Dashcam

Two dashcams on a windshield

A dashcam, dashboard camera, car DVR, driving recorder, or event data recorder (EDR) is an onboard camera that continuously records the view through a vehicle's front windscreen and sometimes rear or other windows. Some dashcams include a camera to record the interior of the car in 360 degrees (inside camera, usually in a ball form) and can automatically send pictures and video (using 4G).

EDRs and some dashcams also record acceleration/deceleration (g-force), speed, steering angle, GPS data, etc.

A wide-angle (130, 170° or more) front camera may be attached to the interior windscreen, to the rear-view mirror (clip on), or to the top of the dashboard, by suction cup or adhesive-tape mount. A rear camera is usually mounted in the rear window or in the registration plate, with a RCA Video output to the display monitor / screen.

Most modern dashcams record in high-definition video (often 1080p, 1296p, 1440p, or higher definition for a front camera and 720p for a back camera) and include f/1.8 aperture and night vision mode.

Dashcams can provide video evidence in the event of a road accident. When parked, dashcams can capture video and picture evidence if vandalism is detected (360° parking monitor) and send it to the owner (usually employing 4G).

Types

Fisheye camera image.

By targeted field of view:

• exterior view (such as for recording the front view only, the back view, etc.)
• cabin or inside viewing mode (sometimes also called a "taxicam" and UberLyftcam).

Some cabin cams include a screen (also known as a rear view mirror dash cam) that can be attached to the rear-view mirror employing usually rubble rings or straps or as a direct replacement of the rear view mirror itself.

Many dashcams include rechargeable batteries (not needed when connected to car battery wire) or capacitors.

Functions

To ensure that recorded video files are not tampered with once they have been recorded, videos can be timestamped in a tamper-proof manner, a procedure termed trusted timestamping. One method for trusted timestamping video files involves immediately storing the unique hash of the file on the decentralized Blockchain of a cryptocurrency to securely prove its time of existence.^[1]

To ensure a reliable 24/7 parking surveillance when capacity is an issue, a motion detector may be used to record only when an approaching human/vehicle is detected, in order to save power and storage media.^[2]

Advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and park location save can be included.

G sensor

Dashcams with a G-sensor ensure that recordings of a collision are not overwritten by new data (usually by storing them in a separate folder and/or making them read-only). The G-sensor ensures that the dashcam makes separate recordings.

Screen

Some dashcams include touch screens, which vary in size (the wider ones are usually mounted on the rearview mirror).

SD, satellite and wireless

Dashcams usually use class 10 or above MicroSDHC or MicroSDXC cards (usually 16 GB or higher) or internal memory to save videos.

The port to connect the GPS antenna can use a micro USB or 3.5 mm jack connection. The antenna is usually 1575 to 1568 MHz and 3.0 to 5.0 V.

GPS coordinate stamping capability is included in most dashcams (some need an external GPS antenna, but other dashcam systems have built-in GPS), and others include GPS (online and offline) navigation.

Some dashcams include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 4G connectivity.

For Bluetooth and voice commands and recording, a built-in microphone is included.

4G triple-cam (also called triple-lens and three-way-cams) sets on rearview mirror are becoming more available (2 front cameras - one 170° to mainly record road, one 360° for sides and doors – and a rear camera).

4G is used to send messages, calls, pictures, and videos in parking surveillance mode. Usually a second 360° camera is employed to record the car's sides (front doors and windows) and inside.

Also, 4G is used to send message when car battery is low.

Hardwire

Cars usually have these connectors, for power and accessories functions:

• Positive: ACC (also called Switched, red) or BAT (also called Constant, yellow).
• Negative: Ground, abbrev. as GND (black).
• Back view, orange with white strip, works when reverse gear light is on and it is used to turn on back camera screen (i.e. when parking).

Installation of dashcam hardwire employs:

• Red wire to connect with the reversing light (positive).
• Black wire also for reversing light (negative).
• Cable to plug rear camera to dashcam.
• Car charger cable, to power the unit. Can use mini USB to connect to the dashcam.

Use

Dashcams are widespread in Russia^[3] as a guard against police corruption and insurance fraud, where they provide additional evidence.^[4] They have been called "ubiquitous" and "an on-line obsession," and are so prevalent that dashcam footage was the most common footage of the February 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor,^[5] which was documented from at least a dozen angles. Thousands of videos showing automobile and aircraft crashes, close calls, and attempts at insurance fraud have been uploaded to social sharing websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Yandex, and other websites.

In the United Kingdom, sales of dashcams rocketed in 2015, which was the fastest growing consumer electronic, with sales increasing by 395%.^[6]

In China, dashcams were well known by a dramatic event of a road rage.^[7]

Dashcams have also captured numerous aviation accidents, such as National Airlines Flight 102^[8] in 2013, TransAsia Airways Flight 235 in 2015 and the Shoreham Airshow crash^[9] in 2015.

Legality

While dashcams are gaining in popularity as a way of protection against distortion of facts, they also attract negative attitudes for privacy concerns. This is also reflected in the laws of different countries in different and conflicting ways:

• They are popular in many parts of Asia, Europe (particularly the United Kingdom, France, and Russia, where they are explicitly allowed by regulations issued in 2009 by the Ministry of the Interior ),^[10] Australia, and the United States.
• They are forbidden by law in Austria,^[11] where they carry heavy fines.
• In Switzerland, their use is strongly discouraged in public space as they may contravene data protection principles.^[12]
• In Germany,^[13] while small cameras for personal use in vehicles are allowed, posting footage from them on social-media sites is considered a violation of privacy and thus forbidden, if personal data is not blurred in the footage. Recently, the Federal Court of Justice ruled that although the permanent recording of traffic events is inadmissible under national data protection law, the recordings made may nevertheless be used as evidence in civil proceedings (after careful consideration of the interests involved).^[14] It can be assumed that this case law will also apply under the new basic European Data Protection Regulation.
• In Luxembourg, it is not illegal to possess a dashcam but it is illegal to use one to capture videos or still images in a public place (which includes in a vehicle on a public road). Recording using a dashcam may result in a fine or imprisonment.^[15]
• In Australia, recording on public roadways is allowed as long as the recording does not infringe upon one's personal privacy in a way that may be deemed inappropriate in a court of law.^[16]
• In the United States, at the federal level, "the video taping of public events is protected under the First Amendment" right.^[17] Videotaping of non-public events and videotaping-related issues, including sound recording and matters related to time of the day, venue, manner of recording, privacy concerns, implications on motor vehicle moving violation issues (such as whether the windshield view is being blocked), etc., are dealt with at the state level.
  • In the state of Maryland, for example, it is illegal to record anybody's voice without their consent, but it is legal to record without the other party's consent if the non-consenting party does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the conversation that is being recorded.
  • In other states, including Illinois and Massachusetts, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy clause, and in such states, the person doing the recording would always be in violation of the law.
  • In Illinois, a law was passed that makes it illegal to record law enforcement officers even while in the performance of their public official duties.^[18]
• In Russia, there is no law allowing or prohibiting recorders; courts almost always use the video recorder attached to the analysis of the accident and the evidence of guilt or innocence of the driver, this is already more than 90% of drivers of Russia uses such systems.

Police use

Police departments use dashcams in police vehicles to gather evidence during traffic stops and car chases.^[19] Some dashcam systems can be automatically activated when a police car's emergency lights or siren are turned on.^[20][21][22] Freedom of information laws mean that the footage can be released under some circumstances,^[23] and this can be an important tool in reporting on police actions.^[24] TV shows like World's Wildest Police Videos have frequently featured car chase videos shot from dashcams.

Some police officers accused of police brutality tamper with their cameras to disable audio or video recording.^[25] In Chicago, 80% of the police dashcams did not work properly. Among the causes were that officers destroyed antennas, hid microphones, and removed batteries.^[26] Because of this, recorded videos should be stored online (offboard).

See also

• Android Auto
• Anthony Graber
• APK
• Glik v. Cunniffe
• Cigarette lighter receptacle for car charger.
• Connectors for car audio
• Cigarette lighter receptacle
• Dongle
• F-number
• GPS puck
• HDMI
• IP camera
• ONVIF
• Picture-in-Picture
• RCA connector
• Speech recognition
• Supercapacitor
• Wide dynamic range (WDR)
• Windscreen wiper, including induction wiper.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Automobile cameras.

Look up dashcam in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Sample Video on YouTube
• In Spite of State Law, Maryland Law Enforcement Officials Still Arresting, Charging People for Recording Cops.
• UK Courts Reporting 1st Ever Prison Sentence Based on Dash Cam Evidence - 2015