Surrey Now, December 18, 2015

Page 1

Friday, December 18, 2015

DRIVE NOW

B01

SPECIAL SECTION courtesy of

DrivewayCanada.ca |

Dash cam onboard camera systems

Piloti Mille driving shoes

High output adaptors

‘‘

’’

BOXING WEEK PRE-SALE! TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

3 TO CHOOSE

2015 TOYOTA RAV4

FROM

Question of the Week Have you bought an auto-related gift this year? What and for whom? We promised we won’t publish details until after December 25! Go to DrivewayCanada.ca for the question of the week

?

QUESTION OF THE WEEK!

Safety Tip: If your holiday plans include a road trip, give yourself extra time in case of traffic or challenging road conditions. Prepare for your trip by visiting drivebc.ca to view the latest road and weather conditions.

follow us…

WINTER

AHEAD!

/Driveway @DrivewayCanada

7355364

Santa will doubtless be dashing about delivering dash cams by the dozen, as they are top of many gift wish lists this year. Most people see the onboard cameras, which continuously record the driver’s view of the road through the windshield, as a great way of gathering video evidence in the event of a collision. Internet websites featuring often hair-raising video of dramatic crashes are drawing viewers in their millions. Thousands of eyewitness videos featuring car crashes, narrow escapes, and even staged crashes designed to commit insurance fraud have been uploaded to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and dash cam dedicated websites. The cheapest units start from as little as $30 but as is always the case with technology, you only get what you pay for. Testing by the Driveway team shows that for less than $100, you can get a serviceable camera for your car. However, if you want to install a more sophisticated version that records such information as date/time, speed, G-forces and location then get ready to spend more than $200. Yours truly bought a BlackVue DR3500-Full HD system, which retails for more than $400. I would recommend it for commercial fleets and people like me who want to record trips for

editing into vacation videos or, in my case, test car MP3 players through USB ports. Even late models may video reports. only have one USB plug in. Rick Francouer, president of 360 Fabrication in AbbotsRocketek Canada is one of many brands now selling ford, customized mine for easy and quick installation high output adaptors that use cigarette lighter in different test vehicles. He recommends that no slots to supply power to devices such as GPS Navimatter what the unit costs professional installation is gation unit. For under $20, it plugs into the lighter advisable to ensure it doesn’t fail when you need it. slot and duplicates it, providing two slots for devices “We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of to draw direct power plus two additional USB slots. people, of all ages and all walks of life, installing I’ve used mine around the world with great success, systems, and the reason is simple, there enabling me to run mobile navigation are so many acts of stupidity on the road devices and play my iPod through every day, protecting yourself with a viaudio systems via the Auxiliary Input sual record of your good driving habits is point. important in disputes with other drivers Factory installed navigation systems or your insurance agency. can add thousands to your new car’s “We have dozens of clients who have sticker price. Your local electronics made a $300 investment that’s paid tens warehouse of choice will put you on of thousands in dividends when they are the road with a guidance unit for less able to prove innocence in a disputed than $200. Internet websites accident. In many jurisdictions, visual eviTwo more ideas. There are no shortage dence is preferable to spoken testimony.” featuring often of books for auto enthusiasts but ICBC spokesman Joanna Linsangan hair-raising video if you are looking for a fun read try admits dash cams provide useful inforof dramatic crashes Driven Mind by Garry Sowerby, who mation but cautions drivers do not to rely along with his wife Lisa Calvi occatoo much on footage as it’s not admissi- are drawing viewers sionally appears in these pages. Garry in their millions. ble as evidence in court. is an ‘adventure driver’ and his book “We will take a look at anything that records 50 great stories about his road Keith Morgan drivers can provide in evidence and every trips around the world (Published by once a while we do see dash cam footOdyssey International ISBN 978-0-9733358-1-1 at $20 age. But this technology is susceptible to manipulation - http://adventuredrive.ca/drivenmind). and provides only a narrow view.” Finally, driving shoes. Yes, there is such a thing and A written report on such things as weather conditions I have three pairs. Watch for a more detailed analysis and all circumstances are still extremely important of their value to everyday drivers in the New Year but when filing a claim. check out these beauties now. Piloti has a large range While looking at dashcams we came across some selling for around $150 but these Luxury Mille shoes other techno gadgets in demand which last minute are to die for at $400 a pair! gift shoppers might want to consider. Older cars are keith.morgan@drivewaybc.ca rarely designed to power today’s smart phones and

7355270

Dash cams at top of motorist gift lists filled with techno gadgets

DEMO CLEARANCE

$26,8901-888-854-2634

• ALL WHEEL DRIVE •UNDER 4,000 KMS •LOADED WITH OPTIONS

Dealer #30377

www.peacearchtoyota.com 3174 KING GEORGE BLV, SURREY


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.