Please, nobody take this the wrong way as it is not intended to offend anybody (I am being ultra-cautious nowadays), but is there a subtle change in psyche once you have a dash cam?
Some of the dash cam shots I have seen (and I don't mean this one particularly) seem to suggest that the driver is almost hoping something WILL happen to in the knowledge that they have the evidence to prove they are in the right, rather making very sure that nothing does happen. Do you know what I mean, or am I talking Ed Balls?
I feel naked, vulnerable, without my dashcam.
Joking aside though, the odd occasion I have forgot to put my cam in the bus, I do feel I have to be extra careful somehow. For me, the cam is like having an independant witness with me at all times (even though it cannot see everything).
The last prang I had, the other guy was in there first with his insurance company, he was screaming the loudest, telling all sorts of lies. Had it not been for my dashcam, it would've gone 50/50 - which is completely unfair seeing as how he was 100% at fault.
Having witnessed a few prangs, I have to say, that without the independant witness, the innocent parties would've been scroodly doodly since, in almost each case, the guilty were very forceful in their telling of events. In one case, my dashcam evidence proved invaluable since the independant witness had obviously been swayed by the guilty person's persuasions.
Having been to many training sessions over the years (fire, H&S, manual handling etc), I have been amazed at how so-called intelligent people can be in the same room, seeing/hearing the same things and yet seconds later can retell a completely different story. Up the game slightly to an incident at speed, maybe not quite in front of you & maybe while your mind was elsewhere & you can see why the human witness is often not the most reliable.
"seem to suggest that the driver is almost hoping something WILL happen"
The conversation we had was "stick to your own side of the road (OK, I should've said lane..)" "I was actually following..." (I presumed he was going to say he was staying in his own lane).
Without the dashcam, had he sideswiped me, who would be believed? The driver of the big, fancy jag with his thousand pound suit & rolex watch or the scruffy tyke in shorts & tee shirt driving a doblo.
(Let's face it, no-one would ever believe that these uber celebs would ever prey on little kids - "what? XXX no, he raises millions for charity & all the other good works he does").
Whilst people should listen to just the facts, prejudices do come into play - at least the dashcam tells it like it is.