Dash cams are useful for a number of things. Not only recording accidents, theft, insurance fraud but also amazing destinations. Today, dash cams are more of a necessity, in spite of their long history. The evolution of dashcams has a long history. Dash cams were invented in the early 20th century, as you will find out in this infographic.
1907 – A Tour of Victoria
Canadian Pacific Railway, hires American movie producer William Harbeck, to film the city of Victoria in a bid to attract immigrant settlers. While using a hand-crank camera, he hops on a train wagon and films the city from the front of the wagon. Though this is not a dashcam per se, the concept later replicates in modern dashcams.
1930 – Movie Camera in Police Car
In 1930, H. C. Fairchild invents the first windshield camera meant for traffic police. In 1939, California cop H. Galbraith mounts his motion-picture camera on the dashboard of his police car. He takes still photographs of traffic violators. Courts even use the photos to prosecute violators.
1988 – Tropper TV
Policeman Bob Surgenor records the world’s first police car chase using a video camera on a tripod inside the car. Even though it is not a dashcam it sets the stage for modern dashcams.
2001 – Consumer Dashcams
Companies begin manufacturing consumer dashcams. In this case, South Korea and Taiwan taking the lead. To date, South Korea is a leading manufacturer of dashcams with over 300 dashcam makers.
2013 – The Chelyabinsk Meteor
The Russian government allows civilians to install dashcams in 2009 in the fight against police corruption and insurance scams. This move leads to the magical capture of a meteor exploding over Russian skies in Chelyabinsk. Multiple cars with dashcams capture the phenomenon which quickly trends online, worldwide.
2014 – Dashcams In-demand
Dashcam popularity explodes around the world thanks to Russian youtube videos. In the same year, a dashcam captures a missile landing in front of a car in Ukraine, and in 2015, a video of a plane crashing on a Taipei highway trends.
Arguably, dashcams have become more of a necessity. Follow techautojunction.com for more on dashcams.
Future of Dashcams
The evolution of dashcams is interesting. Initially, it was law enforcement using them. Thanks to advancements in technology, videos such as those from Russia made it into mainstream media. Modern cars are now coming with inbuilt dashcams. We cannot understate the importance of dashcams. Going forward we at Techauto Junction will continue to inform and support you who needs one along the way.
Sources
https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?genres=reality-tv&keywords=police