So I've relented and ordered a dash cam

[Northwarks]

So I'm working back in an office after 7 years of working from home and now my commute has changed from a rush for the bathroom to a drive with the masses to Coventry everyday. It's been a largely uneventful 7 weeks until 2 weeks ago when I was brake tested for the first time, then a further twice last week - These are not just idiots (oh there's plenty of those ..) but what I'm convinced were crash for cash attempts,  last week both were accelerating away from islands in Coventry and the wreck of a car in front braking for all its worth for absolutely nothing ..  only thing that saved me was plenty of early morning coffee and the fact I was paying attention, the first time my Cooper S has great brakes and I easily out braked them the second time was close but I was 'saved' by ABS and the fact I steered around them - just . Both occasions it was a wreck of a car with more than 2 people in and they were looking around as they braked which struck me as unusual ..  

So I've decided to get a dash cam, I swore I'd never get one and didn't see why people had them - I know its not going to prevent me from hitting them but at least I can demonstrate they stopped for nothing and there wasn't a car full of folks 

[John K]

I hope you never need the footage but you will drive with a lighter heart knowing its there just in case...

Does sound like you were being lined up for a fraudulent claim.

The reason I've got one in all the cars is because of the MS. I'm convinced once the other parties insurance found out from the DVLA / Insurance that I've got a 'declarable condition' they would try to use it to put the blame on me and some physical failing I must have been having at the time.

So its a safety blanket and its made me a better more tolerant driver, knowing the audio is also recorded (I chose to leave the mike on) means I no longer let the red mist descend...

[Nemesis]

I can't recommend them highly enough, have a look on the Roadhawk site, I've got a bullet cam that I took the triangle run video with, a DC2 that sits in my tin top back window & 3 of their HD2's one in the front of my tin top and the others with my son and wife, all have worked flawlessly, not to mention that the memory cards they sell are premium quality at superb prices.

 

Nem......

 

 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Interested Nem, to read your comments; I've wanted to get one for a bit now, but torn by what to go for - there are so many advertorials and blatantly written by copy-writer recommendations on the 'net, it's hard to know who to trust!

(People see my daily driver, a pickup, and tend to treat it like a chicane, not realising I'm travelling just as quickly as them. Currently I'm just using my phone and deleting the recordings once I get to my destination).

I'd like front and rear view, but because it is a truck, having a rear facing camera on the front windscreen doesn't give a great rear view.

Are you saying the set up you have allows for separate cameras to be plugged in, or just that you have two independent cameras in the car? (I will check out the Roadhawk site when I get a mo!)

[Nick Algar - Competition Secretary]

I decided a while ago to get one and also for the Mrs, so went for Nextbase 412 which has a magnetic base so you can put a permenant mount in the car and then easily swap the camera between cars ie daily to Westie. etc, also makes it very easy to drop in glove box when parking. Deliberate rear shunt crashes does seem to be a bit of a problem these days around certain areas. But there are just so many complete clueless drivers around as well that I really just don;t want to get the blame for something that isn't my fault.

[Nemesis]

1 hour ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

Interested Nem, to read your comments; I've wanted to get one for a bit now, but torn by what to go for - there are so many advertorials and blatantly written by copy-writer recommendations on the 'net, it's hard to know who to trust!

(People see my daily driver, a pickup, and tend to treat it like a chicane, not realising I'm travelling just as quickly as them. Currently I'm just using my phone and deleting the recordings once I get to my destination).

I'd like front and rear view, but because it is a truck, having a rear facing camera on the front windscreen doesn't give a great rear view.

Are you saying the set up you have allows for separate cameras to be plugged in, or just that you have two independent cameras in the car? (I will check out the Roadhawk site when I get a mo!)

Hi Dave, all of the cameras are separate units so positioning is easy, they do a variety of mounts too, from flat windscreen to a mount small enough to tuck the camera behind the rear view mirror, I'll get some pics uploaded of my set up and if you're interested in any more info PM me your number and I'll give you a call to explain some of the extra details.

 

Nem....

 

[Lyonspride]

Brake testing is becoming all too common, it's not just for tailgating any more, they do it if you look like you might be thinking of overtaking and they do it if you arrive quickly behind them when they are dawdling.........

An awful lot of people slow right down and/or start driving erratically if they think your in a hurry or trying to get somewhere, it's crazy.

[DamperMan]

Been really lucky not to have had any deliberate brake testing done to me.    I don't drive often in any of the large hot spot cities.   Last night I thought someone was trying to cause an accident.  Wrong lane, swerving about, passengers looking around, I kept back.. But I think it was just an awful lost driver and concerned passengers.     I drive though Buckingham on my commute and they have added extra lanes to the main round-about  I have to be so careful not to be crashed into in the mornings.     Maybe I will put one on my empty Christmas list.     I just don't fancy loads of wires dangling, its all so untidy. and occupying the power socket I use for the satnaff.   Also I'm quite pleased with my skills to have managed to miss all but one TAXI driver in the last 24 years,  I just wonder if i really want/ need one based on the 20k miles I do a year mostly in rural areas.     

[DonPeffers]

 

2 hours ago, Lyonspride said:

Brake testing is becoming all too common, it's not just for tailgating any more, they do it if you look like you might be thinking of overtaking and they do it if you arrive quickly behind them when they are dawdling.........

An awful lot of people slow right down and/or start driving erratically if they think your in a hurry or trying to get somewhere, it's crazy.

Whatever car I'm in if someone catches me up quickly I will make it easy for them to pass on the assumption that they're in a hurry and possibly it's very urgent.

I have come across deliberate, unnecessary slowing down and can only assume it's a control freak response.

I suppose even a dummy, visible dashcam would put off crash for cash artists.

 

[Olliebeak]

If someone comes up fast behind me and sits on my bumper (usually Audi drivers) I usually slow down in the hope they will pass, I would rather have them in front where I can see them .  I was also looking at the Nextbase 412 it looks a good buy,  was undecided between a action cam and a dash cam but as I have now put the Westy to bed I think that I will go for the dash cam, but as I am retired now and thankfully out of the daily grand prix from one roundabout to the next , do I really need one, been driving for fifty years without, similarly a sat nav.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

1 hour ago, DonPeffers said:

I have come across deliberate, unnecessary slowing down and can only assume it's a control freak response.

 

Maybe, maybe not, the slowing down technique is very commonly taught these days, particularly on any officially sponsored/approved courses, like Speed Awareness etc.

Note we're not talking about random slowing here, or heavy braking, just lifting off and letting the speed  wash off, it's taught as a response to the car behind being to close and or aggressive.

So if it's happening a lot to you, I'd ask yourself whether anything about your driving style can appear as the above to the other drivers. 

Of course some people are just awkward about having other vehicles around them, specially if they think the other drivers are trying to pass.

[John K]

30 minutes ago, Olliebeak said:

Nextbase 412

I've got the 512HD in the ST... The quality is so good West Mercia asked me to release some footage of an accident so they could use it in their training videos of "when motorbikes shouldn't over take"

It is more bulky because it has a screen - but this means you can quietly sit in your car and review the footage before running over and shouting "I've got it all on video"

A mate has recently bought the BlackVue screen less model that streams to his phone and is raving about that.

[DonPeffers]

On 11/28/2017 at 16:36, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

Maybe, maybe not, the slowing down technique is very commonly taught these days, particularly on any officially sponsored/approved courses, like Speed Awareness etc.

Note we're not talking about random slowing here, or heavy braking, just lifting off and letting the speed  wash off, it's taught as a response to the car behind being to close and or aggressive.

So if it's happening a lot to you, I'd ask yourself whether anything about your driving style can appear as the above to the other drivers. 

Of course some people are just awkward about having other vehicles around them, specially if they think the other drivers are trying to pass.

I agree about slowing down if someone is too close behind so you have a greater braking margin in an emergency to avoid them hitting your rear.

The event I recall is of overtaking a very slow car on a two lanes each way stretch which then did a racing start at traffic lights only to then drop well below the speed limit on a straight single lane stretch but did speed up when I tried to overtake.

He was never tailgated to cause annoyance.

He seemed to object to being behind and was clearly not in a hurry. I was driving to an elderly relative who needed assistance.

I suppose a dashcam might have inhibited his unnecessary behaviour.

[Northwarks]

Was chatting this over with another bloke in the office today just to see if I just wasn't paranoid - Seems I'm not, it's a common occurrence around the M6/A4600/Walsgrave junction in rush hour.  I'm not one for driving too close, hate stone chips, plus very conscious the LED headlamps are not every drivers favourite thing so I know I'm not cheesing folks off with tail gating. The thought amongst the drivers in my team is its a deliberate attempt to get you to hit them - They said I must look like a vulnerable mature driver .

Camera is sitting waiting to be installed when I can get some heat on the screen to secure the mounting bracket.

All I can say is the experience certainly focusses you in a morning.

 

[jeff oakley]

We have dash cameras in all of our vans and for protection they are good, but there is a problem with them .The problem is we now have a whole army of self righteous wannabee traffic officers deciding they are going to report anyone they do not like.

We have had footage sent in showing our vans overtaking, "Breaking the speed limit" "forcing me off the road" and more often than not the complaint will contain lines like, "I had my small child with me" or "my aged relation" and yet when we look at our own footage they are not speeding, not doing anything wrong the footage sent in is distorted, wrong speed shown etc. Yet the people who have no idea of road use are arbitrarily deciding they are in the right and want action from us and the police.

Now if you are driving your car and you have been reported for an incident by such a person, unless you have saved your own footage you have no proof of what actually happened. If you save it and  a police officer demands the footage then you may find you have incriminated your self not necessarily for the claimed wrong from the original complaint. Add in anyone who drives anything remotely sporty is more likely to be the subject of a complaint as any overtaking appears to be a thing of the past with many roadusers not wanting you to pass.

In some EU states it is illegal to film other roadusers but the UK police love this whole new army of snoopers that they have recruited. YouTube has whole channels devoted to people going "OOH look at this" It make the Stasi look like amateurs at getting people to snitch on each other the way this has spread.

I am not a conspiracy nut but the surveillance of every one of us by people who feel justified just in case seems wrong to me. A chap I know who has a camera fitted says that if it is the other persons fault he will wave the chip as a weapon of proof, if he is at fault he will eat it and hope the other person has not got one. Are we so afraid of every thing in life we need footage, if so how long before we all feel justified to walk around with a go pro just in case?

I find it very sad we have got here