Why most of us should use dashcams

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=9500865
Car wreck caught on driver's Dash Cam

Friday, April 11, 2014

Kristin Thorne
More: Bio, News Team

Eyewitness News
NEW YORK (WABC) -- If you thought police officers were the only ones who could use Dash Cams, this may change your mind.
Edward, of Lawrence, was driving on Rockaway Boulevard a few days ago when he was cut off by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection van.
The federal agents told police that Edward, who did not want his full name used, ran through a red light. But the video shows clearly that the light is green.
"In all situations, there's a he-said-she-said: The light was red, the light was green. You made a mistake, I made a mistake," he said. "[But] videos don't lie."
He said the agents tried to confront him and he has that on tape, too. Then he posted the video to his site, Dealspin.com, so others could see for themselves what happened, he said.
No one was seriously injured in the accident, even though the force of the crash caused the van to tip over. Edward said he just can't believe the timing: He bought the small Dash Cam online just 10 days before the accident.
"I never thought it would come in so handy," he said. "It was without a doubt the best $199 I've ever spent in my life because it's clear proof that the accident was 100 percent not my fault ."
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I have one pointing out the front and one pointing at me for this exact reason. I'd like to get two more down each side of the truck eventually.

 

I to have a dash cam in my rig for reason such as this.

 

So, uh... devil's advocate here... is that not a law enforcement vehicle with lights on?

 

Preventable accident for both parties involved. Did the driver of the car not notice the 2 lanes of traffic to his left stopping suddenly, even though they had a green light? You should never enter an intersection blindly at that speed without verifying it is safe to proceed. The driver in the car is lucky he is not dead.

 

Well the dash cam just proved that the light wasn't red and he's an idiot for passing and not noticing everyone else was stopped to let the emergency vehicle go.

 

He's not an idiot, he's just a super important person with super important things to do. He had to hurry up and get through that light so he could stop at the next one down.

 

not sure how other states treat this but in NH an emergency vehicle can only proceed through an intersection (assuming a red light here, or, say, an illegal left turn) with lights and siren activated and after making sure it is safe to do so.


Customs with lights on? probably wanted fresh doughnuts

 

Who's to say that's the case? What if they had a trained EMS on board and just happened to be within half mile of someone having a heart attack and got a radio call? I don't know about you, but when I see other people stopping ahead of me, I tend to slow down, too. Not to mention that if it was so sudden and unexpected that the guy with the camera couldn't see it, wouldn't logic dictate that the driver of the van couldn't see someone passing all those cars at 35mph, either?

 

If they weren't dispatched on an emergency situation I'm sure they will be held accountable. And it did look like they were proceeding with caution.