Do I Need A Dashcam?

With all the new technology available in many of today’s new vehicles, this is a question often heard by adjusters from their insureds.  As with many things in life, the answer is: it depends. Although many don’t think about it until an accident occurs, dashcams are often very useful in case you have an accident.

What do dashcams do?

Dashcams establish video evidence of where you were when an impact occurred and what was going on around you at the time.  You can choose to have only a forward-facing dashcam, a dashcam that faces forward and inside the car towards you, or a dashcam that faces forward and another at the back of your vehicle that gives a rear view. While all are good options with advantages and disadvantages for each, no matter which kind you have, video footage is always going to be helpful to clarify what happened during an accident. The evidence provided by video footage, especially dashcam video often provides irrefutable evidence as to how an accident actually occurred.

Why would I need one?

More often than most people would like to think about, insurance claims end up being word versus word.  This means that each party has a different version of the accident, and there is no real way to establish what actually happened since the versions conflict. This happens often with side to side impacts where parties dispute who moved into who’s lane for example. An although there are many that think that the damages show which vehicle was moving in which direction at the time of impact, just know that most of the time they provide no indication.  This is where a dashcam comes in.

With the dashcam footage, you can typically see who is changing lanes, whether someone backed up or if instead was rearended, whether one vehicle was stopped and then impacted or if both were in motion at the time of impact. All of these details are crucial to establishing liability for a claim. Keep in mind in cases where you are not at fault for the accident, you will want to have evidence to support your case because at fault accidents can have a negative impact on your insurance rates for years to come.

Even in those cases where people admit at the scene of an accident that they were at fault, when they realize that they will be found at fault for the accident and that it will have a financial impact on them, many people change their story.  In those cases where there is no additional evidence to support one version over the other (for example an independent witness or a police report establishing fault) you are often left with the expense of your claim on your own policy since you are not able to establish that the other party was in fact at fault. 

What are the advantages to a dashcam?

Clear evidence of what happened in an accident.  They can often protect you against the statements being given by other drivers that may be untruthful.

They are impartial. Unlike witnesses or even police reports in some cases, video footage is impartial to the parties involved showing only what is happening on the footage.  This is an excellent source of evidence to help you support a statement.

They are easy to circulate.  Often you will want evidence that you can provide both to your insurance company and any other insurance companies involved in an accident. Almost all insurance companies are well equipped to add dashcam footage to claim evidence and it may be an easy way to clear your name in those cases where you are not at fault.

What are the disadvantages of a dashcam?

First and foremost is cost.  There is a cost both to buying a dashcam and installing one correctly. You may be able to find one that is relatively inexpensive and install it yourself, but because you want to make sure it is reliable you may want to have one professionally installed if you can’t install it yourself.

You have to know how it works.  If you decide to install a dashcam you will want to know how it works.  Does it need an SD card? Does it work with a USB? Is there an app you can download on the phone?  If so, how do you transfer the data from the camera to the phone or computer?  Make sure you know how it works, can turn it on when necessary and will be able to pull the video footage when you need it.  Having a camera that you don’t know how to use and can’t be sure is working can basically become useless if you can’t get the footage the day you actually have an accident.

Conclusion

Dashcams are good, they provide evidence in case of an accident.  However, you have to weigh the cost of getting and installing one when deciding whether a dashcam is right for you. Just make sure you consider it before the day that you actually need one!