Dash cam and dash cam installations are growing in popularity, with research showing that 1 in 5 Aussies have one installed in their car. This steady growth is for good reason – dash cams have a lot of benefits that make your driving experience that much better.
From providing evidence in a car accident to helping you stay under the speed limit, dash cams need to be a part of your car! Don’t believe us? Read on to find out 6 great reasons as to why you should be getting a dash cam installed in your car today.
What is a dash cam?
If you’ve been living under a rock, dash cams (or dashboard cameras) are a video recorder specifically made for your car and driving. They are mounted on the dashboard (hence the name) via suction cups or clips and continuously record through your car’s front windscreen. There are also rear dash cams that are able to record the rear window as well, which is useful in capturing rear-end accidents.
Dash cams are powered through your car’s own power supply and can come with a host of features such as Wi-fi, GPS, bluetooth and 4G connectivity. Most of them are capable of full HD video quality recording, with high quality night vision capabilities. These recordings are stored in a memory card where latest captures will rewrite the oldest.
6 Benefits of Dash Cams
#1 – Evidence of car crashes
Have you ever been driving on the road, minding your own business when you suddenly get hit by someone who isn’t paying attention? It happens more frequently than you think and even if the crash isn’t serious, it’ll still cost you a pretty penny. In Australia, the average vehicle cost of a crash is over $7000 – that’s a lot of money, especially if you weren’t at fault.
Luckily, dash cams act as a ‘silent witness’, capturing crashes and providing evidence in the case that you’re not at fault. Insurance claim companies and authorities will rely on this sort of evidence to settle crash disputes and help you avoid hefty costs. In other words, you can avoid the finger pointing or ‘he said, she said’ nature of car accidents with the hard evidence provided by a dashboard camera.
#2 – Capturing crime and reporting bad drivers
You’ve probably seen bad, undisciplined drivers throughout your driving life. They’ll suddenly overtake others, tailgate cars or run lights. Seeing these kinds of drivers are usually only accompanied by a shake of the head and a ‘what an idiot’, but with a dash cam you can report them to authorities to keep the roads safer.
The never-ending recording of dash cameras can also help capture crime such as vandalism or littering. Your dash cam footage will help clean up roads and contribute to a safer community.
#3 – Prevent insurance fraud
You’ve probably seen car insurance fraud videos online, the ones where pedestrians or drivers deliberately run into you and put you at fault – all in the name of extorting innocent drivers. A dash cam will put a hard stop to these sinister plots and protect you from having to pay someone for something that you are not to blame for. Without one, you’ll have no evidence to prove otherwise, making it another great reason for investing in them!
#4 – Create road trip memories
Moving away from the gloomy world of insurance fraud and car crashes, dash cams can create great driving memories. Taking the family interstate on a long road trip? Your dash cam will be able to document the entire multi-hour drive, perfect for looking back on or including it in videos.
Since dash cams are always recording, they can also capture funny, rare or downright incredulous moments you might encounter throughout your driving life.
#5 – Tracking for company cars
If you are a business owner or own a fleet of cars, having dash cams installed in each company car is a great way to track your employees. We’re not saying you need to be overbearing and track their every movement. But simply having a dashcam will ward off bad employee behaviour and protect you and your business if anything were to happen to either your employees or your company cars. It’s better to be safe than sorry!
#6 – Additional features
Dash cams are solely made for recording video. While it may be their main function, many cams nowadays carry additional features that improve your driving experience. Some of these include a GPS and voice system to help you navigate or an in-built accelerometer which will alert you if you are driving too fast.
There’s no better time to invest in a dash cam
Hopefully these 6 reasons are more than enough to convince you to make an investment in a good dash cam today. Just to add on, they’re cost-effective, relatively easy to set-up and can save you thousands of dollars in the event of an accident.
Looking for the right dash cam for you and your vehicle? At Seven Smart Auto, we’ve got you covered! We have a range of quality dash cams with a host of features, and we’ll even help you install it! So don’t hesitate – call us to make an investment and protect yourself with a dash cam today.
