Dashcams! The tiny in-car cameras are more useful than you think. If you’re a frequent traveler like us, and love going on road trips across the country – you should consider installing a dashcam in your vehicle. Read ahead to learn all the features you can potentially get with your dashcam purchase. Here are top 5 new dashcam features that help you stay safe on the road.
Emergency SOS
Emergency SOS features enabled in dashcams alert your emergency contacts and respective authorities in case of an accident. The mechanism behind it is simple, in the event of an unusual activity detected in G-force sensors, the in-car camera sends a signal to the driver. If the driver fails to respond, the protocols are set in place to gauge the seriousness of the accident. If the numbers are high, the driver’s location along with travel route, blood type, and emergency contact details are immediately sent to roadside authorities for urgent investigation. The driver can select when they want the Emergency SOS to be enabled, so first responders will not be unnecessarily alerted if the accident is low impact or the driver is responsive.
This feature is especially important for motorists who travel long distances, especially through quieter and rural areas. While busy areas indicate a smaller reaction time in an event of a car crash, the reaction time exponentially increases when there are few motorists on the road. Emergency SOS enables you to get the critical help you require if you end up in a car accident.
G Force Sensors and Intelligent Parking Mode
G force sensors are accelerometers that detect values during impacts. These impacts can range from small bumps, such as those caused by potholes, and extreme forces caused during collisions. The values are set during integration and this enables drivers to choose when the dashcam starts recording footage.
This is especially useful when the Intelligent Parking Mode is enabled. It lets the dashcam automatically record when any movement is detected with the car. How does this help? Well, if another car bumps your car while it’s parked, the footage will provide evidence that can be used to apprehend the driver in case real damage happens.
The best part is that G force sensors take minimal power, ensuring your road safety without the risk of affecting your car battery. The footage recorded during Intelligent Parking Mode is automatically transferred to backup storage, such as sd card, iCloud, and Google Drive, leaving no risk of accidental deletion and tempering.
Voice Assistance
If you’ve ever driven solo, you’ll understand how hard it is to do anything else while driving without sacrificing your road focus. According to Brake, cellphone distraction while driving makes you 4 times more likely to suffer a road accident! Distracted driving includes texting while driving, using navigation systems, and general mobile phone usage.
Voice assistants are artificially intelligent programs that provide hands-off solutions to your daily problem. Think of them as the bridge between everyday life and technology. Say “Alexa, turn off the music” or “Alexa, check the weather” and your needs will be catered to without even touching your smartphone.
Voice assistance features in dashcams, such as Alexa Voice Control, allow you to make calls, play music, send text messages, navigate roads, and check the weather without spending a single second with your eyes off the road and hands off the wheel. Apart from the convenience they provide, the hands-off feature prevents accidents from happening by making sure your focus stays on the traffic.
Extreme Weather Mode
Road accidents are a real threat to motorists around the globe, and wet weather does not make the situation any better. Rain makes roads slippery, increasing stopping distances and decreasing reaction times. Fog greatly impairs vision and roads naturally become harder to navigate. In such weather conditions, it is suggested to avoid driving to decrease the chances of driving.
For travelers exposed to such weather conditions, it is highly recommended to account for accidents by using smart programs such as Extreme Weather Mode provided in dashcams. The feature aims to battle reduced visibility, and identifies vehicles and their respective number plates even in harsh weather conditions. The clear images recorded via dashcams provide useful evidence in case you’re in an accident and make insurance claims easier to fight.
GPS and GPS Trackers
GPS is a commonplace program in all devices know. For navigation services especially needed while driving, GPS is an essential tool that helps motorists every day.
A GPS device connects to satellites and keeps data of all user’s locations. It’s connected to the internet which means all information provided is continuously updated to reflect the real-time changes. While GPS technology has been around for quite some time, a GPS within a dashcam is fairly new. While most people already use their smartphones to serve their navigation needs, distracted driving is harmful and has the potential to cause life-threatening accidents. For motorists, a GPS built into a dashcam comes in handy because it provides the navigation steps (mostly through voice assistants) that prevent them from losing focus on the road.
With GPS trackers built into the dashcam, your car location can continuously be sent to another smartphone, which is a great safety net if you’re driving long distances. In the event your vehicle is stolen, the GPS tracker will easily lead the authorities to the location of your vehicle.
The Bottom Line
Dashcams have to been proven to be useful to motorists because of all the features they provide. There is a wide range of specs that makes roads more safer for drivers, such as Intelligent Parking Mode, Extreme Weather Mode, GPS, Emergency SOS, and Voice Assistants. These features keep vehicles safe, provide evidence in case of an accident, make navigation easier, and let emeregncy services know if the driver has been in an accident. They’re a great investment, for both the present and the future.
