The more dash cam gifs that I watch, especially people doing brake checks on the highway, I kind of want to get one too. Its your best defense against another person with road rage.
I have had one for YEARS and highly recommend it!
I want one, too. I have so many near misses on the freeway; I want to share them with Wayne. 
I feel like dash cam YT videos have to be about 25% of Russia’s GDP? 
I have one. I bought it personally to put into my company vehicle. So if someone cuts me off & slams on the brakes I’ll have it on video. It was only a whopping 45$ for the one I got, however it’s not a capacitor style so we will see how the summer goes.
So where is a good cost/benefit analysis of the different brands and models?
And maybe some insight into things to look for? Like what is a capacitor style?
$45 sounds like an amazing price.
My understanding is that rather than using a battery that can run the thing for some hours, the capacitor style has a capacitor with enough juice to ensure a clean write to disk (flash) for the last frames captured in the event it loses DC power from the car’s electrical system. Unlike the ubiquitous li-ion battery, the capacitor Should™ last the life of the unit and isn’t (as) sensitive to heat.
My understanding is the same as Erik’s. I have a friend who has had multiple dash cams over the years. He said the Capacitor style are better for the heat, apparently he found out by having a standard battery one for sometime.
Almost happened to me once on the way to work years ago. On a packed 4-lane divided artery moving at the speed limit through Flower Mound (where the local gendarmerie is quite fond of revenue stops) someone was trying to slice through traffic. I believe they took some exception when I simply maintained my present speed and denied them the opportunity to slice through a 1.05 car-length gap. They tailgated me, and experimented with short-interval brake modulation quite a few times as well as liberal use of the Hawaiian good luck sign.
I turned onto another less-populated thoroughfare and they promptly followed. They proceeded to tailgate for another couple of seconds before suddenly deciding that they needed to pass. I knew exactly what was coming and as soon as they committed to the lane change (testing tire grip limits in the process) I executed an even more aggressive lane change and was in the other lane about the same instant they smashed their brake pedal into the firewall. They of course caught up to me again and did the tailgating/gesturing thing then turned off.
Once I got to work, I skipped the caffeine. A dash cam might have helped in that instance, but avoidance was strongly preferable - especially since they were surely attempting to spark an altercation.
Has it ever yielded fruit?
Yeah those aggressive drivers…sheesh, lol
It’s like driving in Houston. A turn indicator is a sign of weakness and will be culled from the herd.
Mad Max it up.
But yeah, get a dash cam or two. I’ve seen way too much funny and stupid stuff that I wish I had on camera. I see a rear dash cam being useful for hit and runs because you could get the license plate number of whoever hit you.
A buddy of mine had a dude pull a gun and flash a laser at him. He got the dudes plate number off the camera and pressed it on.
The worst is someone who is about to make a turn insisting on passing you, then slowing you down while they make their maneuver instead of going the limit for a few blocks. A$$holes…
A buddy of mine who relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area said that California drivers seem to regard space between vehicles on the road as REAL ESTATE that MUST BE OCCUPIED.
…and then, when you succeed in getting into that lane they change lanes. They didn’t really want that lane, anyway, they just wanted to be in front of you. Jockeying for pole position.
My wife seems to want to do the dash cam thing. I keep reminding her that if she is at fault in an accident the contents of the phones memory can be used against you.
All the time, I would estimate about once a month. Thankfully nothing major, but I have captured more than one crash.
tldr; Yes, it could help with insurance finger pointing depending on how big of a jackass you encounter.
I had one guy that was upset that I pulled in front of him in the inside lane on 121, while I was trying to pass. He was going so fast that between my check of mirrors and lane change he was behind me. It happens when someone is speeding 30+ mph over the speed limit and IMO they should just expect and deal with the situation, at least that’s how I react when it happens to me. This guy didn’t and must have thought I did it on purpose. Same whole pass, break check, etc. As he pulled in front of me I hit record on my window mounted phone. I too could see it coming and changed lanes. Just trying to escape I moved all the way to the outside and was looking for an exit. He decided he would try the same maneuver in front of me on the outside lane and misjudged the front of my truck sideswiping me on the front left fender/wheel as he changed lanes. I was skidding at a 45 degree angle down 121 at 60+ mph looking at the grass thinking what a horrible day it was going to be if i didn’t stay on the pavement. By some miracle and all those days playing in the ice when i was young; i managed to steer it straight. All caught on my phone.
The guy called my insurance and told them it was all my fault. I informed my insurance of the video and they said the process would all be over very fast if I just called his insurance and offered the video. Sure enough his insurance immediately agreed to fix all damage.
You’re selling me on this…
Around +20 you need to be very aware of motorists in adjacent lanes period. Keep eyeing that line of cars as if one will jump out at you because about 1 time in 30 they will - hopefully with enough margin to react. I personally don’t relax going that much faster than traffic until I’ve got side clearance and several seconds of front/back clearance.
Trying to exceed the average speed of traffic is a case study in the futility of beating big numbers. Sure you can sometimes beat the numbers, but it’s typically a marginal affair. The level of concentration - and luck - required to do this goes up with speed and congestion.