Dashcam

A pair of black devices with small monitors stuck with suckers to the inside of a car windshield with blue tint at the top, seen from inside the vehicle
Two dashcams on a windshield

A dashcam or dashboard camera is an onboard camera that continuously records the view through a vehicle's windscreen. It may be attached to the interior windscreen or to the top of the dashboard, by suction cup or adhesive-tape mount. Dashcams may provide video evidence in the event of an accident.

Types

Various types of dashcam are available on the market, ranging from basic video cameras to ones which also record parameters such as date/time, speed, G-forces and location. Most dashcams are manufactured in Asian countries such as China and Taiwan. Due to the lack of governmental regulation in those countries, there is usually very little quality control in most dashcams.

Use

Dashcams are widespread in Russia[1] as a guard against police corruption and insurance fraud, where they provide additional evidence.[2] They have been called "ubiquitous" and "an on-line obsession", and are so prevalent that dashcam footage was the most common footage of the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor,[3] which was documented from a dozen angles. Thousands of videos showing automobile and aircraft crashes, close calls, and attempts at insurance fraud have been uploaded to social interactive and sharing websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other websites.

Legality

Dashcams are gaining in popularity in many parts of Asia, Europe (particularly in France), Australia and the US. They are forbidden by law in Austria,[4] where they carry heavy fines. In Switzerland, their use is strongly discouraged in public space as they may contravene data protection principles. [5] In Germany,[6] while small cameras for personal use in vehicles are allowed, posting footage from them on social-media sites is considered a violation of privacy and thus forbidden. Dashcam footage is only in exceptional cases admissible as evidence in a German court. In Luxembourg, it is not illegal to possess a dashcam but it is illegal to use one to capture videos or still images in a public place (which includes in a vehicle on a public road). Recording using a dashcam may result in a fine or imprisonment.[7] In Australia recording on public roadways is allowed as long as the recording does not infringe upon one's personal privacy in a way that may be deemed inappropriate in a court of law.[8]

In the United States, at the federal level (i.e., at the national level as opposed to the state level), "the video taping of public events is protected under the First Amendment" right.[9] Videotaping of non-public events and videotaping-related issues, including sound recording and matters related to time of the day, venue, manner of recording, privacy concerns, implications on motor vehicle moving violation issues (such as whether the windshield view is being blocked), etc., are dealt with at the state level. In the state of Maryland, for example, it is illegal to record anybody's voice without their consent, but it is legal to record without the other party's consent if the non-consenting party does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the conversation that is being recorded. In other states, including Illinois and Massachusetts, it is always illegal regardless of whether or not there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, and in such states the person doing the recording would always be in violation of the law. In Illinois, a law was passed that makes it illegal to record law enforcement officers even while in the performance of their public official duties.[10]

Police use

Police departments use dashcams in police vehicles to gather evidence during traffic stops and car chases.[11] Some dash cam systems can be automatically activated when a police car's emergency lights or siren are turned on.[12][13][14] Freedom of information laws mean that the footage can be released under some circumstances,[15] and this can be an important tool in reporting on police actions.[16] TV shows like World's Wildest Police Videos have frequently featured car chase videos shot from dashcams.

Some police officers accused of police brutality tamper with their cameras to disable audio or video recording.[17] In Chicago 80% of the police dashcams did not work properly. Causes was for instance that officers destroyed antennas, hid microphones and removed batteries.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lavrinc, Damon (2013-02-15). "Why Almost Everyone in Russia Has a Dash Cam". Wired.
  2. ↑ Galperina, Marina (2012-06-13). "Why Russians Are Obsessed With Dash-Cams". Jalopnik.com. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  3. ↑ "Russian dash cam video: From stunning to bizarre". CBS News. 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  4. ↑ "Private Videoüberwachung: Datenschützer warnt vor Selbstjustiz". help.ORF.at. 2013-05-04. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  5. ↑ "Guidelines on video surveillance in vehicles (Dashcams)". edoeb.admin.ch. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  6. ↑ "Gerichtsurteil zu Videokameras im Auto: Dashcams verstoßen gegen Datenschutzgesetz". Der Spiegel. 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
  7. ↑ "Les caméras de surveillance installées dans les voitures sont-elles licites ?". www.guichet.public.lu. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  8. ↑ "Dashcams 101". Dashcams. 2013-12-01. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  9. ↑ Opinion granting motion to dismiss. Maryland v. Graber. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  10. ↑ In Spite of State Law, Maryland Law Enforcement Officials Still Arresting, Charging People for Recording Cops. Radley Balko. Reason.com 29 May 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Cross-Examining Film". ssrn.com.
  12. ↑ "Local police support dash cam policies, protecting citizens and officers". KHOU. 25 April 2012.
  13. ↑ "LAPD officers tampered with in-car recording equipment, records show". latimes.
  14. ↑ "Court orders state police to hand over cruiser dash cam video of crash scene". PennLive.com.
  15. ↑ "Court rulings bolster public access to police videos". splc.org.
  16. ↑ "How a little-known, Uber-driving freelancer brought the lawsuit that forced Chicago to release a police shooting video". Columbia Journalism Review.
  17. ↑ http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/chicago-police-officers-tampered-with-dash-cams.html
  18. ↑ Time: Chicago Police Officers Sabotaged Dashcams to Block Audio, Report Says

External links

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