Dash cams are becoming increasingly popular for many reasons. They can help reduce your no claims bonus and insurance premiums, they can help you prove what happened in a crash and protect you from any false claims involving the police.
‘Crash for cash’ scams cost around £340m a year, according to the Insurance Fraud Bureau. Having video evidence of an incident can be invaluable when fraudsters have targeted you.
How much should I pay?
Dash cams can vary wildly in price; you can grab a basic dash cam for around £20, or you can splurge on a feature-laden option for upwards of £300. It’s really up to you, and how many of the extra features you think you’ll actually use.
What features should I look out for?
This list could go on forever, but here’s a selection of features we think are most important to ensure a good quality dash cam.
Desirable features
Overwriting
This means that the dash cam will record on a loop, saving disk space.
Capable of recording footage at night
40% of road traffic collisions happen at night, so if your dash cam can only record reliable footage when the sun’s shining, what’s the point?
Reliable testing
Make sure the camera you’re looking at has been through extensive testing; check reviews online and look for any endorsements that might validate its quality.
High quality video resolution
There’s no point recording videos that are too blurry to be useful. Ideally, you want a dash cam that records and plays back in 1080p, but anything above 720p will do the trick.
Auto ‘on/off’
This means your dash cam will begin recording as soon as you start your car without having to manually turn the dash cam on.
Date and time stamp
Almost all dash cams have this feature, which allows you to prove when an incident occurred.
Premium features
G-force sensors
Dash cams with G-force sensors can detect when you’ve been in an accident. This prevents the camera from looping over any valuable footage.
Parking mode
This allows your camera to automatically start recording if it detects a collision while you’re parked.
Driver assistance features
Some dash cams now come with a whole host of features that can help improve your driving. You can find cams with things like lane departure warning, stop sign detection, driving habit monitoring and motion sensors to record break-ins.
Multiple lenses
Most dash cams just have a single lens, which records the road ahead. This means that they won’t be able to get footage from side or rear collisions.
GPS tracking
This records your exact location at a particular time, and can help to build evidence in the event of a crash.
Other things to consider
Storage space
You might want to consider buying an SD memory card to store footage.
Mount
The suction pads on dash cams are generally flimsy, so you might want to invest in an additional mount to sit the camera in.
Discreetness
A bulky dash cam will only bring unwanted attention to your car. Opt for something small and unassuming. Black is the best colour to go for.