Dashcam Driver

The Main Reason To Buy a Dash Cam

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My Damaged Car

Before The Accident

A few years ago, my friend Eric went out and bought a dash cam. Eric researches everything and was really concerned about the mounting and the hiding of the wires. I had the impression that I would have to thoroughly research my dash cam purchase before a pulled the trigger. So, this thorough research led to procrastination. A year went by, then another, and then I told myself that I would have to purchase one before my 5,000 miles of summer driving began. I saw the Aukey DR-01 on sale and snapped one up (170 deg Recording , Capacitor batter, 1080p). Then I realized I needed to buy an SD card – so I purchased a high endurance one to withstand the high summer car temperatures and the cold winter temperatures.

Well, immediately after I purchased it, I witnessed a lot of of crazy drivers – and posted the videos to my YouTube channel. Even after I witnessed a crazy Route 17 crash where a 200 lb. piece of the medium slid 200 feet like a hockey puck down the road, I still didn’t realize that my turn would be coming up soon.

The Accident

Then, it happened, the morning of April 2nd, 2019 during my commute, it happened, just like they say it would happen – near home. I was waiting at a red light for it to change, then once it did, I entered the intersection and continued on my way. A truck/van/SUV in the left-turn-only lane impeded my left side vision. So, I only caught a glimpse of the beige vehicle barreling down on me before I turned the steering wheel away and braced for impact.

In that instant, I only turned the car about 10 degrees from being perfectly T-boned ( I am thinking that a flat T-bone would have been much worse). But, this was enough for the initial impact to hit behind my driver-side door and start my car to spin out which started with my head slamming into the driver door window. My car and I turned about 100 degrees and was screaming the whole way like I was on crazy amusement park ride – I wish that I had set the dash cam to record audio as well.

My Dash Cam Footage

After The Accident

My car was in the oncoming lanes and I wanted to get myself out of harms way – not realizing that the oncoming drivers at the light had a front row seat to this accident. Luckily, my car was still drive-able, so I turned back the direction that I was originally traveling and moved my car out of the intersection and called 911. In the five minutes before the police arrived, I was talking with the passerby’s and I heard that the person who had hit me thought I ran a red light. Bottom line, I was able to show the police my dash cam footage and save myself a lot of aggravation. That $80 purchase was well worth the investment.

The Bottom Line

Dash cams are a double-edged sword – and like pin-stripes on cars, are typically only sported by people who are (or try to be) safe, courteous, law-abiding drivers. If this sounds like you, run out today to buy one and don’t be like me and wait years.

So, the main reason to have a dash cam is the same reason people have ring door-bells, you hope that nothing bad will ever happen – but in case something does, you’ll have indisputable video proof of what happened.

Be sure to see my post about my Dash Cam Review

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