There are well over 100,000 crashes each year on Britain’s roads. That’s not all that can happen to your car, either, with the UK’s insurance industry processing 2.4 million motoring claims in 2024. Dive into the world of social media and there are hundreds of channels devoted to dashcam footage, highlighting unforeseen circumstances and ridiculous driving. You might think that it’ll never happen to you, but it pays to have a dashcam. When it’s one person’s word against another, you can find yourself in a split claim, which can cost you your excess and no claims bonus. Having the evidence is handy. I got hold of a 70mai 4K 810 Lite dashcam to record my journeys.
I cover a lot of miles every year reviewing various cars, as well as driving my own car. This means that I often see examples of poor driving that result in near misses. It’s often silly things like people pulling out in front of me, straight lining roundabouts or worse, using their phones whilst driving. The other factor is that we’re human, so we simply sometimes just make mistakes.
The 70mai dashcam
I needed a new dashcam after my old one packed in, so thought I’d give the 70mai a go. It comes with a front and rear camera, as well as a tracker. I’m not an electrician, so it is worth getting it installed by a professional. I was using only the forward-facing camera initially as it was the easiest to set up.
The 70mai is about the same size as a credit card. It has all the functionality you’d expect, from being able to record whilst you’re parked to a high-definition display. It also comes with a mobile app so you can save any footage you need as and when it happens.
My only gripe is that it doesn’t have a suction pad to easily remove it and swap it between cars. I appreciate this is a niche problem as most people don’t drive multiple cars per month. So, I’ve set it up in my own car and left it be.
Mercifully, neither my wife nor I have been in an accident since installing it. I could claim that’s because of my excellent driving ability, but the reality is that it’s good fortune. If someone pulls out in front of you, there’s not a great deal you can do.
It’ll never happen to me…
Hopefully you’re never in an accident, either. Sometimes it can be useful to point out poor driving elsewhere. Raheem Sterling, for example, was caught drug driving as a result of dashcam footage. Wesley Fofana, too, was prosecuted for dangerous driving following the submission of dashcam footage. I would rarely advocate snitching, but if it helps to remove examples like that from our roads, it’s for the best. You might also be able to help out other road users who are involved in a collision you’ve witnessed.
Perhaps the most important reason to get a dashcam, however, is peace of mind. You don’t need one until you do. They’re relatively inexpensive; the 70mai costs around £120 (plus fitting if you’re useless at that sort of thing like me). It’s what they could save you down the line in terms of money, time and aggro that adds the real value.