Front and Rear Dash Cams: Do You Need Both?

Front-only dash cams are cheaper and easier to fit. So the question is whether the rear camera earns its cost. For most drivers it does, and the reason is specific.

The claim you are most likely to make

Rear-end collisions are among the most common crash types, and in nearly all of them you are the vehicle being hit. A front camera records the road ahead and nothing else. In the exact scenario where you are least at fault and most likely to be claiming, a front-only camera captures no useful evidence at all.

That is the whole argument. Everything else is secondary.

The other things a rear camera catches

• Tailgating. Footage of a vehicle sitting on your bumper for kilometres changes the tone of a dispute considerably.
• Car park hits. Combined with parking mode, the rear camera is what catches the person who reverses into you and leaves.
• Road rage from behind. Uncommon, extremely useful to have recorded when it happens.
• Reversing evidence. Not a substitute for a reversing camera, but it does show what was behind you.

When front-only is a defensible choice

Front-only makes sense if you mostly drive open road rather than sitting in commuter traffic, if the vehicle is low value and you carry third party cover, or if your budget forces a choice between one good camera and two mediocre ones. In that last case, take the one good camera. A sharp front camera beats a pair of soft ones.

What the rear camera adds at install time

A rear dash cam is not a standalone unit. It is a small camera on a long cable that runs the full length of the vehicle back to the main unit at the windscreen.

That cable goes up the A-pillar, along the headliner, down the C or D pillar, and through the tailgate loom grommet. The tailgate crossing is the part that matters. Run through the rubber concertina properly and it lasts the life of the car. Run past it and the cable chafes through on the hinge inside a year.

It is the same trim work as a reversing camera install, which is why doing both at once costs less than doing them separately.

Front and rear does not mean reversing camera

Worth clearing up because the terms overlap. A rear dash cam records continuously for evidence. A reversing camera switches on when you select reverse and shows you a parking view with guide lines.

Different lens, different mounting, different purpose. Our Atlia Vision range covers reversing and view cameras. If you want continuous recording, you want a dash cam. Plenty of people run both.

Practical notes

• Rear cameras shoot through the rear window. Heavy tint reduces night footage quality noticeably.
• If your rear window has a heating element, mount the camera between the lines, not across one.
• Parking mode on a two-channel setup roughly doubles the write load. High endurance memory card is not optional.

Fitted properly

Touchstone Automotive fits front and rear dash cam systems at our Auckland workshop, including the full rear cable run, tailgate grommet crossing, and hardwiring with voltage cutoff for parking mode.

If you are also considering a reversing camera or a new head unit, book them together and the dash only comes apart once.

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