I’ll start by apologizing to the forum for not having set up the dash cam in my new truck yet.

I left work a little after 6 pm and was driving east bound on a 6 lane divided expressway (JTB for the locals). I am in the center lane about 3 car lengths behind a school bus which is in the right lane and I am slowly overtaking it. Traffic is flowing around 70 mph. I see a set of high beams in my rear view mirror hauling ass in the right lane. Sure enough, a pickup truck flies past me in the right and lane and runs right up to the rear of the school bus which I am now about 1 ½ half car lengths behind. I know what is coming and I am already off the gas and drifting back some when the pickup truck (with no signal) cuts over in front of me to get around the school bus.

So far this is just business as usual, nothing to get excited about. Until another pick up passes me in the left lane, pulls up next the pickup truck by now probably 150 + feet in front of me, and swerves over into the side of the pickup truck in front of me knocking it most of the way over into the right lane. This was not an oops, I drifted over and bumped you move but a blatant intentional hit.

The school bus and I were far enough back and were never in any danger but it was a holyshitdidyouseethatdidthatreallyhappen moment.

The pickup (hitee) pulled over to the shoulder and started to slow down while the other pickup (hitter) kept on going. The Hitee pickup pulled back onto the road and chased the hitter pickup down and started flashing his lights at him while riding his ass and swerving around behind him trying to get his attention.

They both took the next exit and that was the last I saw of them. There was a lot of traffic at that exit so I am sure there is another chapter to the story. I am guessing that they had some sort of a run-in (no pun intended) previously that set off the guy in the hitter pickup. I guess it’s a lesson, you never know when someone will snap.

Video cameras are cheap. Keep one running at all times.

Note to self: get cameras for front and rear of car. Heck, maybe even passenger sides too.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Video cameras are cheap. Keep one running at all times.

Yea, I had one in the old truck. I just have not gotten around to setting one up in the new truck. That will be taken care of this week.

This stuff is really stupid. Neither party in that dispute had any idea whether or not the other party was armed. Playing road rage games can get you killed.

As soon as I saw the title the first thing I thought was "It has to be somewhere in Florida"

I grew up in New Jersey.
I moved to Florida in 1999 at the age of 33 so I spent some time on the roads in New Jersey.
I never saw any thing we would call road rage while living in New Jersey like I see in central Florida almost every day.
I tell people driving on I4 is like driving on the inside of a pinball machine while someone is playing it.

Many years back when I was a cop in NJ me and another Officer were in a plain clothes car on Rt 22. We had been driving with the flow of traffic for several miles, nothing to note. As we take our exit, on the narrow ramp, a guy roars by us in a Ford pickup, then comes to a skidding stop, angled across the lane, at the stop sign.

Now he jumps out of the tuck, retrieving a baseball bat from behind the seat and comes running back towards us. We hastily exit the vehicle with guns drawn and yell for him to get down on the pavement, which he does. Was he ever surprised!

The guy was in his early 20's, with a long record of minor beefs and a couple of assaults going back to his Juvenile days. He said we had "Brake checked" him purposely, which was totally untrue.

I think today, there are even more nuts like him out there. Even here in bucolic Montana we are seeing more and more road rage incidents.

quote:

Originally posted by Draal:
Note to self: get cameras for front and rear of car. Heck, maybe even passenger sides too.

This is the front & rear camera set-up that Dashcam Talk is currently recommending.. Records front and rear cameras to the same card (i.e. they're synced) and labels one file a and the other file b. $170 at Amazon but needs a SD card.

quote:

I think today, there are even more nuts like him out there

Isn't that the truth. I am appalled at some of the things I see out there on the road almost daily. Some of these people have to be insane and shouldn't be allowed to drive

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by Draal:
Note to self: get cameras for front and rear of car. Heck, maybe even passenger sides too.

This is the front & rear camera set-up that Dashcam Talk is currently recommending.. Records front and rear cameras to the same card (i.e. they're synced) and labels one file a and the other file b. $170 at Amazon but needs a SD card.

In your experience; how close does another vehicle need to be in order for the license plates (front and rear cameras) are readable? What about at night, how close until the driver's features can be identified?

TIA

Because of one of these threads about two years ago, I purchased a dash cam. Never installed it! However a few days ago a woman ran a red light, damaged my car and totaled a Prius. She is saying that the light was yellow, and not her fault.

I am taking the current accident as a reminder to install a dash cam in both my cars without delay.

I have a dash cam in our truck, just over 1 year. It was about $110 on Amazon, haven’t ‘captured’ anything of interest yet.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
In your experience; how close does another vehicle need to be in order for the license plates (front and rear cameras) are readable?

Mine is 3 years old, but is the same form factor, same resolution, same frames per second, and records to card at same bit rate. The camera I linked has a 8 model # newer (i.e. better) processor, newer CMOS sensor for the camera, and the replay LCD screen is 0.6" larger. Mine was the best night recording camera at the time (according to Dash Cam Talk) so the one I linked should be even better. The rear facing camera is a different form factor than front camera, but the important parts are the same spec. I paid more for my single camera than the front & rear camera I linked.

Ideal conditions (no glare from sun, no rain, etc) it was about 30 yards in daylight and 15 or 20 yards at night. Looking at the videos in my earlier link it looks similar or better.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
What about at night, how close until the driver's features can be identified?

With me only having a front camera, I'd have to get lucky that someone rear ended and run or side swiped an ran and was dumb enough to rubber neck at me when driving past and the 140 degree viewing angle caught their face.

With the dual camera set-up, you should be able to record someone's face who rear ends or side swipes you and runs. Of course, it'd depend on glare from sun, cleanliness of their windows, cleanliness of your window, etc.

Thanks tatortodd!

quote:

Originally posted by 71 TRUCK:
As soon as I saw the title the first thing I thought was "It has to be somewhere in Florida"

I grew up in New Jersey.
I moved to Florida in 1999 at the age of 33 so I spent some time on the roads in New Jersey.
I never saw any thing we would call road rage while living in New Jersey like I see in central Florida almost every day.
I tell people driving on I4 is like driving on the inside of a pinball machine while someone is playing it.

totally agree

have lived in NC, GA, VA, HI, OH - Florida is the worst by a wide measure



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quote:

Originally posted by Draal:
Thanks tatortodd!

X2 - Thank you Todd

i always stay away from the crazies when driving, so many depressed dummies out there looking for a way out....die in flames and glory showing in the local news.

Being in a car is a form of truth serum. You see the true nature of some people on full display, acting out in ways that reveal the demons inside them that they keep suppressed in polite company.

It is getting to be crazier by the day. As was said earlier, you never know when someone is gonna snap, and this has hammered home the need for dash cams. Thanks Todd, great review, I know what to get now!

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
This is the front & rear camera set-up that Dashcam Talk is currently recommending.. Records front and rear cameras to the same card (i.e. they're synced) and labels one file a and the other file b. $170 at Amazon but needs a SD card.

Thanks Tatortodd.
Been putting it off for years. Ordered. Card and hardwire kit as well.
Just trusting the review site, I usually got stalled out doing research before and ended up doing nothing. Now to decide which of 4 cars to put it in...