Don’t Think You Need a Dash Cam? Think Again

A few months ago, a friend of mine had a car accident. The other driver ran a red light and hit her as she was pulling through the intersection (thankfully she was not hurt). It happened on a rural road with no witnesses. If that had happened to me, I might be concerned that it would be my word against the other driver’s as to who was at fault. But fortunately my friend had indisputable evidence thanks to the small camera mounted on her windshield. I had never considered buying a dash cam until I heard about her experience. And now I not only own one, I tell everyone I know: Get a dash cam now!

These small cameras may not only become your best defense in an accident, they can also protect your car when you are not around, capturing hit-and-run accidents or vandals. I’m also a big fan of road trips, and I love that I can now have a video memory of my entire journey. We’ve rounded up three of the newest dash cams that often an array of useful features.

This is one the newest dash cams from Anker’s Roav brand. Choose either the adhesive or suction mount to attach it to your windshield and add a microSD card to record video. The camera does a great job at capturing clear footage, even in nighttime or low-light conditions, such as in a parking garage. It has a wide-angle lens, so I was able to see the lanes on either side of me, not just the one in front. And it has a sensor that automatically activates the camera if it detects impact, such as being hit while parked.

This one has a cool, cylindrical design. It’s also ridiculously light — less than two ounces! — and just 3.5 inches long. The camera functions as its own Wi-Fi router so once you connect to it, you can use the Goluk app on your phone to control it and download images without using cellular data. (You can also share images to Facebook and Twitter — pretty neat!) The camera has really sharp night vision and what it calls the “Magic Key” remote button: tap the button to record a 12-second video and a still picture. When your car is off, the camera switches to an auto mode that triggers video recording when motion is detected. It comes with an adhesive mount.

This unit comes with two cameras. Use the main one on your front windshield and then the second one can either be set up to record inside your vehicle or put it in your rear window to record behind you. You can set-up a split screen so you can see the footage from both cameras at once. The cameras record in wide-angle view: 160 degrees for the main camera and 130 degrees for the second one. The system will alert you if it detects that you are drifting out of your lane or if you are rapidly approaching an obstacle in front. It comes with a suction mount and a 16GB memory card.