If you’re a HGV driver travelling regularly up and down the roads of Europe and the UK, there are some essentials that you just can’t do without. Whether you’re talking about a quality toolkit, a good pillow or photos of your family, each HGV driver takes a range of wants and must-haves away with them each time they go on a job.
One item that absolutely should be in the cab of every HGV driver is a dash cam – a neat little gizmo that sits in front of the driver, recording everything that happens. In this blog, we take a look at if you’re going to take anything with you every time you drive, it should be a dash cam.
An accident on the road can happen at any time and for so many reasons and whilst a dash cam won’t stop you being involved in one, it can make the after-effects so much easier to deal with. The yearly insurance premium for a HGV driver is already pretty high, so the last thing you need is an accident that you didn’t cause is attributed to a driving error you didn’t make.
Dash cams, which can cost as little as £30-40 can be worth their weight in gold to a HGV driver when an accident occurs, as it will clearly show the events that led to the collision and what steps were taken to avoid it. Compare that with the usual uncertainty of which way an insurance claim will go when both parties are blaming the other and it’s your word against theirs.
According to the Association of British Insurers, there was over £100 million worth of roadside insurance fraud in 2017, where accidents were staged, with a significant number of those affecting HGV Drivers. With a dash cam fixed firmly in your cab, you’ll have all the evidence you need to show that any accident the fraudsters claim to be your fault, wasn’t.
Whichever you look at it, there are a lot of bad drivers out there and each one represents a danger to everyone using the road. Whether it’s tailgating, cutting someone off or just plain stupid driving, a dash cam is an ideal tool with which to catch them in the act. Doing the right thing is a lot easier when you have physical proof of bad driving and a dash cam makes it all possible. The fewer bad drivers there are out there, the better it is for everyone.
Every time a HGV driver heads out onto the roads, having a dash cam is a something of a no-brainer. For a nominal cost, it sits on the dashboard, silently protecting the driver from common issues that arise from road accidents and the impact that insurance fraudsters and the bad driving of others can have.
Not having one isn’t really an option, so if you don’t have one yet, we’d recommend that you do and soon or you might just end up regretting it.