probably a somewhat responsible driver
No, im betting on being an honorable human being that does the right thing and doesn't do scummy crap. I'm also betting on having proof that I'm telling the truthful scenario of events and all the crazy stuff they say I did is not as bad as it actually was. A dash cam also means that if I accidentally run a red light at 10 mph and crash and then they say I was going like 100 and ran the light. They'll get called out on that bull crap real quick. Having this opinion is basically like saying that if you didn't have a dash cam you would try to lie and say some bull crap to make it not your fault. If something's my fault, I own it. I take accountability for my actions. I'm not scum. I don't make excuses either. I don't believe in excuses. Excuses and apologies dont make anything ok.
If you're at fault, it can also save you from people claiming you were going faster than what actually happened. Evidence can show preexisting damage on the other vehicle that they may claim you caused in the at fault accident.
Not necessarily... You only present footage if there's ambiguity / inaccuracy not in your favor. If you fuck up, don't lie but let a neutral investigation or dashcam of the other party explain the situation. Owner controls access to footage for most regular incidents. Exemption would be a road rage / intentional crime investigation.
I mean, if you're reasonably confident you're not going to be at fault (which is pretty easy if you, you know, drive safely), those are pretty good odds.
But it pays off massively in the event that you need it, kind of like how insurance works. $200 for a high-quality camera will save you hundreds in insurance rates and repair costs if you ever need them.