Dash Cams: Good idea or Not

Tony, you and I think very much the same. You are right on the money. I feel my many years of safe driving (and God as my co-pilot) have been the result of sticking to my prime directive..... Safety first, never last! Have a future, not a past! Sure, there have been many times over years were others have tried to pressure me to do something that was not safe or even legal to do, and I never did. I preferred to always be on the right side of the issue from a safety point of view.

My first days as a truck driver were heavily influenced by the man who performed my CDL skills and road test back in 1992. This man was a Connecticut state trooper for the state's commercial vehicle enforcement unit who also performed CDL exams. At the trucking school I went to at the time, this person had the reputation as being the toughest examiner in the state! I actually wanted him to conduct my exam! The reason? Because I felt if I passed with him doing the exam, then I felt I was really ready to safely drive a tractor trailer. During the exam, he tried to get me to do some things that were unsafe, such as him enticing me to turn a corner when I felt traffic was too close to safely proceed. Anyway, I not only passed the exam, but excelled! Afterwards, Trooper Storm chatted with me about how proud of me he was that I was not easily coaxed into making an unsafe decision. Trooper Storm also told me the reason why he has a reputation of being such a tough examiner. His 6 year old son was killed by a truck driver who was operating a truck that was unfit to be on the road, and as a result, the truck's brakes failed and killed his son. I remember to this day the promise I made to him. I promised to always put safety first no matter what! Trooper Storm and I stayed in touch for many years afterwards. He was like a mentor to me. I invited him to attend the ceremony at my job about 8 years later to celebrate reaching a million miles safe driving. Even though Trooper Storm had passed away a few years later, even to this day I always think of him when ever I need to make a decision that involves the safe thing to do, not what is most convenient. I hope to one day see Trooper Storm in heaven so that I can tell him I kept my word.

 

Yep. I'm still deer and turkey hunting and fishing with a group of fellas some who are half my age. No problems keeping up as yet.

 

Tom you'll achieve that goal I'm. positive of it. I get flamed sometime for my no-nonsense attitude about driving , but that's fine. I know that my record speaks for itself and I'm very proud of it. Not arrogant , mind you but proud. I try to tell those just starting out that no matter how long your career is 1 year or 50 you never learn all there is to learn. Every safe mile , every single rotation if a wheel is And always would be considers a gift for God, not to mention a learning experience

 

There is one topic about a dash cam that nobody hit I don't think if this a repost sorry, but here it is.

You go into truckstop to shower and eat and walk back to your truck to find out someone took out your passenger side, or driver side and nobody saw a thing? (Dash cam would have caught it and maybe a trailer number and license number of the trailer that hit you)

or or how about you sleeping curtains close you hear a Big Bang your truck shakes violently you jump out of bed to figure out what just happened and by time you get out of truck the driver who hit you is already going down the road.

i have seen this done on more than one occasion even in broad daylight where drivers hit another truck and dart out a dash cam would give enough info to officers to at least track the hit and run idiot down.

 

Me too! There have been numerous occasions where I stood up for something, and no one was there to back me up, other than God himself, which is really all I ever need.

 

Definitely an occasion where a dash cam is very helpful, especially if you have one continuously recording and/or one that detects motion in front of the camera and automatically saves the video footage.

I had an incident a few years ago where my truck was parked at a Peterbilt dealer over the weekend having a PM done and my camera captured video of a couple of guys who broke into the dealer and stole some new tires off a few trucks. The video helped the dealer and the police catch these POS's!

 

Ya I hear you on that, safety being number one, the load will get there when it gets there.
She was going about ten under the limit, and I tried to get around her. As you stated we haft to be above that as no accident or even worse a life is worth this unappreciated job we do out here.
I'll haft to watch out how I put my videos together as well, is it can bite you the ###.
No prob old timer carry on.

I think she just got pissed because I got out maid my way through traffic and moved over to the middle lane, she might of even felt it was illegal.
Frustrated, she probably then felt she had to teach me a lesson. Distraction uhh, how can she not see the 80,000 lbs. next to her with all the rickety noise, not only veering off at me on once, but several times times.
Not only did I not back off her toget away, I did it a few times, as I made multiple attempts to pass her. You can here the deceleration of the vehicle the jakes, and the brakes hitting.

What ever the case, she may have been doing, It dos'nt matter as we as drivers must avoid this type of stupidity.

With that said, I do feel as being in a hurry is a normal part of the job for many, including myself. Not everybody has lay back work , set routs that pay by the hour, or go home every day.

 

Another potential dash cam benefit is that it might make you a safer driver if you stop to think that the video may hang you. I think my following distance has increased a bit since I've started using one. It doesn't seem close at the time and it's not as close as many follow, but when I look at the videos I'm always thinking how that would look in court.

 

She's just a distracted driver, I see them all day long, nothing worth getting upset over, I'd bet she never even realized you were there.