Videotape your Journey as Proof in Case of a Traffic Accident

Even when you have a minor car accident and you’re confident that it’s the other person’s fault, it can happen that your insurance rejects the claim. Even if you’re well insured, this can occur in situations where it’s your word against the other’s and there are no witnesses who can back your version of the events that led to the accident. With the current costs of labor and spare parts, even the smallest of collisions can set you back $500 or more. A few new products are around that make sure you always have a friendly “witness” on the road with you, by videotaping your car journey to prove you’re telling the truth and that it’s the other guy’s fault. We take a closer look at three products in different price categories: the CarCam Voyager, the Rearview Mirror Car Camera Recorder, and the T-eye In-Car Driving Recording System. The recorded evidence may make your average car accident attorney quite happy.

Why It’s Clever and Easy

I’ve had a few minor car accidents myself where – on narrow roads – my left rearview mirror collided with the mirror of the car moving in the opposite direction. In all cases, I was absolutely confident that the other car was driving in the middle of the road and that I couldn’t possibly have driven any further to the right. But in the end, the car insurance company always used the same excuse to reject the insurance claim and make me pay for my own damage: "We can't make out who is telling the truth". I even know people who were convicted in court and lost their driver’s license for a few months, just because they had no witnesses to back up their story after a traffic accident.

Fortunately, a few solutions are on the market now that allow you to record your car journey to a flash card and, manually or automatically, stop the recording after a traffic accident. When it’s convenient, you can show the footage to the police, car insurance company or judge and avoid repair costs or other legal consequences. When it’s not convenient, you simply don’t save the footage, of course – unless you’re that honest that even when you’ve made a mistake, you give the other party the necessary proof to back their story. In that case, the repair costs that you’ll have to bear will be largely compensated for by a guaranteed place in heaven – it’s your choice.

Here are a few products available today:

1. CarCam Voyager Dashboard Car Camera, approx. $100

This is the simplest and cheapest of the three products. You place it somewhere on your dashboard, hit the “Record” button, and it starts recording up to eight hours of video in a continuous loop. The long recording time also implies that it has a low frame rate, meaning that it’s harder to see the fine details of more complicated traffic accidents. In contrast to the other solutions, it only has one camera, facing the road ahead. But if you want to record what happens behind you, you could buy a second one and still be less out of pocket than with the other solutions.

Strong points:
- Very affordable: You’re sure to save more money some day than it costs
- Compact and easy to hide in your car
- Easy to mount
- Works on DC power and on batteries, hence doesn’t require cables
- Long recording time.

Weak points:
- Low frame rate
- Need to start recording manually and to stop manually in case of a car accident.

2. Rearview Mirror Car Camera Recorder Pro, approx. $400

This one has an interesting design. It has the shape of – in fact it is – a rearview mirror. Spring-loaded clamps allow you to attach it to your existing rearview mirror, so you don’t need to stick a suction cap to your windshield. And it doesn’t cover part of your viewing field.

The unit even features an LCD screen integrated in the mirror, allowing you to watch the recording or doubling as a monitor for a backup camera.

Strong points:
- Attaches to existing rearview mirror
- Records audio and video
- Integrated 2.5" LCD screen
- Second camera input for backup camera
- Starts recording when engine starts
- Good recording frame rate
- Works in low light.

Weak points:
- Plugs into cigarette lighter, which means a cable hanging around or some work on your part to hide it
- It looks like the recording has to be stopped manually in case of collision, so a large SD card is needed to make sure the recording isn’t overwritten when you forget to stop it in the confusion
- Not exactly cheap.

3. T-eye In-Car Driving Recording System, approx. $350

The T-eye is a small device that attaches to the rearview mirror or the dashboard via the supplied bracket or adhesive mount. It has a built-in GPS receiver that doesn’t just register where the accident has happened, but also registers the speed at which you were driving. It even features a G-sensor that measures acceleration, and can stop recording automatically when a collision is detected. Finally, it has two cameras: one facing the road ahead, and the other one facing backwards.

Strong points:
- Two cameras as default
- Records audio and video
- Good recording frame rate
- Long recording time of up to 40 minutes on a 2 GB card
- Integrated GPS; data can be used for journey mapping as well
- Integrated shock sensor: Stops recording automatically after impact
- Can continue recording for a minute after a collision to register what happens in that time
- Manual external trigger to start recording in case of emergency.

Weak points:
- Stops recording one minute after collision – more would be useful in case of aggression
- Not cheap either.

Here’s some sample footage from the CarCam Voyager, though it’s not easy to assess the quality from this:

Here’s a live case study from the Rearview Mirror Car Camera Recorder; it clearly shows when such a recording can be useful:

Finally, the T-eye In-Car Driving Recording System:

Summary

Record your car journey on video, and have your witness with you in case of a car accident
Records the road ahead and/or behind you
Useful proof for insurance claims and in case of legal prosecution
Usefulness in court might be country or state-specific, but it's pretty sure that a car accident lawyer will do his very best to use the evidence
Large differences in price, features, and recording quality.

Tips

More of a warning: These things are very useful, but they’re also just one more thing that can be stolen from your car – and a reason to smash your window to do so. That’s why it might be wise to choose a model that you can easily detach and hide in the glove compartment when parking in risky areas.

You might want to check the legal situation in your region before you invest heavily in this kind of solution, and make sure that such a video would be acceptable as evidence to support your insurance claim or your case in court.