If you’re in the market for dash cams, you’re making an essential choice for your business. Dash cams offer a wide range of benefits for your business, making your fleet safer and more efficient. We know it can be hard to sift through all of the information out there to determine the best dash cam; that’s why we’ve created this buying guide to make it easy to get the information you need.
What Are Dash Cams?
Dash cams are a safety tool used by fleets worldwide for everything from exonerating drivers in the event of an accident to coaching drivers to improve their driving behavior. All dash cams will capture the road in front of the vehicle. Some will even film what’s happening inside the cab. Advanced dash cams connect to telematics, allowing the system to automatically detect events like harsh braking, harsh turning, and collisions and upload that footage to the cloud. Fleets typically install dash cams because they want more visibility into their fleet’s on-road safety.
Are Dash Cams Worth the Cost?
Many fleets put off installing dash cams due to the cost. While installing dash cams initially comes with a somewhat expensive price tag, the return on investment is significant. Think of the cost of the average accident. They can range from $16,500 to $500,000. Dash cams reduce the likelihood of a collision by 60%. That figure alone will save you significantly, not to mention the savings on driver coaching and fleet downtime.
The Different Types of Dash Cams
There are two significant types of dash cams available on the market. If you type “dash cams” into Google, you will likely find dash cams meant for consumers. These come from brands like Sony, Thinkware, and Vantrue. While these cameras are inexpensive and ideal for individuals, they are not designed for fleets. They record on a memory card that must be manually removed to download footage. Such a setup won’t work for fleets with dozens or hundreds of vehicles.
If you’re operating a fleet, you’re looking for a commercial dash cam. They offer more features and greater value. For example, they connect to telematics, as mentioned above, and upload footage to the cloud instead of a memory card. We will be discussing commercial dash cams in this article.
Camera Configurations
Forward Facing: The forward-facing camera captures collisions and other incidents on the road. It’s mounted on the windshield and can be used for coaching or exonerating drivers.
Dual Facing: These cameras are mounted on the windshield like the forward-facing dash cam but include two lenses: one facing the road and one looking into the cab. These are more robust and are ideal for promoting driver safety and successfully exonerating drivers in the event of an accident.
Exterior: These cameras are mounted outside the vehicle and capture up to a 360-degree view of the road. Drivers use these to handle blind spots.
Interior: Interior cameras can be mounted anywhere in the vehicle, such as in the trailer, to keep cargo or passengers safe.
Dash Cam Features to Look For
Artificial Intelligence: The best dash cams today have built-in AI to help detect safety issues automatically, allowing you to coach drivers in real time.
Internet Connectivity: Storing footage on a memory card will get tedious quickly while running a fleet; find a dash cam that connects to the cloud via high-speed cellular connections.
Harsh Event Detection: Dash cams can use a built-in gyroscope and accelerometer to detect harsh braking or even a collision and automatically upload the necessary data to the cloud.
Resolution: Look for a dash cam that records in 1080p.
Field of View: You should always look for a dash cam with a wide field of view so you can see everything you need to see on the road.
Mounting: There are three common ways to attach dash cams: suction cups or adhesive that sticks to the glass or some mechanical attachment to the rearview mirror. Adhesive is the best option because it is quick and easy while being secure.
Audio Speaker and Recording: Advanced dash cams will allow you to play audio alerts when unsafe driving behavior occurs.
Night Vision: Make sure your dash cam can capture footage at night if your drivers will be operating in low-light hours! These dash cams will have infrared LEDs.
Get the Best Dash Cam
If you’re looking for a dash cam that includes all of these features and more, look no further! Azuga’s experts have created the ultimate solution. Check out a demo of our dash cam solution and see for yourself!
