What Are Nevada’s Dash Cam Laws?

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By
Madeleine Jones
June 7, 2019

Dash cams are a useful piece of technology that allows car drivers to actively record their journey. This game-changing device removes the ambiguity and hearsay involved in car accidents, especially when no witnesses are available or present to support either driver’s claims. In Nevada, dash cams are legal, but only if you use them correctly. If you’ve been in an accident involving a dash cam, contact our team of Las Vegas car accident lawyers.

Why Are Dash Cams So Popular?

 One big reason dash cams have gained so much popularity is their use in car accidents. Having a device that can back up your claim is extremely useful when communicating with insurance adjusters after a collision. However, dash cams are also useful in the following contexts:

  • Monitoring young drivers. Dash cam footage that is accessible to caregivers allows them to monitor the driving habits of their children. This is also useful if the minor gets into an accident and has difficulty remembering the events leading up to the collision. Similarly, driving instructors can utilize dash cams to better instruct their pupils.
  • Reporting suspicious drivers. It can be tough to record license plate and location information on a car while you are driving yourself. Dash cams help by constantly recording vehicles in front of your car. This is useful in reporting drunk drivers or the location of suspected abductors.
  • Preventing accident fraud. Some drivers purposefully cause accidents through actions like brake checking so they can file a claim against you. A way to prevent this it with dash cam footage that clearly shows the driver recklessly causing traffic-related accidents.
  • Most dash cams come equipped with a GPS system. This helps you track your speed and location during transit.

Will The Court Admit Dash Cam Evidence?

Almost always, the evidence filmed by a dash cam will be admissible in court. That is if the situation that is under investigation happened outside of the vehicle. By privacy law, the passengers in the car have to be informed of the presence of the dash cam. If they are not, and an incident takes place inside the car by the passenger, the evidence might not be admissible in court. If the dash cam can record audio inside the car, and the driver did not inform the passenger that they were being recorded, the evidence will not be admissible.

Issues Surrounding Dash Cams

 Dash cams can be amazing devices that capture a car’s surrounding environment in transit. However, they also pose several issues that impact their legality.

Dash cams don’t always attach to your dashboard. Most dash cam systems possess a suction cup that adheres the camera to the inside of your windshield. Each state exercises its own regulations in reference to how much of your windshield devices like cameras and GPS can take up. In some states, dash cams pose too much of an obstruction hazard to legalize if they are not smaller than five square inches (driver’s side) or seven square inches (passenger’s side). Nevada adheres to these windshield obstruction restrictions, allowing drivers to mount dash cams, within reasonable size, on their windshield, it would rest in the top-center portion of your windshield.

Dash cams also pose an alternate threat that isn’t as noticeable as its size. Dash cam surveillance issues incite a global debate. Dash cams are a form of sousveillance – this means they can interfere with surveillance laws even though the user might not intentionally use them in this way. Dash cams come with audio recording software that is always picking up a conversation and ambient noises within the cabin of the car. In Nevada, this fact alone comes with the potential to break their surveillance laws. Consequently, drivers ideally must notify all passengers they are being surveilled, acquiring consent in the process.

Mandatory Dash Cam Footage

Although dash cams are excellent in supporting your own claims in traffic-related incidents, they can also hurt you in the same way. The law allows a police officer who has reasonable cause to stop you for a traffic violation to also ask for your dash cam footage. As a passenger car driver, you must grant the officer access to your camera footage. This can create issues if you previously lied about the violation but the tape shows you committing it.

Personal Injury Claims

Outside of traffic violations and insurance-related evidence, dash cams can also provide proof in the court setting. Traffic incidents with no witnesses can be hard to obtain evidence for, but dash cams eliminate this problem. Dash cams are arguably the most effective form of support because they provide physical footage of the events that transpired.

Cases In Which A Dash Cam Is Useful

The following are some examples of cases in which a dash cam can be useful:

  • Hit and Run
  • Negligent / Reckless Driving
  • Insurance Fraud
  • Grand Theft
  • Property Damage 
  • Assault & Battery
  • Premises Liability

Dash cams are useful tools that give drivers the opportunity to obtain a legal record of the events that transpire while in transit. In Nevada, dash cams are legal as long as they follow the size and location guidelines, so continue to utilize these helpful tools in your travels. Contact a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer today to talk about your case.