I love DriveCam. Everyone should get one. I think it makes me a better driver, and if I am ever in a accident I hope I'll be able to use the video to prove that it wasn't my fault. If it *was* my fault, well then at least I'll know.
I wanted to be able to download my own videos, so I asked DriveCam how and they replied...
"For security purposes events can't be downloaded
from the website.
We are able to download events from our side if needed.
Is there a particular event you are looking for?
Log into your account on the DriveCam website.
Find the event you want to download and note its
"Event ID". This number is in the upper left corner of the video window...
Cut and paste this URL into your browser (it can be a
new tab or the same tab)...
https://online.drivecam.com/EventsAnalysis.dco?type=1&id=12345
...but change that "12345" at the
end to be your event ID number.
You should see a popup asking you to save the file. Save it!
You now have the file on your hard drive. It is a WMV file, so you can just double click on it on Windows computers. For other machines, you might need a player like VLC. You can also upload that WMV file to YouTube and they will automatically convert it so you watch it there.
Q: Isn't this is security risk? Is this hacking?
A: This is not a security risk. You have to be logged into your account for this
to work. You can only download your own videos.
Q: Why would I want to do this?
A: I wanted to do this because my daughter was doing something funny and
DriveCam caught it. I wanted to show it to some family members, but didn't
necessarily want to give them my DriveCam login info, so I download the video
and uploaded it to YouTube and shared the link with them. I could also see where
you would want to download your videos just to keep them. Also, DriveCam only
keeps your videos online for 90 days, so I like being able to download them and
keep them for as long as I like.
Q: What would you do?
A: If I were DriveCam, I'd add a "download this video" button and even a "share
this video to YouTube" button to the interface. I'd love to see a culture spring
up where teenagers (and adults like me) are encouraged to share their mistakes
so others can learn from them. There is nothing like seeing someone else almost
hit a bus because they were popping a pimple to make me think twice the next
time I want to try to pop a pimple while driving.
I'd also add a way to see that last time a camera checked into the server, and let me set up alerts if the camera doesn't check in after a certain period of time. And the camera should also use its internal battery to send you a "signing off now" message whenever it looses power so you can know if someone is disabling it (or when your car battery is going dead!).
Finally, I'd rationalize the pricing. While I think the DriveCam is a bargain at any price, it would be better if it weren't so expensive. I'd sell the camera hardware with marginal pricing, then bill based on actual recurring costs plus a profit margin. By selling the camera cheap, you could increase production and get economies of scale. Eventually have car makers include it in the car like OnStar, where people could then just push a button to activate it for a nominal monthly fee. Just having a DriveCam capable car would probably lower people's insurance like alarms do, and start a virtuous cycle. DriveCam would make much less money per camera, but much more money overall because there would be some many cameras. You'd also eventually (hopefully) hit a tipping point where in the case of an accident between a person with a DriveCam and a person without one, the onus would be on the person without the camera to prove it wasn't their fault. This is so much better than what now typically happens in accidents where often the drivers themselves don't even know what happened so everyone wastes huge amounts of money suing each other.
5/16/2011- Published.
5/17/2011- Corrected the FAQ to reflect that DriveCam only keeps videos online for 90 days.