THE INSTRUCTOR
l
www.ukdic.co.uk
In-car cameras: Do You Need One?
It wasn't that long ago that in-car camera systems
consisted of bulky VCR recorders stashed under
the seat, awkward to place cameras and metres
of wire. However, as technology has improved
cameras have become smaller and more
accessible to the general public. Because of this,
more and more ADIs are now using cameras
during their driving lessons.
Whatever your experience with in-car cameras,
hopefully this short rundown will give you a few
ideas of what will work best for you.
Possible uses and reasons for getting one
The thing that first put the idea in my head was
a close encounter while giving way to a bus on a
narrow road. The driver misjudged the gap and
the result was the bus grazing the side of my car.
The bus driver didn't stop, and it took a fair bit
of correspondence for the company to agree to
fix the car. Afterwards, I thought that if I had a
video of the incident it would have been sorted
out a lot quicker.
Accident backup was my initial reason for
looking into a camera, but others may include:
·
Reviewing your own driving
Especially useful
if you're taking the IAM or RoSPA tests. Most
cameras also record audio so you can listen to
your commentary whilst driving and see how it
can be improved.
·
During driving lessons
How many times have
you had a pupil put the car in a risky position that
they were completely unaware of? Recording
the lesson can provide an instant review of what
happened.
·
Self-assessment
You can also watch the video
back, and listen to the way you are conducting
the lesson. I've used this in the past to work
out different ways of dealing with pupils who
struggled to deal with a particular aspect of
driving.
So many choices, where to start?
Ok, so you've made the decision to get a camera,
now for the tricky bit of choosing one. Smartcam,
Roadhawk, Novus and BlackVue are just a small
selection of some of the companies out there, so
do your research.
My advice is don't get carried away! There are
so many on the market ranging from £20 to
£300+ so consider what you are actually going
to use it for. Do you really need GPS speed and
positioning? How about G-force sensors?
If we look at the cheapest cameras first...
For £20 you could go onto eBay and get a basic
in-car camera. You would want one that comes
with a suction mount for the windscreen and
a cable that allows it to be run from your 12V
socket. Thankfully, this is fairly standard. If you're
not sure, these cheap and cheerful systems are
a good place to start. Then, if you like the way it
works, you can also upgrade at a later date.
As the price goes up from here, you'll find the
resolution of the camera and the build quality
improves.
Now onto the more advanced ones...
Once you get near the £100 mark, the first thing
that gets added is a GPS receiver. This can be used
to overlay the speed onto the video, and also
used to track the car's position during the video.
You can also get g-force sensors that are used
to recognise `events'. This could be heavy braking
or an actual collision and when this happens the
camera will automatically record a brief period
before and after and also prevent it from being
overwritten.
Something to be aware of is that once you
add GPS to a camera, you will normally need a
particular piece of software to view the videos,
and overlay the position and speed onto a map.
The advantage of some of the cheaper units
is that they come with an in-built screen (like a
TRAINING: IN-CAR CAMERAS
Rob Laird from RPL Driving, has years of experience with in-car cameras. He explains
why they're valuable for driving instructors and what to look for if buying one.
Installing an in-car camera:
Why, where and how?