N. Raghuraman's column: 'Dashcam' speaks a bigger truth than words in road accidents

In August last year, a video from Bengaluru went viral on social media, in which a woman was deliberately feigning an accident by falling in front of a moving car. The incident was captured on the car's dashcam and when it was posted by ex-user Shoni Kapoor, the footage raised the concern of many. The woman, standing in the middle of the road, fell on the bonnet of the car herself. The driver had to slow down to avoid the accident. Despite the driver's attempt to stop the accident, the woman fell on the car and became aggressive. Kapoor said in his post, "Install dashcam. I don't know when this will happen to you. Many social media users also agreed with Kapoor's dashcam opinion in the comments. I remembered this incident late on Saturday night when I was travelling from Trichy to my hometown Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu by car. The street was deserted and quiet. The driver was at a good speed. Suddenly a scooter crossed in front of our car. My driver, experienced in handling the vehicle during such a sudden crossing of dogs and cows, applied the brakes and turned the vehicle towards the roadside. But by then it was too late. The scooter collided, but fortunately the scooter driver did not even get scratched. And then the trouble began. He was a resident of the same village and immediately a crowd gathered there. The crowd was able to calm down only after showing the recorded video in the dashcam. That's when I realised how important dashcams are in India. You never know how you will encounter a person on the street. My driver said, 'Unless our entire population has a driving sense, dashcams should be made mandatory in cars. Maybe he's right, too. Dashcams can provide crucial evidence in disputes, accidents, or fraudulent claims. By capturing real-time footage, it not only protects drivers from potential scams or false accusations, but also gives peace of mind. Because you know that there is a clear record of what happened during the drive. With the GST rate reduced at the end of September 2025, there was a significant jump in car sales this Navratri festival. Major automakers reported record sales. For instance, on the first day of Navratri, Tata Motors delivered 10,000 cars. In a single day, Maruti Suzuki sold 30,000 cars and Hyundai sold 11,000 cars. The total wholesale sales of domestic passenger vehicles increased by 5.4% in September 2025. Some automakers are expecting even stronger sales in the second half of the financial year due to lower prices and festive demand. In 2023, more than 4.8 lakh accidents were recorded in India. That is, 1,317 accidents per day. It is not true that only two-wheelers drive carelessly, sometimes four-wheelers are also wrong. The lawyer confirms that the dashcam footage has been deemed admissible in court under Section 63 of the Indian Evidence Act 2023. This section recognizes electronic records as documents with certain conditions. Therefore, it makes sense to install a dashcam. Users should only be careful that the dashcam is not of low quality, which makes it difficult to extract the recorded photos. The trick is that if you are buying a car this festive season and driving a four-wheeler for the first time, you can think about installing a dashcam. Because, it will save you from unnecessary headaches. This is necessary because our driving sense has become questionable and motor licensing is still not strict.