Protect Your Young Driver With A Dash Cam

Getting behind the wheel is what a lot of young people look forward to. We’ve all been there - you know, anxiously counting down to your 16th birthday so you can finally take that test and get your driver’s license. Now that we are parents ourselves, are we still feeling that same excitement of sweet 16? We can’t wait for them to drive themselves to the mall or to practice. But who are we kidding, our kid and four wheels is exactly the reason why we’re up all night pacing the floors.

And just to be fair, kids, we know the newfound freedom is fantastic, but the first time out on the road on your own can be scary as well - you suddenly realize there’s no instructed there - do you know what to do if another motorist pins the blame on you? 

While graduated licensing programs and driver’s ed help, it takes time to build up your confidence behind the wheel. Ultimately, no amount of practice or regulation can replace parental involvement.

Even the most responsible teen driver will embark on a high-risk first year on the road. But we get that you can’t always be there to watch and advise, this is when the dash cam can help.

The dash cam, as the name implies, is a camera that is mounted on the car’s front windshield to capture events that are happening on the road ahead. But many people have the misconception that a dash cam is a spy cam - you’re spying on your kids - where they are going, how fast they’re driving, who else is in the car, etc. The truth is, unless you have a Cloud-ready dash cam and a wireless hotspot in the car and the dash cam is connected to the Cloud via the wireless hotspot, there really is no way for you to see everything’s that happening in real-time.

But what the dash cam offers is something equally valuable.

Factors to keep in mind when choosing a dash cam for your new driver:

• What angles would you like to capture? Front and rear? Front and Inside?
• Do you need remote monitoring? Do you want to video playback on a mobile device (ie. smartphone or tablet) or do you prefer plugging the memory card into your computer for a bigger picture?
• Do you need a tamper-proof case to keep the camera from being unplugged or turned off?

If the thought of cracking open the fuse box in your car and locating the best ACC and Constant fuses you can use for your dash cam, you’re not alone. The traditional fusebox hardwiring method can be daunting for many people who are new to cars/dash cams. But don’t let that turn you away from dash cams - there are other easier options, like the OBD-II Power Cable.

In other words, if you are looking for the simplest plug-and-play solution for your new driver, or even yourself, we strongly recommend the Thinkware FA200 Dual-Channel with the IROAD OBD-II Power Cable - just make sure you grab the correct version - for example, if you’re joining Will Ferrell and GM’s quest to out-EV Norway, you will be needing the IROAD OBD-II Power Cable for Electric Vehicles.

Starting at $249.99, get the Thinkware FA200 Dual-Channel dash cam with the IROAD OBD-II Power Cable and the Thinkware CPL Filter.

IROAD OBD-II Power Cable

Once plugged in, the IROAD OBD cable provides power to the dash cam both when the vehicle is on and when the vehicle is off, thus enabling parking-mode recording. With advanced parking mode technology, your dash cam protects your car, recording videos when it detects movement or impact, even when you're not there. Buffered recording even includes the few seconds before and after the triggered event, so you get the complete picture. Time Lapse in Parking Mode records footage at 2FPS, enabling the dash cam to record longer periods of parking surveillance continuously without increasing power consumption.

Driving is more than a privilege, it’s a life skill - protect your young driver and his vehicle so that they can become more confident drivers for life. It takes a village to build up a confident driver - let's make sure the dash cam is part of the village.