Dashcam Observer Effect

A couple of weeks ago, I left home early for an appointment on a Friday afternoon. Being mindful of Muslim Jumat prayers, I wanted to beat the traffic, but the rush at the Kado-Life Camp roundabout had other plans. A broken-down truck had brought everything to a crawl.

I stayed on the left lane, heading toward Gwarinpa, Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory, calm and unhurried. Vehicles from the Jabi-Airport junction were pushing aggressively through the roundabout, but I wasn’t bothered. I was in the right lane, doing the right thing as was expected of ‘Oga driver’, having spent years teaching and preaching responsible road safety.

Then I heard it- a sharp scrape against my passenger-side mirror. A truck, cutting through recklessly, had clipped it clean off. I was calm, knowing that EL-Roi, who sees me, was watching- just then, an angel who speaks pidgin and the queen’s English fluently- a driver attached to Julius Berger, a construction company with a high safety profile, drove by and whispered something to me.

The Good Samaritan nearby, who witnessed the Friday afternoon ‘madness’, urged me to stop the driver before he disappeared into traffic. And disappearing is exactly what he was trying to do, even in the heavy traffic buildup.

When I finally pulled him over, the young man had the nerve to claim I had hit him from behind. Two occupants, who by their looks should be in their twenties, compounded the insult by displaying a level of rudeness and arrogance rather than diffusing the tension. It took over a week of back-and-forth before he finally replaced my mirror.

Now, this moonlight story is not to complain. Nor is it to brag or show off- because the experience was torturous, to say the least.  I am telling you about it because my friend, Ezekiel Johnson, gave me a dashcam sometime in 2024. A quiet, unassuming little device that I now consider one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. In that moment with the truck driver, having footage of the incident would have ended the arguments and insults in seconds. Unfortunately, the Dashcam had some technical faults just a few days before the incident.

Do you know why every driver needs a Dashcam?

It is because we live in an age where all sorts of people find their way behind the wheel even after undergoing training to earn a license and are authorised to drive a vehicle, some trained, some barely, while others I once tagged ‘lunatics’ because of their deception.

These are learners who, while still learning how to drive, fail to display their ‘L’(learner) sign but rather hide the sign, which in itself is a traffic violation. I would rather not bore you with the bashing I received for asking if such drivers were ’lunatics or learners’.

For reminders, a dashcam doesn’t just judge or intervene, but it watches, especially in the absence of the appropriate closed-circuit television (CCTV) technology, traffic cameras or other complementary surveillance systems-And that watching matters more than most people realise, especially if you found yourself in my shoes.

At its simplest, a dashcam is a small camera fixed to your windshield or dashboard, quietly recording everything in front of you-and sometimes behind-as you drive. But what it represents is something much bigger: a witness that never sleeps, never forgets, and never takes sides. Some dashcams, like the Owl, which has large fixed eyes that require them to rotate their heads up to 270 degrees, have 270-degree rotating lenses.

When a road crash happens, as I experienced, the truth is often the first casualty. Please, if you are in doubt, ask Golf Legend, Tiger Woods. Eyewitnesses misremember. Stories shift. People, irrespective of age, gender, or class, point fingers. Religious people deny God instantly rather than just speak up, truthfully.

A dashcam cuts through all the lies, deceptions, twists and turns, and swearing, with a timestamped, factual record of exactly what happened. For drivers, like me, who faced false accusations and lies, that footage can make the difference between justice and injustice. Those who have suffered a near miss/lynching at the hands of a mob crowd will appreciate the timely witness of a dashcam.

If you drive in any of the major cities in our clime, this message is for you. This is because disputes between road users can become complicated or, worse, weaponised. No matter the scenario you find yourself in, your dashcam footage will always speak for itself as the unbiased arbiter, especially amid rising accident scams.

But do you know the flipside of having a dashcam? A dashcam changes your driving, which is quite humbling, knowing it’s also recording you and might be the witness against your crazy driving. Driving with a dashcam is like driving a marked vehicle, such as a Federal Road Safety Corps marked vehicle, where every one of your mistakes is being watched by the public.

That is why drivers with dashcams, just like marked vehicles, are born again drivers-more deliberate, courteous of traffic rules such as speed and running a red light, respectful and civil.  Similar to the psychological concept of the  Hawthorne effect, recording a driver turns the act of driving in a broadway way for the camera, often resulting in fewer sudden lane changes, less aggressive behaviour among others. Road safety professionals call this ‘common sense’, while Psychologists call it the observer effect.

Notwithstanding this humbling observer effect, the big fleet operators, irrespective of fleet size, would find this tool valuable and handy for monitoring their drivers’ and other reckless drivers’ bad driving behaviours; thus, promoting responsible driving across the board. This is one tool that the relevant authorities should make mandatory for cab drivers and, in fact, all commercial vehicles.

Dashcams are a must-have for vehicle owners and drivers, as they are not just valuable in the event of a road traffic crash but also in other crisis situations involving road users or between a road user and a traffic officer.

I don’t know if you have been stopped by trigger-happy security operatives or a traffic officer who labels you all sorts or even attempts to extort you. Your dashcam footage will be your alibi and nail him without a defence.

Dashcam becomes your tool against hit-and-run drivers, one-way-driven security vehicles, and convoy-driven vehicles with no regard for the law? In the event of a near miss with such defaulters, your footage will protect you.

The value of dashcam reminds me of the Corps accident films that were mandatory viewing for traffic rule defaulters. The sobering effect was impactful, though a handful forgot immediately after their session. Please remember that dashcams don’t prevent road traffic crashes.

The value lies in capturing the ‘what, when, why and even how’, if necessary. The onus lies on you to drive defensively and cautiously. As a warning, remember that the clips are not meant for content creation, but may need to be represented as valuable footage to help resolve a road conflict.

My friend did not disclose the cost, but I know that those who can afford it should please get one, including our parents who lease school runs to commercial drivers or personal drivers. It could make the difference in your child’s safety and security.

From my experience, the price of a dashcam outweighs the inconvenience of a week of chasing someone to replace my side mirror. Because proof is everything, especially in a traffic crash where lives are lost, or in the kind of situation I found myself in, my counsel is: get one and thank me later.