DASH CAM.....PARANOIA?

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Thanks for the comments and update on your install.

JIM

[merle&louise]

I would like to pose a question for discussion: Why do other driver's cut you off by swerving in front of you?

Are they jealous of the shiney bus and the "obviously wealthy guy" inside?

Are they just aggravated because you are driving slower than they are?

I have been shot the "bird" for trying to merge onto an interstate hiway! I mean really; I had my blinker on, and accelerator to the floor to try to merge with hiway traffic.

Also have been flipped off when making a right hand turn and I cross over into the other lane (just a little) because the road was not wide enough to make the turn.

I would just like to know if anyone else has had these situations arise.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Jon, were you able to mount your "CAM" to get the right and left mirror views as well as the front?

JIM

[Seabyrd]

AMEN to what Jon said !!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I would like to pose a question for discussion: Why do other driver's cut you off by swerving in front of you?

Are they jealous of the shiney bus and the "obviously wealthy guy" inside?

Are they just aggravated because you are driving slower than they are?

I have been shot the "bird" for trying to merge onto an interstate hiway! I mean really; I had my blinker on, and accelerator to the floor to try to merge with hiway traffic.

Also have been flipped off when making a right hand turn and I cross over into the other lane (just a little) because the road was not wide enough to make the turn.

I would just like to know if anyone else has had these situations arise.

Tuga has nailed it. In order from our perspective here are the things that make a dash cam important to us.

The driver who passes us on a three lane interstate and then cuts in too close only to cross the slow lane and get off at the exit. He cannot possibly see if someone is passing us on the right. The worst violator of that so far is a UPS double. A variation is the driver who passes, pulls in too close and then hits the brakes.

Next in line for things that irritate us are the folks who don't know how to merge. Especially bad ar the ones that pace us as we travel in the slow lane and get pissed off when we don't move over. They could car less if the car next to us in the fast lane prevented us from moving over. Those idiots who don't know how to merge have given us the finger or pulled in front and spiked the brakes on purpose.

Then there are the people who see our need to change lanes, who see our turn signal, and who speed up to close the opening we needed to make a lane change. The statute of limitations has run out so I can confess to running a driver into the median when he purposely accelerated to fill the space we needed and then paced us so we were stuck. I was tired, it was a long day and he just really pissed me off. I have been a good boy since then.

I can go on, but I doubt if I am telling anyone something new.

[Coloradobus]

I hate those that pace you in the dark. They see ahead that we would have the need to move left, and sit either next to coach or the towed, blocking us from changing lanes. So, with the last coach that had cornering lights, I would hit the blinker to activate them and illuminate their vehicle. That seems to make them react to get moving. Our current coach, has separte buttons on the overhead for the docking lights, and too far for the driver to reach. Don't have the luxury of side flashing a car now.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Since you can't make mean people nice, those drivers that go out of their way to impede you from changing lanes will not respond to a bright light from the cornering lights. The problem today is we don't know if people are being mean, or if their brain has taken a break while they yak on the phone. I used to fret about the person who was daydreaming and tailgating a few feet from the toad. But a trucker taught me that when someone does that, just put on the turn signal. It works. Someone that has been in your camera for miles will change lanes and pass. I have done it numerous times now and it works every time.

[AmeriStar]

I know we are all expert drivers, but within the last 6 months there have been 2 serious bus accident law suits that have been decided by 'drive cam' evidence. In both instances the professional drivers of the buses were killed and the dash cam video was the deciding factor in the civil cases filed by the surviving passengers, bankrupting both of the companies involved.
My point is simply, this can be a double edge sword. My company does not employ the dash cam, rather we choose to educate and test our drivers skills on an ongoing basis. Dash cam evidence can be very ugly, and usually can be mannipulated to show how unprepared an average coach driver really is in an emergency situation.
I would think twice before mounting this in a personal vehicle.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Kevin,

If I were in your position I would adopt the same policy. The deciding factor that led me to install the dash cam was an incident with a driver in Cookeville, TN who got pissed because I did not move over or hit the brakes when he was entering the interstate. Traffic alongside of me and behind me did not allow me to make room for him, but he got pissed and pulled in front of me and proceeded to spike his brakes, bringing our speed down to about 35 while traffic had been moving in the 60 to 65 mph range. When we called 911 and then the TN Highway Patrol after we got home it was apparent they could care less. Had we rear ended the guy we would have been at fault. Had we been rear ended we would have been at fault for not maintaining the minimum speed. There had been other instances where drivers cut in too close or hit the brakes intentionally so I opted to record what was happening.

I understand how the data from the dash cam can work against any one of us. But having 50 plus accident free years, and zero moving violations I suspect I am a little more cautious than the average driver so I am prepared for the risk. Further, if I do get involved in an accident that is my fault you can be pretty confident I am not going to volunteer the presence of a camera that will prove my guilt. But should a car load of professional accident victims choose to stop unexpectedly in front of me after pulling in too close, or if another wacko wants to play games on an interstate I feel pretty good about being able to present a video of the incident.

Whether we like it or not in our current production vehicles data is already being recorded and in some cases has been part of an investigation. The good news is so few personal vehicles have a dash cam nobody is going to be looking for me to produce the data from one, and my bus is too old to have the data recording devices now on vahicles. The bus accidents that have recently garnered a lot of media attention both involved drivers who were clearly at fault and who should be punished along with the companies that employed them. The H3 that was split open down near NYC had to have been speeding at a high rate in order to run along a guard rail for 300 feet, lay over on its side and then with sufficient energy still remaining slide into a sign pole and have that pole tear thru the bus from the windshield all the way back to the engine. The second accident had a driver that fell asleep. From my perspective it is hard to not want a dash cam in those buses to prove the drivers were at fault.

[LA-HODAG]

Anyone who drives a 20+ ton vehicle should be well insured against liability for causing damage or injury, because even a minor mishap or mistake can have bad consequences when it involves such a big hunk of steel. This applies especially to Poggers, who are not pro drivers, have sufficient incomes to afford a very expensive toy, and presumably have other assets to protect. As most on this site already know, an umbrella policy to bring your liability coverage up to $2 million will probably cost just a little more than a tank of fuel and a $10 million umbrella will likely cost less than your annual bus maintenance. I say buy the insurance, drive safely, and don't worry about the lawyers, regardless of whether you choose to install a dash cam.