http://www.flickr.com/photos/53074154@N00/8476846474/
RT: Meteorite hits Russian Urals: Fireball explosion wreaks havoc, up to 1,200 injured (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

the Guardian: Meteorite slams into Central Russia injuring 1100 - as it happened
Found this............
Why are there so many videos from people's cars?
Anyone who has ever seen one of those YouTube video compilations of terrifyingly dangerous Russian drivers will know that every Russian driver seems to have a camera mounted on his or her dashboard. But why?
An Animal blogpost by Marina Galperina explains:
In Russia, everyone should have a camera on their dashboard. It’s better than keeping a lead pipe under your seat for protection (but you might still want that lead pipe) ...
Psychopaths are abundant on Russian roads. You best not cut anyone off or undertake some other type of maneuver that might inconvenience the 200-pound, six-foot-five brawling children you see on YouTube hopping out of their SUVs with their dukes up ... These fights happen all the time and you can’t really press charges. Point to your broken nose or smashed windows all you want. The Russian courts don’t like verbal claims. They do, however, like to send people to jail for battery and property destruction if there’s definite video proof ...
Dash-cam footage is the only real way to substantiate your claims in the court of law. Forget witnesses. Hit and runs are very common and insurance companies notoriously specialize in denying claims. Two-way insurance coverage is very expensive and almost completely unavailable for vehicles over ten years old–the drivers can only get basic liability.
She adds that there are moments of humanity among the crashes, but basically "aside from the kindness of strangers, it’s just you and that little gadget versus the hell that is the other people on the road".

 

BTW: Been seeing more motorcyclists with GoPro on their helmets. Same reason?

Nextag - dash camera http://www.nextag.com/dashboard-camera/products-html#!

Anyone have experience with these? Can you turn them off when breaking the speed limit?

 

This thread is known as a
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajc1/3019611194/
yawn ------> <--------- yawn

 

Kurt I have a Go Pro black edition and yes you can turn it off/on with a remote or a smart phone. You can also mount it so the speedometer is not in the picture.

 

Hey, I declared this thread DEAD!

http://www.goproblackedition.org/
http://gopro.com/

Do you have to unload video, or does it record endless loop?

 

I hear having a dash cam is great for safety and accidents. Has anyone tried any dash cams? Some claim to record front and rear.

Any recommendations....?

Where I am located the cars only have rear plates. Say if someone ran into you and tried to leave I would assume the dash cam would record it all and get the license plate.

It can happen all so fast. Not sure what the benefit of having a rear cam would be? Video of getting rear ended maybe?

Has anyone thought about these issues? Any perspective? Is the GoPro used for this purpose?

Thanks

 

I've got a Blackvue on the MINI. I bought it mainly for the parking mode to "guard" the car when I am parallel parked in Downtown Chicago in case someone backs into my car trying to pull out. Unfortunatley, the MINI cuts power after 30mintues, plus I have not been able to get the motion sensor park of the camera to work. I also got it for that slim chance that I get into an accident or bogus running of a red light or moving violation. The camera records speed by GPS, so is useful as well. Finally, I got it in case I witnessed an accident and I can offer the footage for those involved. Hopefu;l;uy I will not have to use any recordings, but its nice to know that i might have something on tape.

 

Looks pretty cool.

I have looked at others too. But I always come back to the thought should I have video of the front and the rear?

Just never know what will happen. I am in Atlanta, GA and there is lots of traffic and many times during my hour and half commute I am sitting in a long line of cars until getting through a light.

The other day I watch a car get rear ended. Sitting in a long line at a light where everyone was creeping ahead very slow and many are tweeting. I thought the Jeep popped the clutch and killed it but it was like two cars behind me. Than a women gets out of her car throwing her hands in the air. I assume he rear ended her trying to change lanes.

Even if rear ended and the jerk tries to drive off passing you the front camera would record the car and plate. It just can happen so fast!

Then the police ask for a description of the car and you can't remember much because you are caught off guard.

Another unit although it is larger was the GoPro that I was looking at, then there are Apps for the iTouch that would work.

I park in a deck during the day and have plenty of what I call safe choices to choose from, but even there nothing is perfect.

Accidents happen, most are nice folks. But I have been in a few and it is always alarming when the police take the other guy away in hand cuffs.

Still contemplating a gun permit for safety reasons. I am from the north and went to school in the Chicago area. Big cities are fun but also dangerous.

Thanks

 

I dont know if there are cameras that record both front and rear. One of the cool things about the Balckvue is that it has g-force sensor readings enbedded with the video, so it will record the direction and magnitude of impact.

 

It might be worth considering trying one (Dash Cam) in the front and if it works well and I like it add a second in the rear.

I am sure I will experience small dings in the car and I don't mind paying the body shop to fix them. Accidents on the road are usually much more severe. I will need to find a good Mini body shop in the Atlanta Area!

Past experience has not been good. I was rear ended in another car that had cream leather seats and the body shop put the spare tire on the front seat and pretty much destroyed it. So I fear body shops.

Another accident in yet another car a teen was most likely playing on the iPhone and rear ended a SUV at 50 mph that hit me in my little Toyota. His car was totaled. He never even spoke to me. Just stood by his car smoking cigarettes. So I just turned the whole mess over to a Attorney. Working 11 hour days I have no time for a second job, using an Attorney was the best decision in my life.

I have always had an interest in car alarms. Long ago I had one that came with a pager and if the car alarm went off I got a page on a little pager clipped to my belt.

My biggest fear is road rage. I don't really drive fast. No need for a radar detector. I try to keep to the right lane allowing fast cars to pass. I don't want confrontation but many are out to kill. They will tailgate so close or run up on you trying to threaten you. I am not really sure how to handle this? I don't **** off drivers and would rather stay behind a slow driver than get in the fast lane. Yesterday's commute was about three hours. Spending that amount of time in a car stuff happens.

The drivers here are really bad. It turns dark and rains buckets and half the cars don't even put on their lights! It is the law. Don't get me started, the police are not interested in safety just collecting money for big ticket items. All about revenue here.

Summary

Protect myself
Protect my car
Get to work safely
Don't **** off other drivers
Really need to get the gun permit

 

I am however impressed by the small size of Blackvue. You would not notice it inside the car. Hardwired and I doubt if anyone would steal it. Looks like a backup cam. A huge plus.

 

Get a Blackvue Power Magic Pro. It will keep your camera running and only cut power if the voltage drops below the configured value and/or the configured time.

 

Have some big rusty bolts/nuts in your ashtray, toss backwards, just before turning off.

 

Motor Authority/Yahoo: Dashcam Captures POV Crash With Cement Truck: Video
Dashboard cameras can be used to capture everything from Russian meteor strikes to hot laps at the track, but this latest video is in a class of its own. A head-on collision with an out-of-control cement truck is the kind of terrifyingly unreal experience that's hard to believe. Yet that's exactly what happened to Texas A&M professor Dr. Guan Zhu, and he got it on video. ...


What is bizarre, I just ordered an Avangard Optics Mobile-i Car Digital Video Recorder yesterday!

 

The Daily Caller: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: This man’s camera saved him from lying cop
A New York man’s car was struck by the van of a reckless customs officer eager to pin the blame elsewhere, but luckily for the man, his recently-installed dashboard camera captured the whole incident on video and proved the cop had been a bad driver — and a worse liar.
...
Edward writes about technology for dealspin.com under the moniker “Ted,” and had recently reviewed and installed the Timetec Roadhawk Dashboard Camera in his vehicle. He had no idea it would come in handy so quickly. ...

 

Perhaps the most common reason for owning a secrool dash cam is to capture accidents as they occur. To go into more detail about the brief bullets I’ve listed above, when an accident occurs there are usually 2 or more parties involved. In many of the cases it’s not always clear which of the parties are at fault unless there is clear-cut evidence that negligence was the reason for the accident.

 

This really is a 3rd world problem.
In the 1st world, everyone has insurance, and one way or another, you are always covered. Your own video evidence can also work against you when subpoenaed by the other party!

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