Topic: Mandatory vehicle incident cameras

[khendar]

I was discussing the use of incident cameras by cyclists with a colleague and we started talking about how useful they would be in all vehicles, for clarifying accident details, avoiding fraud etc. In places like Asia and Russia there's apparently a big problem with accident fraud, where a driver will do something like reverse into your car at the lights, then ask for money to fix their bumper and forget about the insurance. People have started fitting cameras to their cars to prevent people from doing this, and its highly amusing to see the fraudster's reactions when they realise they were recorded.

So what are people's opinions on making incident cameras in vehicles mandatory ? There are obviously some issues: People complaining about police states and big brother etc, privacy concerns, not to mention the right against self-incrimination (if you have a camera which records you doing something illegal, technically you have the right to not present that evidence to avoid incriminating yourself). That also leads to the possibility of people tampering with the evidence if they turn out to be at fault.

[Obsequious]

I was recently rear-ended and my car was totaled, due to the fact that the idiot in front of me slammed on her brakes and the guy behind me couldn't stop in time. He and I both agreed that it was the fault of the idiot in front of me, and he was very glad his dashboard cam had caught the whole thing on video.

He told me he always drove with front and rear facing dash cams, due to the fact that somebody had attempted insurance fraud with him in the past.

Anyway, the insurance companies took care of me, but I'm sure he still got screwed, because he was the one that did the rear-ending.

Regarding this question of who legally owns the data in those dash cams, that's a very compelling issue. I'm more worried about the little black boxes which all modern cars now have, and which record data in the seconds leading up to an accident, data which can be used against the driver.

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People have started fitting cameras to their cars to prevent people from doing this, and its highly amusing to see the fraudster's reactions when they realise they were recorded.

... That also leads to the possibility of people tampering with the evidence if they turn out to be at fault.

There are huge problems with footage from cameras going missing.  Usually the section where the incident happens.  This is so common, it's a known phenom.

[amysrevenge]

People have started fitting cameras to their cars to prevent people from doing this, and its highly amusing to see the fraudster's reactions when they realise they were recorded.

... That also leads to the possibility of people tampering with the evidence if they turn out to be at fault.

There are huge problems with footage from cameras going missing.  Usually the section where the incident happens.  This is so common, it's a known phenom.

The solution is obvious - a incident camera camera, which will record anyone tampering with the incident camera.

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     Technology to prevent footage from "vanishing" is a new and highly exciting field.  Too often video mysteriously suffers some slort of technological problem, right at the moment the action happens.  Broadcasting the footage might be the only way to prevent the problem.

[khendar]

Yeah I guess to be reliable and foolproof they'd have to be a standardised, vandal-proof unit, which can't be disconnected or tampered with. A streaming service might sound like a good idea, but only viable in places where there are strong wifi or cellphone signals.

Whilst making it mandatory might not be possible, it might not be a bad thing if insurance companies offered incentives to install a camera, such as reduced premiums.