STACK #222 April 2023

TECH FEATURE

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It’s a question we all ask when we hear about a friend or relative who's been unfortunate enough to be involved in a bingle. Like roadside assistance or travel insurance, the answer is, quite often, that you don’t until you do. Words Bec Summer DASH CAM? More than just crash trackers While they can be worth their weight in gold, dash cams have many valuable applications outside of keeping a beady eye on bingles. Watch the nightly news, and you’ll likely catch a story involving road rage. Dash cam fisticuff footage can provide vital evidence for the police, which can often be emailed directly from a smartphone. And don’t forget the road trip over the school holidays. Dash cams are an excellent way to chronicle a family getaway DO I NEED A

F ront and rear-mounted dash cams can often be the difference in determining who’s at fault when an accident occurs, lending credence to potential insurance claims. Dash cams can contain vital information such as time, speed, and GPS-stamped video to further counter any contention around an incident. The details far cheaper to buy and install one yourself, a surprisingly easy task. The most common area for a dash cam to be installed is directly beneath the rear-view mirror, or for more contemporary cars, beside the rear-view mirror mounting unit. Rear cameras should be cited at the bottom of the rear windscreen in the centre. Some dash cam units utilise the 12V socket for power, while others connect directly to a car battery. If you buy a new car and ask for a dash cam to be included, you’ll likely need a sit down when the quote comes in. It’s

Switching on For 12V-powered dash cams, the footage will start recording to an

On the record Loop recording is a feature found in many dash cams. The footage is continually recorded until the capacity

SD card as soon as the car starts. However, if the unit is hardwired to the car battery, some models offer what is commonly called a parking mode. Here recording will begin if movement or vibration is detected and can be insightful in hit-and-runs or vandalism. Only a qualified tradesperson should undertake connecting a dash cam to a car battery. Making connections Dash cams can connect wirelessly via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to a smartphone via an app. A Bluetooth connection can send alerts to smartphones and allow settings to be managed. When Wi-Fi on a dash cam is paired with a smartphone, footage can be stored in a cloud or easily accessed and viewed in the case of an accident. The advantage here is you don’t have to insert the SD into a computer to view the video – it can be accessed immediately.

of the SD card is maxed out. The footage is then erased, and the process begins again. It’s important to extract any incident footage you might need, save it to the cloud, or buy an SD card with expanded storage. GPS geotagging Built-in GPS

functionality can be an essential tool for car owners. GPS geotagging can help

in an accident dispute situation. It records and logs the location and speed of the car and, when used in conjunction with video footage, could provide the necessary information in a contentious incident.

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42 APRIL 2023