Why every South African driver needs a dashcam in their car

[Liam_Selby]

Why every South African driver needs a dashcam in their car

Between potholes, crime, and rule-breakers, driving in South Africa can be downright dangerous.

Accidents are becoming increasingly common on local roads, and even minor incidents can be a headache to resolve.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

if its such a necessity, why dont insurers come onboard and offer discounts for having a dashcam?

Oh I forgot; all insurers will find ANY excuse to NOT pay you out, as who will pay for all their marketing and advertisements.

 

[Y'all Qaeda]

I'll be happy to buy one, but why should I fund it if the benefit is going to the insurance company? They'll use it to prove I was right and get monies from the other parties insurance, or they'll use it to prove I'm wrong and refute payment or take my excess or the like. Insurance companies should come to the party and offer us discount on these, or offer me discount on my premium. Or both.

 

[namzsteve]

There shouldn't be a reason to get a dashcam, we should all put this into our top 2 list of things to get

 

[quovadis]

Insurance: "Your policy states you have a dashcam. It seems it was not functioning or was not inside your car at the time of the accident. Your claim has been repudiated."

 

[Solitude]

I'd like to get a dashcam. Any recommendations?

 

[recre8]

Now, all car manufacturers need to start doing is putting a USB port for power up somewhere near the rear-view mirror or headlining, so you don't need to do some aftermarket addition or run an unsightly cable from the lighter socket. I'm surprised car manufacturers don't offer an optional built-in camera with recording onto an SD card.

 

[chickenbeef]

I'd like to get a dashcam. Any recommendations?

Viofo capacitor based dash cams are good. I have an A119 v2 and it's excellent.

Don't get a dash cam with a battery.

 

[pinball wizard]

Oh I forgot; all insurers will find ANY excuse to NOT pay you out, as who will pay for all their marketing and advertisements.

Vokof troll.

My insurer doesn't advertise at all.

 

[requiem]

Would love to get one just to catch police asking for bribe money

 

[SmartKit]

Would love to get one just to catch police asking for bribe money

You mean "a braai..."?

 

[SykomantiS]

So next article should be on the list best dashcams available and their features/what makes them great.
I'm looking for something that I can connect to my aftermarket head unit (as it has video in support for two cameras), and use it's display as the camera's display- the dashcam itself should preferably be tiny and not have it's own lcd display.

 

[Nobody Important]

Number one reason should be so that we can post vids of idiots on youtube and mybb.

 

[Zukat]

I'll be happy to buy one, but why should I fund it if the benefit is going to the insurance company? They'll use it to prove I was right and get monies from the other parties insurance, or they'll use it to prove I'm wrong and refute payment or take my excess or the like. Insurance companies should come to the party and offer us discount on these, or offer me discount on my premium. Or both.

You are not taking into consideration "the pedestrian fraud" which is becoming increasingly popular in China, when you driving and I jump out in front of your car on the pedestrian crossing and get "knocked down", technically can become a criminal offence for you.

 

[RedViking]

Any links to good affordable local dashcams? Do you need to get it installed or can I do it myself?

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Any links to good affordable local dashcams? Do you need to get it installed or can I do it myself?

so I found mine,

https://www.takealot.com/patrol-dashcam/PLID51973474

works pretty well comes with a long cord.

only annoying is its short battery life, that resets the time everytime you turn the car off,

 

[Swa]

Dashcam records what happens in front of you meaning any accidents caught would be yours.

 

[Nobody Important]

Any links to good affordable local dashcams? Do you need to get it installed or can I do it myself?

You can get cheapies anywhere. I bought mine from Game for like R600. All of them come with an extra-long cable so you can hide the cable neatly when you install it yourself. The quality is not good though even at "HD" because its a cheapie.

If I was in the market for one now, I'd spend a more and get a Garmin dashcam. Made by a well-known brand and has nifty features like collision and lane departure warnings. Available locally online and at retailers like Cape Union.

 

[chickenbeef]

Dashcam records what happens in front of you meaning any accidents caught would be yours.

Uh you can mount one on the rear as well or you can get a cam with 2 cameras (front and back).

 

[Nobody Important]

Dashcam records what happens in front of you meaning any accidents caught would be yours.

I t-boned another car once, my front into his side. The guy claimed it was my fault. I slowed down as I approached an intersection and he thought I was stopping, yet the robot was green for me and he was turning from an oncoming direction across my path. If the rules of the road were followed he should have waited for me to pass and then turned. So yes dashcam will show front view, but can still be valuable in showing who had right of way.