ARE you thinking about a dash cam for your company car?

You’re not alone. Company car drivers are becoming increasingly worried about recording what happens in front of them – and to prove how good they are driving.

Research by the RAC showed that more than 50% of drivers interviewed were considering purchasing a dash cam; mand one in five (20%) of those surveyed had previously been involved in an accident where there was an at-fault dispute where a dash cam would have helped them solve their case.

So if you’re a company car driver, and your company uses the LeasePlan leasing company for its cars, then rejoice: LeasePlan is taking a first by including a dash cam as part of its standard Driver Pack.

It won’t be the only thing in your LeasePlan Driver Pack – there will be the critical safety kit, too, such as a first aid kit, safety warning triangle and a high visibility vest.

As well as practical items to assist in the everyday maintenance of their vehicles, including; an ice scraper, washer fluid, and de-icer.

Matt Dyer, managing director, of LeasePlan said:

“LeasePlan is taking a step beyond the rest of the industry to enhance our commitment to driver safety. With these new, progressive, technology-led solutions, we are proud to lead in supporting the evolving requirements of today’s driver. To not only to keep them safe on the road, but to make their whole journey easier and more efficient by having everything within their vehicle.”

Nine tips for drivers to get the most out of their dash cam

1. Positioning – The camera should be in the centre of the windscreen and as high as possible, keeping in mind it should not intrude more than 40mm into the swept area of the wiper blades or mounted directly above the steering wheel. It doesn’t matter if you have to position it upside down as this can be edited later.

2. Distractions – To avoid the dash cam becoming a distraction, company car drivers should switch off the screen while driving. You might notice this in Uber dash cams, as ridesharing drivers do not only wish avoid distraction, but to keep video-recording of their passenger on the down low.

3. GPS logging – A function available on some dash cams is to log where footage has been taken as well as the speed you were travelling at, which could be useful information to your insurance provider.

4. G-Sensor Sensitivity – This sensor can be used as a trigger for the camera to start recording and capture footage if it detects the impact of an accident.

5. Memory Card – To get the most out of your dash cam make sure you have at least a 16GB with a class 6 card, meaning that it will record on to the SD card at an acceptable rate and not distort the video image.

6. Video Quality – The higher the resolution the more detailed image you will get, but also the more space it will take up. Between HD (720p) and Full HD (1080p) is an acceptable resolution for your dash cam’s operation.

7. Clean dash – To make sure your view isn’t being disrupted by your stuffed car mascot or hanging dice make sure to keep your dashboard clear.

8. Mute – Unless you want to capture your hands-free phone call or in-car conversation, it would probably be best to mute the audio as it is unlikely to be much help.

9. TEST! – Once you have set up your camera do a quick test to make sure you can see the road in front of you and there are no memory or storage problems.