Road Rules Reminders / Pet peeves driving within the metro / unclarification / bad signs / laws (Atlanta: 2014, subdivision)

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by LTCM

Ummmmmm...never heard of a dash cam?

In a police car! Private citizens use those???? How come?

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Isn't it dangerous to record while driving? Isn't that like texting while driving?

I have a dash cam mounted in my windshield on both of my cars. On my 99 Camaro it is also connected to my stereo head unit which is a modified computer and it uploads all footage back to my PC at home real-time (and I do this incase I ever come in touch with a prick cop). Everything inside the car is also recorded and just to give you an idea as to how incredibly overkill I am, I can also deactivate the car even while its moving with my cell phone if someone were to steal it (and not with OnStar, I mean by literally sending a text to the car and suddenly...she comes to a stop.)

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

In a police car! Private citizens use those???? How come?

Because I drive in Atlanta.

In seriousness it has little to do with Atlanta as I find Atlanta's metro drivers to be fairly tame in comparison to other places like Texas or Chicago or New York and anywhere in the Northeast and also some parts of California will also give one a headache.

But I used to do alot of commuting on surface streets between Gwinnett and N.Fulton and I can't count the number of times I've encountered red light runners, failure to yields, and incidents that would be difficult to prove fault without footage.

Originally Posted by jhtrico1850

What did you use to record that?

Wonder if you can go to the police since it seems like you have good footage.

Its a FHD1080P Dash Camera, got it cheap on Amazon.

I dont think the police will do anything unless an actual collision was involved AND he drove away from the scene.

[LTCM]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

In a police car! Private citizens use those???? How come?

To provide evidence in case of an accident. You'd be surprised how little investigating oinkers will do if you don't feed it to them.

As an example, an old co worker of mine tboned a car at a traffic light. She said he ran the light. He said she ran the light. Somebody was lieing but with no witnesses each driver paid their own repair bills.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

In a police car! Private citizens use those???? How come?

I think dash cams have become pretty popular these days, Ansley.

For one thing, they can document an accident or road rage incident. Also, the ones with motion detection can show somebody messing with your car in a parking lot.

I sometimes use one for scenic cruises -- just for fun, really.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I think dash cams have become pretty popular these days, Ansley.

For one thing, they can document an accident or road rage incident. Also, the ones with motion detection can show somebody messing with your car in a parking lot.

I sometimes use one for scenic cruises -- just for fun, really.

Well, I learn something (mostly) every day!!!!!

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Well, I learn something (mostly) every day!!!!!

I actually don't know how widespread they are but I'm sort of a gadget nerd.

[jhtrico1850]

https://www.wired.com/2013/02/russian-dash-cams/

They're supposed to be prevalent in Russia to counter corrupt police.

I got a smartphone mount recently, to contribute footage from my iPhone to OpenStreetCam, since Google Street View hasn't driven by my neighborhood in a long time.

There's also an app called Payver where you can drive and get paid for recording.
https://www.wired.com/story/wanna-he...phones-camera/

I've honestly only used the smartphone mount once, maybe an incident will have my recording all the time eventually.

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Volvo nearly puts me in the barrier, fortunately I was anticipating him and reacted before he hit me... Actually this is my second video of a left hand merge nearly gone horribly wrong on I-285.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-psIAS_wVOw

OMG what a douchebag! I am so glad you had those instincts. Your experience most certainly isn't unique. A lot of people for some reason do not check their blind spot. Atlanta drivers (I experience this more when I drive in Atlanta) or people who drive in Atlanta also do not stay in their lanes. I don't know why but they are always coming into my lane and you'd think they'd quickly go back in theirs...

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by DreamerD

OMG what a douchebag! I am so glad you had those instincts. Your experience most certainly isn't unique. A lot of people for some reason do not check their blind spot. Atlanta drivers (I experience this more when I drive in Atlanta) or people who drive in Atlanta also do not stay in their lanes. I don't know why but they are always coming into my lane and you'd think they'd quickly go back in theirs...

While not as crazy as Texas or California, I personally have found driving to have become a full time active job after the raised the speed limits. It is pretty much now like you can do whatever the heck you want out there on the highway. There's almost no enforcement and there's way too many people who don't need a license. You can pretty much do 75 - 80 MPH on I-285 and not even worry about looking for cops and since you're doing that I guess they figure may as well occupy themselves with youtube video, a good book or a movie or possibly online checkers while they're en-route.

Just too many people who don't take driving seriously.

[A-Town Down]

My car was totaled in a hit and run accident so I think dash cams are a good investment. I definitely plan on getting one for my next car.