Car blackbox for 4.8 X5

[bimmerpwr]

Originally Posted by ard

I was under the impression that audio recording in a PUBLIC place is protected in all states. No "two party" or "one party" issues. You have no 'reasonable expectation of privacy' on a public street, audio or video.

I am not familiar with the legal concept of "looking for trouble"



Supposed to, but they do not.

Make that, some do not and others do. The case you brought up about MD motercylist, the case got thrown out of court by judge. I guess some do play by the book.

The reasonable expectation of privacy you mentioned, as I mentioned, video is not the issue, it is the audio part due to wiretap law in most states.

You may not be familiar with legal concept of "looking for trouble", perhaps you are familar with cause & effect. MD case should tell you that if you shoot a video of someone and post it on youtube without consent, it might make some people angry. In MD case, he tried to get himself out of jail for almost half year and I call that a "trouble".

[Philrobj]

From "Can We Tape?":

"Twelve states require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties to a conversation. Those jurisdictions are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. Be aware that you will sometimes hear these referred to inaccurately as “two-party consent” laws. If there are more than two people involved in the conversation, all must consent to the taping.
Regardless of the state, it is almost always illegal to record a conversation to which you are not a party, do not have consent to tape, and could not naturally overhear."

These laws were originally drawn up to deal with telephone conversations but are generally used as the basis for recording of any communications.

Ard, I feel your paranoia but they do have to play by the same rules and it happens all the time. When the police don't play by the same rules, the case gets thrown out of court. There will always be exceptions and each case has variables that can impact the outcome but IMO the system, while not perfect, works pretty well given the alternative. How often do we see egregious acts be tossed out of court on technicalities? Alot!

Not to get too off track...I love my X5!!

[ard]

Originally Posted by Philrobj

From "Can We Tape?":

"Twelve states require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties to a conversation. Those jurisdictions are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. Be aware that you will sometimes hear these referred to inaccurately as “two-party consent” laws. If there are more than two people involved in the conversation, all must consent to the taping.
Regardless of the state, it is almost always illegal to record a conversation to which you are not a party, do not have consent to tape, and could not naturally overhear."

These laws were originally drawn up to deal with telephone conversations but are generally used as the basis for recording of any communications.
!!

Bolded text to highlight the fact that a conversation in a public place may be recorded.

Police and prosecutors KNOW the distinction, yet citizens are being arrested and prosecuted- accruing thousands in legal fees- until courts (I get these are the guys who DO play by the rules) toss the cases out.

Love my X5 too

[bimmerpwr]

Please watch at your own risk, contains scenes of severe accidents.

Imagine this if you would...you were driving at night, a person in black cloth was wondering on street and walked/jumped into your car's direction. This happened near crosswalk. There were no eye witnesses. Let's say that person was lucky to walk away from it without serious injuries but was suing you for $$$$$. Will you trust everything you have in the hands of insurance agents and accident analysts?

YouTube -

[Philrobj]

But in those 12 states, all party consent is still required so I guess the big thing is to be careful and don't admit to any kind of recording unless there is no choice, ie. the cops find the device and realize what it is etc. I wouldn't post it on YouTube unless yuou are sure you won't be arrested or have your equipment seized.

[bimmerpwr]

Here is Richmond VA firetruck/ambulance with dash cam, posting on youtube, and with audio too. Looks like there is a series on youtube too.

YouTube - Richmond Virginia Quint 6 Dash Cam

I think it's a common consensus that recording video for your own record is legal in all states. Recording audio is iffy in some states so better not go there. And if you happen to record a police activity, posting it on youtube may be the smartest idea.

From google search, such device seems to be quite popular in some car forums and not so in other car forums...