Do you know the earliest dash cam was a movie camera used by a police officer in his car in California in 1939? Popular Science magazine ran a story on a police officer who had installed a motion picture camera in his petrol car to record traffic law violations on the road. Today, while the camera has evolved drastically in design and shape, its function remains the same – to record.
The origins of the rear-view cameras are interesting as well. Though developed much after the dash cams, the first rear-view camera or backup camera was used in the 1956 Buick Centurion. This concept car was mounted with a TV camera. The car was fitted with a TV screen in the dashboard which the camera then sent images to. While the design and size of rear-view cameras have also evolved with time, their function has remained the same – to minimize backup collisions.
Benefits of a Dash Cam
There are many and not every benefit is related to the driver’s physical safety; these gadgets can also be important for your financial safety.
- Documenting an Accident
Sometimes a driver gets wrongly framed for causing an accident. He/she may claim his/her innocence but without evidence…. Now imagine if the entire episode was captured on camera. Not only would you not be blamed for any wrongdoing but also the real culprit would be dealt with by law accordingly.
- May Help You Deter Fraudulent Insurance and Illegal Claims
Fraudulent insurance claims may not be as big an issue in Pakistan as it is in the rest of the world, especially Western world, but a dash cam can prevent you from unnecessary legal hassles. Imagine someone with a nefarious design tries to get you involved in a criminal matter. If the events are recorded, you can present them as evidence and avoid unnecessary visits to the police stations and courts, etc.
- Dash Cam Can Deter a Car Thief
The design and size of dash cams have evolved since 1939, but still they are big enough to be visible. If someone approaches your car when it is left unattended with the intention of stealing it, the presence of a dash cam may deter him from getting caught on camera.
Also, some dash cams come with a survelinece mode feature which turns on when your car is switched off.
- Helps You Record Memories
If you are thinking of getting one installed, don’t just do it from a safety perspective; dash cams can serve other purposes as well.
A dash cam is a camera after all. Like any other camera, it captures and records everything within its range. Imagine you are driving up north. Your car’s dash cam could record the entire journey. So, you won’t have to stop every few kilometers to take pictures, etc.
- Dashboard Camera with GPS
If your child is driving for the first time on his/her own, every parent would want to ensure their safety and the safety of others on the road. A dash cam can help you calm down your nerves.
Some dash cams come with GPS tracking and G-sensors which can help you track your kids’ driving and ensure their safety. Some cameras also come with a cabin view option which records what is happening inside the car.
Benefits of a Rear-View Camera
Looking back while reversing and not relying on the rear view mirror alone is considered a good practice, but it has its flaws. For example, you cannot see the blind spots and people, objects and animals in them and below your eye level.
- Safety for Kids and Animals
A driver unintentionally running over a kid or a pet while reversing isn’t unheard of. Matter of fact, kids more than adults are the biggest victims of backover accidents. They can be fatal.
Having a simple rear-view camera can easily prevent this. Perhaps this is why in the United States it is mandatory for all car models since 2018 to be installed with backup cameras.
- An Eye On The Blind Spot
With a simple rear-view camera, you can eliminate the blind zone by as much as 90 percent. This can mean that you can eliminate the chances of running on a kid or an animal by as much as 90 percent, if not more.
- Parallel Parking Becomes Easy
Learning how to parallel park is tough even for seasoned drivers. In congested cities of Pakistan, a driver is considered lucky if he/she can find a parking spot during peak hours. Left with no option but to park their cars in limited, squeezed parking spaces, parallel parking is the only option.
With a rear-view camera, getting your car parallel parked in the first try becomes easier. Rear-view cameras also come in handy when getting out of congested and narrow parking areas like shopping malls, airports, hospitals, etc.
Are There Any Disadvantages As Well?
Now that you know the main benefits of installing these two gadgets in your car, let’s talk a bit about their disadvantages as well, since there are some.
- Dash cams and rear-view cameras, especially the mounted ones, can easily be stolen. Since they are in plain sight, anyone looking to steal them can snatch them.
- Since they are electronic gadgets, they can malfunction for a variety of reasons. You may be thinking that your dash cam is recording the scenic road, when in reality, it had stopped working for whatever reason.
- Since dash cams record happenings around you, they have the potential to invade someone else’s privacy.
- Dash cams may be much smaller now than they were in 1939, but they are still big enough to block your view of the road ahead. Dash cams are either positioned on the dashboard or windscreen and due to this they may distract you and block your view of the road. This is like having a phone or a tablet in your car, which you keep looking at periodically while driving.
- Blindly relying on a rear-view camera while reversing your car may be counterintuitive as you cannot accurately tell (especially in the beginning) the actual distance between your bumper and the object as it appears on the screen.
As you can see the advantages outweigh the disadvantages by a mile. So, if you are interested in getting both or either of these two gadgets installed in your car, do check out dash cams in our car accessories section listings.
You may also like to read:
Car Tracker: Should You Get a GPS Tracking System for Your Car?
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