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Comment by bagacrap | Hacker News Reader

Why don't cars come with these by default yet? I have two backup cameras on a 7 year old entry level Honda but no integrated dashcam.

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This is one of my larger personal pet peeves and hills I prefer to die on for no particular reason.

I recently purchased a new car, and it has 23 cameras. 23. I can literally get a 360 degree view of my car on the display, and also directly tap into the rear/front/side cams.

Why the @#$@# is there no port for an NVR, or a built-in NVR at least? Why do I need to deal with running wires through a brand new car, and sticking something ugly to my windshield?

Very frustrating. I know some folks have made mod kits to tap into the equipped cameras for recording, I simply am not that committed to the cause.

As soon as car manufacturers implement dash cams, government will regulate it to require that it records the speed of the car as well, which I think owners will hate and make them want to avoid those models of cars. I think it's gonna end up as damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

You car already records your speed. It's not stored forever, but in the event of a crash your last X seconds of speed, throttle, brakes, steering, and more are being stored in a rolling buffer

https://www.govtech.com/fs/in-car-devices-records-informatio...

http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/OM/AH/AT202222IOM/en...

> As soon as car manufacturers implement dash cams, government will regulate it to require that it records the speed of the car as well

Why would a camera force this regulation when every car already has a ... speedometer?

Does a speedometer record how fast you were going 1 minute before the crash.

Yes, since the mid-2000s in the U.S., at least.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_data_recorder

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-V/p...

Google Maps records everything and sends it to the cloud to log your entire journey while using the app. They've made it into a feature to show "average speed" and similar details in the Maps app.

They have your speed, where you began and where you were going. Way more damning.

Without government influence, auto manufacturers already have "black boxes" that record speed and other telemetry. I'm very conscious of the erosion of privacy, but I'm a 40-something computer nerd. People actively, deliberately record themselves doing crimes of all stripes and post it to public social networks.

In the states, there's rampant violation of vehicle-related laws and minimal enforcement (fake temporary tags, deliberate obstruction of real license plates, deeply tinted windshield and driver/passenger glass, not to mention rolling stops and speeding)

Modern cars record their speed today, no one bats an eye. Even before in-car tech could do this, you could passively enforce speeding by using toll booth data, but that doesn't happen. Neither side cares enough to bother.

> passively enforce speeding by using toll booth data

Some EU countries do that on tollways but don't keep them always-on because they generate too many tickets to handle.

If you have the app for your auto insurance on your phone, they are probably attempting to track your "misbehavior" through that, in the same way they do with their offerings that use GPS enabled ODBII dongles. Unless it is explicitly, extremely illegal in an execs go to prison kind of way, they will do it.

Commited enough to die on the hill, but not that commited.

I'd prefer cars just add standardized mount points with power and maybe data lines. Then I could install different cheap products I selected, or none at all.

Why would they do that? Cars used to have slots that you could put your own radio in. Then manufacturers figured they make more if they sell you their own system for 2000€.

Their own systems are garbage too. I hate newer cars. I can build a better stereo with 5 speakers for under $500 and it would blow away what any car company can engineer into their 42 speaker stereo.

Remember when cars have standardized ashtrays?

Ashtrays were standard, but they were not standardized. Lots of different form factors, no consistency.

Legal issues. Dash cams aren't allowed universally, and even when they are they tend to have restrictions (how it's mounted, how footage is handled, etc). They've just decided dealing with this pain point is not worth the purchase conversions since users can just add one themselves.

There are some brands that have them, usually as an additional package depending on where you are. Like Toyota's Genuine Dash in Canada, Tesla Dashcam, BMW Car Eye, etc.

All you need is a toggle in the settings that is off by default. They also already deal with regional law differences regarding speed camera warnings, so it isn't an insane idea for them to maintain a list of countries where the feature is blocked (although that's not the solution I would prefer)

The simple answer is that backup cameras are required by regulation for safety, whereas dashcams don't increase safety.

> whereas dashcams don't increase safety

I'd like to see your source for that claim!

Well, maybe the observer effect comes into play, but they don't directly, actively impact safety in the manner that backup cameras do.

Reversing cameras don't increase safety on my cars, because I still turn my head and use the mirrors. Old habits die hard.

You would still have a major blind spot if a child or small animal is directly behind your car. The NHTSA estimated it would save over 70 lives per year (an underestimate), which is invaluable considering the small cost.

True, although I already check behind/around my car before I set off.

I appreciate the motivitions of those who think technology is the answer to accident prevention but now you are discouraging people from developing proper safety habits ("I don't need to check around my car because the cameras/sensors will tell me if I'm going to hit something") and then one day a sensor fails or they are driving a car that doesn't have this technology.

I already see this with my wife who has those little blinker lights in her side mirrors that warn if a car is next to you when you are changing lanes. She doesn't really look anymore, just makes sure the lights aren't blinking. I always turn my head and look; I don't trust the sensors and I also set my side mirrors to cover the typical blind spot.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15131074/how-to-adjus...

And for those of us who drive minivans, there are huge areas that you just can't see without a back up camera. You still look out windows and check all your mirrors, but being able to see the ground behind your car is important.

Which is why the car will likely have other sensors that yell at you when you are trying to back out and a small object or person is in your blind spot. My backup camera can just see more than I can from the drivers seat, because it is on the very back of the car, which is very useful when my small hatchback is constantly dwarfed by megatrucks on all sides in every parking lot.

Unfortunately rear windows have been getting smaller and smaller, so without backup cameras you have very limited vision.

Tesla has been doing this for years. It is indeed unfortunate other car makers don't care to enable recording even though they have the cameras.

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