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In-car camera records accidents                                                                                    

A chauffeur company in West Sussex has tested a new device that automatically captures the moments before and after a road collision.

DriveCam is an onboard camera that continuously records a journey, discarding the data every 20 seconds. If an accident, swerve or emergency brake occurs it saves the 10 seconds before and after the incident.

The camera was developed in the US, where it is now standard issue in thousands of commercial vehicles. Tristar, a limousine company working out of Gatwick Airport, says it is the first to try the system in England.

DriveCam has been endorsed in the UK by the Institute of Advanced Motorists, which said results generated by the system in the US, combined with driver training, had cut the frequency and severity of accidents by up to 50%.

The camera is mounted behind the vehicle's rear view mirror and as well as being useful for resolving issues about the culpability of crashes can identify dangerous driving behaviour.

It works by collecting high risk driving events on a palm-sized colour video recorder, capturing what the driver sees and hears inside and outside the vehicle.

For full article visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4341342.stm