Car cameras

[alan_m]

You didn't ask those questions!

[Broadback]

No I naked one of them! the others are supplemental

[Broadback]

sorry for finger rouble. that should read: "No I asked one of them, the other 2 are supplemental" Is that not allowed?

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

on 26/10/2019, Andy Burns supposed :

My dashcam includes a lower res. separate rear camera. Its a rather like a slightly smaller than a 35mm film container.

In addition to which, I have a rear facing reversing camera, which displays on the big ICE screen in the centre dash when reverse is selected, plus reverse sensors. Rear window is high and a narrow slit, obstructed by rear headrests - the only useful mirrors are the door mirrors, so I felt the reversing camera was essential for safety.

[Tim+]

Best for what? If it?s for recording incidents it?s not really a question of ?or? but ?front or front + rear?. I doubt many folk just have a rear facing camera for recording incidents.

As to the best camera, I haven?t a clue as I don?t have one. I have tried a cheapie from eBay that claimed to be HD but it was rubbish. Check reviews carefully rather than relying on claimed spec when buying.

Tim

[invalid]

They can also give an indication of where the car is going to go using lines of various colours. Only if its got inputs from the steering though, this is why manufactures cameras cost more as they need a screen and other sensors to do the full job.

[NY]

I think it's more that they want to go faster than lorries at 56 in Lane1, and don't want to have to keep swapping between L1 and L2 every time they meet a lorry, with the risk that they may get "trapped" in L1 by cars in L2 which won't keep enough gap from the car ahead of them to allow a vehicle to join from L1.

I tend to drive at about 70 (I'd go at 80 if the law allowed it) and on a motorway that has a lot of slower lorries, I mainly use L2, rarely going into L1 except when there is a long gap to the next lorry. On a motorway where L1 is generally going at 70, I stay in L1.

My general rule is: if traffic is going at within a couple of mph of what I want to do, I stay put behind so as not to clog up the next lane, and if I do move into the next lane, I aim to be doing at least 5 mph faster than the traffic I'm overtaking. I try hard to avoid travelling at the same speed as the vehicle my left.

I wonder whether speed limiters on lorries in the UK will tend to be adjusted up to 60 mph (the UK limit for HGVs over 7.5 T) rather than 56 mph / 90 km/hr, after Brexit. No doubt foreign drivers from the EU will continue to have their limiters at 56 but UK lorries that don't go abroad won't need to comply.

(section "Speed Limiters") says that at present limiters are set at round numbers of km/hr - so coaches are allowed to go at up to 70 mph on motorways but are required to be speed-limited to 62 mph / 100 km/hr.

[NY]

My observation is that far more cars have front cameras that rear ones, and the most cars that have rear ones also have front ones. But as you say observer bias plays a big part.

We should get a rear camera - and a socket-doubler so it can be powered at the same time as the coolbox which we tend to keep in the boot (though not always turned on) in case we want to transport frozen or chilled shopping.

[Jeff Layman]

How are they clean and free from mud, spray, etc?

[Bob Eager]

Windscreen one is on the inside and the wipers clear that area.

The other two just seem to be OK. I probably have to clean each once every few weeks. Not dirt, but excess water.

[Pancho]

I know a fellow who might like one of those for his Aston Martin.

[NY]

The rear one on our Honda CR-V seems to get *very* dirty, *very* quickly. If I need to reverse into a confined space where there is a central obstruction (eg a bollard) that cannot be seen by either door mirror or the rear-view mirror (the situation where a reversing camera is invaluable) then I often have to get out before reversing to wipe the dirt off the lens, otherwise all I see on the screen is a uniform featureless grey blur. They really could have done with a small wiper (or even just a jet of water) that operates with the rear wiper or washer.

I've learned not to trust parking sensors on their own, after both my wife and I nudged bollards which hit the bumper right on the parking sensor - I wonder whether the parking sensors on the CR-V can see either side but not directly in front of the sensor.

My impression is that modern cars (Peugeot 308, Honda CR-V) seem to suffer a lot more from dirt sticking to the rear end (rear window, tailgate, bumpers) than happened with my older Peugeot 306s and VW Golfs (Mark 2 and Mark 3).

[Tim+]

That?s just down to how the car design is optimised for interior space. A more vertical back windows attract a lot of dirt, gently sloping ones barely any at all.

My Volvo 240 estate could never have been described as modern but had a very dirty bottom. In comparison my Jaguar XF saloon kept its rear window very clean.

Tim

[SportsBug]

Do you live on Brokeback Mountain? Do you like anal?

[Terry Casey]

The coaches I see on the motorway seem to do 70 with no trouble, so presumably they are limited to 110km/hr (68.75 mph)

(I can't be asked to sit on the tail of one to check that it really is traveling 1.25 mph below the speed limit.)

[The Other Mike]

Mandated?

No they are not, not even in 2019

[The Other Mike]

Mandated?

No they are not, not even >...And if the car you buy isn't the same as your learner vehicle and

Mandated?

No they are not, not even in 2019

[soup]

Half remembered stuff, mea culpa. They are mandatory in new cars in the US' 'they' are thinking of introducing it (as law)in the UK.

Seems manufacturers have taken it upon themselves (ie they don't have to redesign for other markets to fit reversing cams. Obs there will be exceptions).

Whether law or not cars NOT fitted with rear view cams are getting harder to get (not an onerous task I will admit). Not all cars you get will be fitted with rear view cams.

Anecdote := I was gently chafing my eldest that my car was better than his as it had X,X,X and a rear view camera, he said "I don't need one I have eyes". then as if to make a point reversed into what must have been one of the smallest parking spaces in the world only he didn't reverse far enough his front tyres were a good four feet before the line marking what should have been the front of the bay. As that restaurant was packed we went to another where again he whipped it into a smallish place however this time he was almost in the car in the bay behind him. Cue more gentle chafing about making up for last time etc.

Both times he had to get back into the car (rather sheepishly) and adjust his positioning.

[Vir Campestris]

I want one with radar, and "If I brake your estimated impact speed is..."

Andy

[polygonum_on_google]

Maybe add LEDs/lasers which "paint" a safe distance mark on the road, or their bonnet.

Do people who tailgate need less thinking time because they are so stupid? Or more?