It’s getting dangerous on the roadways these days, especially here in Tucson. A day doesn’t go by without major accidents in the city. These crashes seem to usually occur in the vicinity of major intersections and often result in serious injury or death. Motorcycles and pedestrians are also regularly involved, and they always suffer the worst of the injuries. 

Reports and personal observation indicate that the most common contributing factors for these are excessive speed, tailgating and failure to stop for red lights. All characteristics of bad drivers. Another issue specific to Tucson drivers is the inability to allow any bare road to exist between them and the car in front of them, regardless of speed, lane or weather. Out here it’s called bumper humping. Car insurance rates support my opinion. If you can get full coverage on a relatively recent car for $150/ month, you’re doing well.

It’s so bad that when I’m the lead vehicle at a red light, I wait a good 2-3 seconds before proceeding on the green light, scanning the intersection to ensure nobody is blowing through the red light. This has saved me at least twice while out here this winter. It’s also garnered plenty of “you’re number one” signals from other drivers, always in a hurry to get the car up to 55MPH in a 40MPH zone.

Me, I just smile and wave.

Driving habits aren’t much better in other parts of the country, either. Americans seem to have a speed problem. No matter what the speed limit, you have to go faster. 75 means 85, just like 50 means 65MPH back home in Vermont. I guess folks can’t do math anymore. They’re not saving any appreciable time while exponentially increasing the risk of something bad happening..

I have a good time when travelling cross-country. On the interstates I always use cruise control where possible, and I set it to the speed limit. Then I set back and enjoy the ride, while everyone else passes me. It’s rare when I pass anything on the Interstate, and when I do, it’s usually a semi.

It’s not just the bad driving that’s a concern. Some of you may recall the video that went viral around the beginning of the year out of New York. I’ve linked it below- take a look:

I haven’t heard of this type of activity occurring in Arizona. Yet. But this possibility, combined with police not responding to accidents unless there are injuries got me to thinking of ways to add some protections. Insure my insurance, so to speak.

On the way out to Tucson last December I set up a GoPro on the dash of the Transcontinental Jeep and configured it to work as a dashcam. It worked well enough, but having to change the battery every two hours was a chore, as was starting and stopping the camera. And it did not cover the rear of the vehicle, which I think is just as important as the front. It also did not record in the dark.

Once we got out here I stopped using the GoPro. 

Then a couple of weeks ago I saw an ad for a compact, high quality camera system promising everything I was looking for- front and rear coverage, 4K resolution forward and 1080p rear, and night vision with hands-free operation. It was very reasonably priced ($100), so I bought it, and when it arrived, my electrical engineer son installed it for me in less time than it takes to tell. Here’s what the cameras look like installed:

The video quality is better than the GoPro, and it did not take long to record an overly aggressive Tesla driver. Here’s a sample of the 4K forward video. This clip was captured on East Tanque Verde, heading west through Tucson.

That’s a very mild example of what goes on here.

So now I’ve got some backup in case of an insurance claim, or worse yet, getting rear ended by a driver that quickly departs the scene. That’s common here, as there are many uninsured drivers.

I’ll probably take a shot at using some of the dash footage to create videos of scenic drives. And as an added perk I can now save clips of all those nice folks telling me that I’m #1!

Here’s a short bonus video of a recent drive through Tucson Mountain Park: