Ask any Australian driver today and most, if not all, will be familiar with dashboard cameras. This, in large part, is because of the crazy and insane videos that dashboard cameras have captured over the years, especially from Russian drivers, which have been uploaded onto the internet. These drivers have captured images of wild animals appearing out of nowhere, terrible car crashes, to enraged drivers attacking each other with bats and other objects. But, on the 15th of February, 2013 when a meteorite blazed over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, drivers captured the insane footage of the fiery space debris on their dashboard cameras and posted the videos online… drawing immediate world-wide news coverage.

It used to be common practice for racing teams to use in-car cameras. Their purpose was to capture images of crashes for the team to document and analyse, but to also provide fans with exhilarating footage of their favourite race cars. As the popularity of in-car cameras grew, motorcyclists began using cameras on their helmets for similar reasons and this popularity flowed into law-enforcement, with police cars using dash cams to provide clear evidence of traffic infringements.

Now the practice is trickling into the mainstream, especially for us car enthusiasts. The reason is an at-fault accident can mean damage to your pride and joy, a loss of income as well as liability. This is why we got the Garmin Dash Cam 65W.

GARMIN DASH CAM 65W

– 180-degree field of view
– 1080p resolution; 2.1 megapixel camera
– 2.0″ LCD display
– Forward collision waring
– Lane departure warning
– Fixed red-light and speed cameras
– GPS enables
– Automatic incident detection (G-sensor)
– Voice command
– accepts up to 64 GB micro SD card, (sold separately, Class 10 required)
– Travelapse
– Wi-Fi
– Monitor your parked vehicle (Parking Mode cable available; sold separately)

WHAT’S IN THE BOX

– Dash Cam 65w
– Magnetic mount
– Vehicle power cable
– USBcable
– 8GB micro SD card
– Quick start manual

THE INSTALLATION

There is not a great deal to know when installing the Garmin 65W dash cam. It is simple and easy to install like any other mounted device. We found installing the Garmin to our car was easy, as it is small, compact and fitted in most places. This is a good thing, because it is important to note that when you are mounting your dash cam to not obstruct your windshield. We decided to put it a little extra effort to hide the wires, see steps below.

  • Position dash cam in a suitable spot that doesn’t obstruct your view.

  • Locate vehicle interior fuse box and route wiring from dash cam towards fuse box area. Wiring can be tucked under headliner and behind trims for a clean install.

  • Locate a fuse that is powered up when key is turned to ACC.

  • Piggy back into the fuse using an “add-a-circuit fuse holder”.

  • Grab a female cigg socket adaptor and connect the positive wire to the fuse holder and the negative wire to an earth point on the vehicle.

  • 
Insert the power plug from the dash cam into the cigg socket and you’re done.

THE VERDICT

The Garmin 65w looks neat in the S15 interior and because of its sleek and compact design does not obstruct your view when doing highway pulls. The build quality is great and the 2” screen is clear and quite visible. The voice control function allows you to use your voice to take photos and videos while you are driving; perfect for when you have both hands on the wheel.

Since owning the Garmin 65w, I have come to realise how important it is to have a dash cam and I recommend all people have one installed. They give you peace of mind as you know that your car will be protected and you will be able to defend yourself if anything arises in which you need to prove that you were not at fault. To end I would like to leave you with a quote from Aleksei Dozorov, a motorists’ rights activist in Russia, who told Radio Free Europe last year, “You can get into your car without your pants on, but never get into a car without a dash cam.”