Dashboard cameras: where it’s advisable to put them away

One of the many things to think about when driving abroad in summer is the use of dashcams. Find out what rules apply in which countries.

31. 7. 2020 Škoda World Innovation & technology

Austria

Austria is one of the countries where the rules are unclear. It’s not so long ago that simply having a dashcam in your car would get you a fine, even if it was switched off. Today? All fixed-position cameras taking footage of public spaces must be registered with the authorities. The Austrian ÖAMTC automobile club claims this doesn’t apply to dashboard cameras, though. So you can use one. But you mustn’t publish the footage! Any recording in which individuals or cars (registration numbers) can be identified is illegal, and publishing it can result in a fine of up to EUR 10,000. So caution is advised.

Cables all over the place?

These days, it’s a familiar image of the inside of our cars: a tangle of USB cables from the electricity port with a splitter to charge various iPads, phones, DVD players and dashcams. All ŠKODA models from 2021 onwards will make this a thing of the past, though, at least as far as dashcams are concerned. That’s because one of the innovations is a cleverly located connector for powering a dashcam. Like the new ŠKODA OCTAVIA, the SUPERB, KODIAQ, KAROQ, SCALA and KAMIQ models will get USB-C connectors. One can even be located in the interior rearview mirror at the customer’s request.

Switzerland

In Switzerland it’s highly complicated. The use of dashcams is not prohibited. But there are several conditions. First: you need a lawful reason – you can’t just film for the sake of it or as documentary footage from your travels. Second: everybody on video has to know that you’re recording them, which is unrealistic. Third: proportionality – you’re only allowed to film important events, not tens or hundreds of kilometres of ordinary driving (and thus also hundreds of cars and people). So you should only turn on your dashcam a few seconds before an accident or other incident. If you want our advice, leave your dashcam at home.

Hungary

The rules in Hungary are pretty strange. You are allowed to use a dashcam for personal purposes, but there’s no precise definition of what that means. What’s more, the footage must be low-resolution and have a low frame rate, and you have to make sure that nobody else will misuse it and that it will be erased after five working days. Our recommendation: instead of spending time changing the camera’s settings at the border and worrying about erasing your footage, just take it off.

Countries with no restrictions

Did you notice that Russia was not included in the list? That’s because it’s one of those countries where there are no special rules and restrictions on the use of dashcams. And Russia is, in many people’s view, a country where dashcams are very useful and have become widespread. You must have seen videos on Facebook or YouTube showing the bizarre and frankly incredible situations that occur on Russian roads.

Other countries where the use of dashcams is unrestricted – as long as the camera does not obstruct the driver’s view and you blur out all faces and registration numbers before publishing the footage – include Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Croatia, Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

What about the rest of the world?

Asia – the greatest potential for dashcam growth. Dashcam use in China has increased by twenty per cent in the past years. And it will continue to increase, because the country will soon overtake the USA as the world’s biggest automobile market. The number of dashcams is rising constantly with rising car numbers in South Korea as well. This is also true in southeast Asia, e.g. in Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore, where hazards on the roads and insurance fraud are common. Japan is a bit of an exception, because dashcams are mainly used in taxis and police cars for monitoring their drivers’ behaviour and improving their efficiency.

North America – in Canada and the USA it is usually individual states that set rules on dashcam use. In Canada the use of dashcams is fully legal because the vast majority of roads are treated as public space, so there is nothing to prevent filming for self-protection purposes in the event of accidents. Video footage of public places and events in the USA is covered by the First Amendment, while the rules on filming private events are set by the individual states. Audio recording is a different matter, though, as it is not so clearly permitted. And while privacy issues are the main bone of contention in Europe, the focus in the USA is on the positioning of dashcams in a driver’s field of vision. States like California or Colorado allow dashcams to be attached to the windscreen, but Texas and New York, say, prohibit “anything non-transparent” being attached to the windscreen. That doesn’t mean that dashcams are illegal there – you just have to think carefully about where to position them.

Australia – dashcams are legal in all states and footage from them is appreciated by insurance companies and the police.