They're getting a lot more common - almost universal on HGVs, coaches, buses and taxis these days (taxis often have internal cams too, to protect drivers and passengers). Moderately common on company cars, the private car driver seems to be late adopting.

In a lot of accidents that do not result in a serious injury, the police do not get involved. As such, it will be your word against the other driver.

In cases where a cyclist, pedestrian, or another driver does something stupid, it can save you a lot of grief, your NCD, prosecution, and possibly even your licence.

EDIT : have a look at this thread, and the link through from it. In some of those cases, it is pretty clear (and will be to the authorities) what has happened. But in some, if no footage was taken,both parties could argue that the other was to blame.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=108160

Edited by RobJP on 03/02/2015 at 15:44

Increasing mileages and near misses.

I have a Roadhawk HD. It was expensive but the video is crystal clear and it also has GPS for speed/coordinates and a g-force register so if it detects an impact it will save the log so that it can't be overwritten. You can 'force' it to record events in the case of you witnessing an accident. I currently have it set to record in 1min increments which means that it's on a loop - when the SD card's full it overwrites the older video (except the Events logs). You can get it hardwired into your vehicle but I haven't. The wire hanging down doesn't get in the way and it means I can move it between cars (especially as I bought the suction mount separately, for this reason). The interface that you download separately to view the video/change settings is extremely user friendly.

There were several reasons for buying it:

If I was ever in an accident that wasn't my fault (especially with the increase of 'crash for cash' accidents), I wanted actual proof rather than relying on witnesses/the honesty of the other parties.

I like roadtrips and had a notion that I could create fast-motion videos of the journey (not so much anymore....my one and only effort had a ridiculously hefty file size and I got bored watching it after 10mins!)

Many years ago when a van crashed into me on a roundabout I was lucky enough to have a passing taxi driver come back, after dropping off his passenger, and give me his details to use as a witness. If I (or the camera) witnessed an accident, I'd return the favour and send them the footage for their case.

I'm very happy with the camera and the only issue I have with it is that it doesn't have an internal battery so, once you've switched the engine off/unplugged it, it switches off after about 3 seconds. A shame as it would be useful to be able to detach it from the mount and film the scene of an accident without having to leave the engine running and the cord attached.

On a side note, I have a feeling that I'm mistaken for an undercover police car occasionally as, especially if the SatNavs on the windscreen too, I've noticed on several occasions, whilst pottering along at 70 in the inside lane, cars flying up on the outside, slam on the brakes and get in behind me (for no reason e.g. slip roads). They'll nervously sit there for a while until someone else comes flying past and I don't react, then they're off! :)

Its interesting that most of you who have dash cams seem to have purchased one for the insurance claim aspect. Had you had a bad experience with a claim that made you want one?

I've had two crashes in my life, one on ice in which I would love to replay the footage to see how I managed to avoid all the other cars and only slightly damage my car so no insurance involvement. The other to see what exactly happened as it happened so fast.

I've just ordered a Transcend 16GB DrivePro 200 Car Video Recorder with Built-In Wi-Fi.

After watching a couple of car crash programs i though it was time, this camera has a very wide angle, wider than most.