Why the dashcam is becoming increasingly popular in the Netherlands

The origins of the dashcam

The dashcam – also called a dashboard camera or car camera – was once created to gather evidence against corrupt government employees in Eastern European countries. By filming your own car ride, you always have truthful video footage. This can be useful if you are involved in an accident because it often shows exactly who acted wrong. As a result, you are in a stronger position when asked for evidence. Corruption is thus a thing of the past.

Increase in sales of dashcams

Today, the dashcam is available for sale worldwide. The cameras are wildly popular, even in the Netherlands. Indeed, the compact dashboard camera is gaining ground in the Netherlands, dashcam specialist Allcam has also noticed. “Every year we notice an increase in sales of dashcams. This is 20 to even 25 percent annually,” said René Boer of Allcam. “This trend is expected to continue in the coming years.”

Why are dash cams so popular?

But why is the dashcam becoming increasingly popular in the Netherlands? First of all, there is more supply in dashcams and that has a strong influence on the price. Of course, there are big price differences in dashcams. One dashcam has better image quality than another, it’s as simple as that. This is also how it works with smartphones and televisions. It can always be prettier and better, but basically all dashcams work the same way. They record what happens along the way.

Important role for internet

Another reason why dashcams are increasingly popular is simply because of the Internet. In fact, filming with a dashcam is not only interesting for insurance issues, but can also provide fun or spectacular footage. YouTube is full of compilations and those videos are well watched. More and more dashcam footage is appearing on the Internet showing remarkable situations. This adds to the popularity of dashcams. Word of mouth also helps. So a dashcam is not only a wise investment, but also a fun one.

For learning and entertainment

Dashcam footage can be crucial in answering the question of guilt or analyzing a particular dangerous traffic situation. Or it provides fun images. So for learning and entertainment, such a dashcam. But how does a dashcam actually work?

This is how a dashcam works

A dashcam is often mounted on the windshield, usually just behind the interior mirror to give a nice perspective of the road. You power it via a long cable that plugs into the cigarette lighter or a USB port. When the dashcam receives power, it starts filming immediately. The images are stored on a micro SD card. The video footage is often captured in short clips of usually 3 or 5 minutes.

Help, my memory card is full!

You don’t have to worry about the card filling up because when the SD card is full, the oldest videos are automatically deleted to make room for new recordings. This way, the latest trips are always recorded. This principle is called Loop recording. A 256GB SD card is good for about 40 hours of 1080P (Full-HD) video. Some dashcams record from two sides, front and back. In this case, of course, the SD card is full sooner, as two videos are recorded each time.

G-sensor

You can also “protect” certain videos. This can be done manually at the touch of a button, but a dashcam often also features what is called a G-force meter, a G-sensor. This is a type of vibration sensor that can detect large shocks, such as in an accident. The G-sensor notices the accident and immediately secures the fragment in a separate folder.