Using Dash Cameras For Legal Protection

Like many other industries, driving safety has been changed forever by advancement in computers. Just ask desktop and laptop-like systems have been miniaturized into smartphones, similar systems have been built into the old, but now enhanced concept of dashboard cameras or dash cams. Here are a few details about dash cams to help you understand how dash cams work, and how to use them to their maximum potential for your safety and legal benefit.

How Does A Dash Cam Work?

A dash camera is an old combination of technology that continues to innovate. At its core, the system is a video camera that records onto some sort of storage medium. The storage can be semi-permanent and internal like a hard drive, or removable like an SD (secure digital) card.

Modern dash cameras benefit from a lot of the technology that makes smartphones what they are today. Smartphone aren't actually phones; the devices that have changed modern communications in big ways are actually handheld computers that are barely different from Windows, Mac, or Linux desktops in function, and the "phone" part is a small telephone radio that has a few enhancements in the modern age, but still a small percent of what the device can do.

The dash cam is also a small computer with a single, popularized feature: the camera. The best part of the dash cam is that it does what many people wish smartphones can do, since it can operate for days while recording under ideal configuration. Most models don't have a lot of fancy features that are on by default, so the device can last for a long time with its built in battery.

Most dash cam models will record in one direction, and are often widescreen or panoramic to record most of the windshield. You can enhance the view by buying more than one dash cam and pointing them in different directions to capture all of the outer views for your vehicle, or a single camera with a 360-degree view. A 360-degree view isn't required, as it's possible to find at least 4 dash cam models for less than the price of a 360-degree camera at the same quality level.

Using Dash Cams For Legal Protection

The basic premise of dash cams in a legal situation is simple: you record the event, and that recording wins the argument. If you're in a car accident and the video evidence shows how it happened, there's little to no need for an argument. You'll need a lawyer to demand the right amount of compensation and to navigate different, complex ways to hold the other party responsible, but a camera that captures the event is pretty much the winner.

Not all cameras can capture the whole story, but if you're innocent, it adds a lot more power to your argument. The actual accident may not have been on camera, but situational evidence such as changing speeds, changes in the environment, and vehicle distances can show that you were at least doing what you were supposed to do. It may not spell out everything about the accident, but it can show that you either did the right thing or had nothing to do with the wrong thing.

Contact a car accident law attorney to discuss other parts of proving your case with dash cam evidence.

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