Dashcams for all!

Kinja'd!!! by "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
Published 08/30/2017 at 13:49

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STARS: 1


Kinja'd!!!

Previously on Oppositelock:

A dashcam is an enticing buy and smart thing to have. It’s tough with so many no name brands popping up. Very sketchy market. ( CarsofFortLangley )

At this point, new cars pretty much all have cameras installed in them, and backup cameras will soon be required by law. Heck, my own car has cameras all around for the 360 bird’s eye view thing. So why aren’t integrated “dash cams” offered as an option? Dash cams are becoming wildly popular, and I’m sure that buyers of at least premium cars would snap it up. It’d be a trivial thing to add and put a slot for another SD card in your dash or glove box. Then, we wouldn’t have to stick things to our wind shields and have 12V adapter cables dangling.


Replies (38)

Kinja'd!!! "For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
08/30/2017 at 13:52, STARS: 1

Liability. An open USB outlet by the rear view mirror would be nice though.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 13:53, STARS: 0

Liability how?

Kinja'd!!! "For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
08/30/2017 at 13:54, STARS: 4

“GM’s camera malfunctioned and didn’t capture the accident. Time to sue GM.”

Kinja'd!!! "benjrblant" (benjblant)
08/30/2017 at 13:56, STARS: 1

I’ve also wondered this. It’s not uncommon for new cars to come with several (I counted 5 on the new F250!) cameras at various angles. I’m unsure why these could not be modified to keep a 24 or 48 hour log on an SD card or local SSD in the event of an accident or vehicular theft.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 13:57, STARS: 1

I think that can already be done with back up cameras.

“GM’s backup camera/sensors didn’t detect that oncoming car that t-boned me. Time to sue GM.”

Not saying you’re not right. Just not sure it exposes car companies anymore than they already are in our litigious society.

Kinja'd!!! "CB" (jrcb)
08/30/2017 at 13:58, STARS: 2

I asked this question a few months ago, and people seem to not be onboard with the whole idea of it if it was mandatory.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 13:58, STARS: 0

For almost no extra capital expenditure, they could add a feature that they could charge decent money for.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 14:00, STARS: 0

The forward thinking car company would jump on the chance to make money with the feature. Once it becomes mandatory, the profit streaming marketing advantage dries up. But even Tesla doesn’t do it.

Kinja'd!!! "CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever" (carsoffortlangley)
08/30/2017 at 14:00, STARS: 1

To solve the cable problem, as stated in the other thread, I use a gopro.

But, I do have to recharge it when I get to work/home. So, that is kinda a pain in the ass.

Kinja'd!!!

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 14:01, STARS: 0

Yeah, so it would be great to not have to think about it.

Kinja'd!!! "ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97)
08/30/2017 at 14:01, STARS: 2

This is the reason many local jurisdictions that have camera systems along roads and at intersections for remote traffic control only use that footage for live viewing by operators and dispatchers and do not record it. If they did record it, they would end up spending all day doing nothing but responding to subpoenas for footage after insurance companies sue.

Kinja'd!!! "404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
08/30/2017 at 14:02, STARS: 0

Legal reasons, I think. I know the Corvette has one as part of the Performance Recorder option, they had to do something to disable sound and stuff, or something like that.

Kinja'd!!! "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
08/30/2017 at 14:04, STARS: 1

GM’s Performance Data Recorder has a valet mode where you can see what the valet does with your car, but it’s not quite a full-on dash cam function.

I think the issues with manufacturers integrating dashcams are that right now, if someone chooses to add a dashcam to their car, it’s something they opt into. If for some reason they want to not have the dashcam in the car anymore, they can take it out.

But if you have, as a factory feature, a camera that records continuously and can then be used against the driver of the car, and there’s no way to readily remove or fully disable it, that creates a lot of problems. People are already worried about the crash data recorder “black boxes” ratting them out, factory-installed dashcams would be a big escalation of this.

Kinja'd!!! "RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire" (ricerocketeer2)
08/30/2017 at 14:04, STARS: 2

I’ve heard they’re an option in some Asian country but don’t quote me on that.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 14:10, STARS: 3

I’ve heard they’re an option in some Asian country but don’t quote me on that.

Too late.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 14:13, STARS: 0

Well I think it would have to be user controlled for privacy reasons. People are concerned about Teslas, for example, reporting data back to the home base. People that are less concerned aren’t dissuaded from buying them, but for this you’d have to allow the owner to choose when to turn the feature on.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 14:14, STARS: 0

Hmmm, I could see that you can’t be allowed to record someone without their knowledge in valet mode. Or can you if it’s your car? I’m not a lawyer.

Kinja'd!!! "TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
08/30/2017 at 14:18, STARS: 2

The mirror in my wife’s explorer is nearly identical to the mirror in my WRX and our Outback. With several OEMs using the same mirrors, the real opportunity lies with the OEM provider, Gentex .

I think most people have seen their mirrors with Homelink (the garage-door opener), a compass display, or even the integrated backup camera display. Gentex also has mirrors with camera-based driver-assist systems. It makes sense for them to throw in an SD card and start recording!

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 14:23, STARS: 0

Yes! Great idea.

Kinja'd!!! "CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever" (carsoffortlangley)
08/30/2017 at 14:31, STARS: 0

Wow, yes!

Kinja'd!!! "RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire" (ricerocketeer2)
08/30/2017 at 14:36, STARS: 1

dammit

Kinja'd!!! "Stapleface" (patrickgruden)
08/30/2017 at 14:55, STARS: 2

Maybe make it an option? Like have a connector buried under the headliner/coming out of the mirror for an OEM option if you wanted it? Basically, it would be great if it was plug and play.

Kinja'd!!! "TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
08/30/2017 at 14:56, STARS: 1

It wouldn’t be hard at all to record all the video from the cameras used for all the fancy new lane keeping and automatic breaking features and save it to an sd card or something. If you also embed the car’s analysis if the data into the file it would also make a handy diagnosis tool if the system starts playing up.

Kinja'd!!! "Jason Spears" (shadestalker)
08/30/2017 at 15:16, STARS: 0

Let’s keep them working on getting infotainment and basic controls right. I can handle sticking the camera of my choice to the windshield. Manufacturers make dumb choices when it comes to infotainment and tech. My car has XM and nav but no aux port. Dumb.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 15:19, STARS: 0

Yeah, that could work.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 15:20, STARS: 0

Exactly!

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 15:22, STARS: 0

Nav but no aux port? That sounds like the pre-2009 Jags I drove. You could buy an OEM kit to retroactively put in an AUX or iPod kit to the infotainment system, but it’s mucho expensive.

Kinja'd!!! "AfromanGTO" (afromangto)
08/30/2017 at 15:29, STARS: 1

I remember in my friend’s CL65 AMG with the Stage 2 Renntech kit; that it had a night vision camera in the front. It only worked with the headlights on though for some reason which annoyed me. Why can’t I drive around without headlights if it has a night vision camera? There probably is a way to make them work without the headlights on and record it.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 15:47, STARS: 1

Why would you need to drive with the headlights off at night. Are you a private eye?

Kinja'd!!! "AfromanGTO" (afromangto)
08/30/2017 at 15:55, STARS: 1

Why are you asking so many questions? Are you some sort of cop? ;P

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 16:01, STARS: 1

You’re not recording this conversation, are you?

Kinja'd!!! "AfromanGTO" (afromangto)
08/30/2017 at 16:51, STARS: 0

But are you?

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 17:20, STARS: 0

Why do you ask? Something to hide?

Kinja'd!!! "AfromanGTO" (afromangto)
08/30/2017 at 20:26, STARS: 0

You sound extremely defense. Constantly trying to change topics. So come clean and be honest with everyone, and you’ll feel better.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
08/30/2017 at 22:21, STARS: 0

I don’t have to answer that.

Kinja'd!!! "AfromanGTO" (afromangto)
08/31/2017 at 00:17, STARS: 1

Pleading the 5th I see.

Kinja'd!!! "Lokiparts" (lokiparts)
08/31/2017 at 10:24, STARS: 0

See to me that should not even be an issue. I really could not care less if my dash cam does not record audio. It’s not going to hurt my feelings one bit if nobody can hear my car’s engine/wind/tire noise, or my unfortunate choice of music, and awful singing... or in the case of an accident me screaming like a little girl and yelling obscenities. All I care about is having a video record of whatever happened.

Kinja'd!!! "404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
08/31/2017 at 10:58, STARS: 0

Oh yeah, audio recording is disabled on mine too... but you know, litigious society.