The rear bumper of my delivery truck has some Mercedes parts attached.



I was on my way home after making deliveries to some hardware stores. Almost within walking distance of my house, and this happened.

As I approached the intersection, the traffic light turned green for me -- about 35 seconds into the video.

At 40 seconds in the video, I was entering the intersection and a woman driving a Mercedes sedan was approaching on the cross street. You can see the car entering the frame at the right side.

I had the green light, I had just cleared the intersection when the woman in the Mercedes made a right turn on red. The front of her car hit my rear bumper. The impact to her car was mainly on the driver side, front. Extensive damage to the Mercedes. My damage consisted of some peeled back sheet metal on the step / rear bumper, and a semi-permanent chunk of Mercedes sedan stuck to my truck.

The responding police officer spoke to her first. I don't know what she told him, when he approached me his attitude seemed to indicate that he thought I was the guilty party.

I showed him the video that clearly documented that I had the green light, and his demeanor changed drastically.

I am SO glad that I bought these dash cameras, one each for my wife and for me. I won't move out of the driveway now without turning mine on. In the event of an accident, it totally eliminates the "he said, she said" factor.





Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...NVQ&feature=youtu.be

That looks pretty sporty. Mercedes parts are high quality. they should serve your needs for decades.

Glad you’re ok and that you had that camera.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
Glad you’re ok and that you had that camera.

After a few narrow misses, my wife and I had a conversation. We agreed that it was just a matter of time before one of us got tagged by either a crazy, a texter, or an aggressive jerk, so I bought a camera for each of us.

The two cameras were less than the cost of a traffic ticket, so there's really no excuse for not having one.

Don't leave home without it!

I bought a couple for us, but have yet to install them. Thanks for the reminder!!

What camera do you have?

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
I bought a couple for us, but have yet to install them. Thanks for the reminder!!

Ours are not "installed." They are the Garmin DriveAssist combination GPS / dash cameras. The come with windshield suction cups, but I don't like those so I bought the bean-bag type mounts that just sit on top of the dashboard.

None of our vehicles have navigation systems, in-dash displays, nor rearview cameras. These Garmin units will display the image from a Garmin BC-30 rearview camera, so with the capability of GPS, dash camera, and rearview camera, they provide a lot of functionality in one small unit.

Arc -- you posted your question while I was typing my response to wreckdiver. The Garmin DriveAssist is available in both the 50LMT which is manufacture discontinued but still available from various vendors, and its replacement, the 51 LMT.

I looked at the specs for both, had a chat session with Garmin support (they are GREAT people), and decided that I preferred the discontinued model 50, so I found a couple of them.

I have the Garmin DriveAssist 50 also.

Fantastic GPS and dash camera.

Glad you are ok. I put one in my car a few months back after a guy hit me and it turned into a he said, he said deal. No tickets, no fault. What a mess

Where can I edit and post vids? Had a guy pull out in front of me yesterday

I edit with QuickTime payer on my mac, and post to youtube.

I do believe you can edit in youtube now also.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:

I edit with QuickTime payer on my mac, and post to youtube.

I do believe you can edit in youtube now also.

I downloaded the Garmin Dash Cam Player app. It's free, with versions for Mac and Windows (I use a Mac). It can be used to edit and save the edited file.

Wow. Glad you’re ok.

I’ve had several close calls with right on red drivers lately, they forget the stop and make sure it’s clear part and run the light.

Woot.com has these for sale all the time, you have to check back to find them, I got a TomTom which has the larger screen, great night recording as you can see in VT's video is important, and a GPS as well, with wifi for updates built in.

VT's right, this city has grown extremely fast in the past few years and the massive influx of PR to the area has just compounded the growth.

You can't be without them.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Woot.com has these for sale all the time, you have to check back to find them, I got a TomTom which has the larger screen, great night recording as you can see in VT's video is important, and a GPS as well, with wifi for updates built in.

VT's right, this city has grown extremely fast in the past few years and the massive influx of PR to the area has just compounded the growth.

You can't be without them.

I looked at the Woot TomTom. I chose the Garmin based on its ability to be used as a display screen for the Garmin BC-30 back-up camera. Many newer vehicles have rearview cameras, but none of our vehicles have these, nor do any of them have an in-dash display built in, so that additional bit of functionality sealed the deal for me, for Garmin.

That, plus a bad experience with map updates for other than Garmin units.

You are correct when you say "you can't be without them." They are cheap insurance. I have seen aggressive, borderline road rage driving almost every day. Sooner or later . . .

I picked up a dash cam from Amazon with a long cord which I ran under the molding around the windshield to the 12v adapter on the dash. Its mounted with suction cops somewhat out of the way behind the rearview mirror. It is great traffic tool, it records in 1080p and has a ton of other features. It's on the entire time I'm driving and totally meets my needs.