Dash cams are becoming increasingly popular in the civilian population for the same reasons they’ve become so common in police vehicles: no one has to rely on their memory in a dispute. Instead, you’ve always got an impartial record of the events that happened during any traffic accidents or incidents that occur around your vehicles.
Your work vehicle is an important investment – one your business can’t afford to lose. Installing a dash cam can save you thousands of dollars in fines, insurance premiums or court costs as well as your business’s reputation.
How Dash Cams Work
These simple video cameras attach inside the windshield via a strong suction cup and face outward. A simple power cord plugs into the cigarette lighter on your dashboard. As soon as you turn your car on, the dash cam comes on, too. It will record everything it sees while your car is running. A tiny memory card holds all the video the dash cam takes and you can remove the card to download video onto your computer as often as you like.
Witness to an Accident
If there’s ever an accident involving your company vehicle, it can be difficult find out the truth about what happened. Accidents occur quickly and it’s sometimes hard for drivers to remember exactly what happened – especially if someone is injured. A dash cam is an impartial observer that records the truth. If your driver has been falsely accused of causing an accident, having a dash cam can save you money and protect the driver from financial and legal trouble.
Insurance Fraud
Insurance fraud is becoming more common every day and commercial vehicles are frequently the victim of fraud teams roaming the roads. Criminals often assume that business owners have deep pockets and will settle out of court to avoid losing work during a trial. Teams often crash into cars and trucks with an aim to making it look like the other vehicle’s fault. A dash cam can avoid all that trouble and can even aid the police by showing proof of the scam and giving evidence for prosecution.
Driving Records
Being able to drive your work vehicle is crucial to your business, but being ticketed for traffic violations can put a stop to that quickly. If you’ve been unfairly targeted by police, a dash cam can be your silent witness when you go to court to fight a ticket. This is especially true in intersections with traffic cams that automatically send tickets when they perceive a traffic violation. Having a dash cam video can keep your driving record clean and your insurance rates down.
Cover Your Assets
Do you allow employees to take company vehicles home between jobs? If so, you’re permitting them to have your car or truck for their own personal use. This means everything they do on the road includes a big billboard advertising your company name. As the military says, “trust but verify”. You want to trust your people, but you can’t afford to keep yourself in the dark about how your property’s being treated. Are they breaking the law by speeding, running red lights or cutting people off in traffic? Are they endangering your vehicle by off-roading with your truck? Do they hang out in shady neighborhoods on the weekends where the chance of theft is high? What your employees do on their off time is their own business, but doing it in your vehicle makes it part of your concern.
Dash cams may have started out as valuable police car accessories, but they’re an important asset for any contractor who has business vehicles on the road. For well under $100, you can install a good quality dash cam in seconds, saving you money and keeping your good name clean in the process.