Dash cams 'protect more than harm' drivers, despite self-incrimination fears

Australia Broadcast Center

09-07-2025

Almost half of Australian drivers believe dashboard cameras — or dash cams — should be mandatory, despite only a quarter of drivers having them installed.
The striking discrepancy was revealed in a report published by British dash cam manufacturer Nextbase.
According to legal expert Aidan Ricciardo from the University of Western Australia, many drivers are concerned that dash cam footage obtained from their vehicles could incriminate them.
But claims officer Ryan Tan, who has been driving with a dash cam for more than a decade, said having one installed made him feel safer on the road.
"I come from Malaysia where we are always on our toes [driving]. I thought we should put a device like a black box in the car that records anything that happens in case of any accidents," he said.
Mr Tan said the dash cam had also saved him a lot of money.
In October 2023, Mr Tan's car was scraped by another car while parked at a shopping centre during a grocery run, damaging the driver's side door.
"We found the particular vehicle on the dash cam recording and fortunately, the shopping centre had a CCTV recording as well," he said.
"I lodged a crash report with the police and submitted my dash cam recording. They did some investigating, and we got back a report stating this vehicle had caused the damage.
"I submitted that [report] to my insurer, and they approved my claim without fault on my end.
"[My dash cam] saved me within $3,000 to $5,000 because my car needed body work … one panel, one door, and a bit of paintwork on the driver's side."
Mr Ricciardo, a senior lecturer in law, said courts were increasingly admitting dash cam footage as "generally reliable, unproblematic evidence", particularly in criminal cases.
"Courts have acknowledged that in some situations, dash cam footage can be more reliable than witness accounts of what they remember from the event, partly because human memory is fallible," he said.
Mr Ricciardo said dash cam footage could also be admitted in court cases for reasons other than showing an accident or incident.
"For example, it might show some time earlier than the event that a person appeared to be affected by alcohol."
But the courts must weigh up dash cam footage alongside other types of available evidence, and Mr Ricciardo said it was "not a silver bullet".
"It certainly isn't the only thing the courts will look at," he said.
"They know [dash cams] only capture two-dimensional images from a single fixed perspective, so they'll still want to hear from the witnesses about what they saw and heard."
For example, in a decision delivered by the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2023, Justice Natalie Whitby was careful not to view dash cam footage outside the context of other evidence.
While recent statistics are not available, 2019 research by insurer Allianz found one in five drivers had installed dash cams — meaning about 4 million cars on Australian roads had the extra safety feature.
Two years later, the Nextbase report came out. It found that 45 per cent of Australian drivers thought dash cams should be mandatory, but only 25 per cent had one installed in their main vehicle.
And while that indicated a rise in the overall number of motorists buying dash cams, it fell well short of the number of drivers who thought they should be mandatory.
So why the discrepancy?
Mr Ricciardo said the key was in Australian drivers' concerns that their dash cam footage could be used against them — fears that he acknowledged were "valid".
"If you are involved in a serious enough accident, the police almost certainly will want to access the footage if they see you have a dash cam in your vehicle, and [they] will undoubtedly obtain the relevant permissions to access it," he said.
In February 2025, Perth obstetrician Rhys Bellinge was accused of causing a crash that killed a 24-year-old woman and injured a rideshare driver in the Perth suburb of Dalkeith.
Footage recorded by the dash cam installed in Dr Bellinge's vehicle was recovered and relied on by prosecutors at the hearing of his bail application.
According to Mr Tan, the reasons for installing a dash cam are compelling, and Australian drivers "should stop thinking and start researching dash cams available in the market".
"There are a lot of different price options and capabilities, but the main thing is you feel safe and you have something that can back you up when you actually need it," he said.
Mr Ricciardo said if more drivers owned a dash cam, a greater quantity of footage would be available to assist courts in finding the truth and administering justice more effectively.