Android app captures hit-and-run on camera

We have seen Android devices save people's lives. Now it's catching crooks. Imagine just driving down the road minding your business, and someone miscalculates their lane change, and next thing you know they hit you and then speed off. Well just that happened to a driver in Knoxville, Tenn., but lucky for him he was using the Android application DailyRoads Voyager, which happens to capture video of the whole drive after the application is launched. While this doesn't change the fact that he got hit, it sure helps to identify exactly what happened, and in some cases could provide crucial evidence.
If you haven't already installed this application on your device, be sure to head to the market and download your copy today. Video of the hit-and-run and and download links for the app are after the break.
Source: WBIR / Thanks, Tim!
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I'm so downloading that! I've been wanting something like that for awhile.
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Nice app but I would rather be using trapster cuze I would be the guy passing this guy who is looking at his phone recording the road, but I might use it to record some craziness while walking the street of NYC
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Well, unless the picture is blown up and cleaned up, it looks like there wasn't a plate on that car.
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Looks like it had a temp tag on the top of the rear window.
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Nice but I bet that app fills up the sd card fast
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Nope, you can set how long each file is in seconds. You can have it save 1 file, 2 files or 3 files when the app has been triggered.
I have mine set up to 2 minutes. I was playing with it last night. Left it on in the background, had my nav going with some music playing, then I smacked the phone in the dock. It recorded right when it got hit. I think it was like 10 or 15 mb on the SD card.
Plus you can set it up to upload videos to their site(And others soon), then delete the videos after, saving space. Thanks for using my tip AC! :D I hope it can help someone! -
It's not a navigation display, so I hope it comes with a screen black out feature or its a moving violation in 39 states.
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It does background video capturing so you can have your navigation app running instead or even blank the screen entirely.
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hope you got the tool who cut you off like that,some people drive like Aholes.At least you got good documentation there !!
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I like this application, downloading as I'm reading. Tada.
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meh. I don't care to record stuff while driving. Too distracting and no need for a black box.
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That would be neat to have and might come in handy sometime. To bad my cardock blocks the camera.
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I would like to know what kind of cardock that is
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drill a hole through it
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I made a video of commentary about my town once with my Galaxy Tab mounted to my windshield. I didn't have it aimed correctly, so all you could see was what was on the side of the road. It entertained me, at least.
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recording video, until now, has never been possible! CSI NY is standing by to zoom in 1000x and convert blocks of pixels into readable image (They created a GUI in visual basic to do it)
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Id like this if you could have a gps overlay on the display. Does such a thing exist?
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Great app, it recorded 4 driving misconducts/felonies 1) Left lane is only to overtake other cars, the 1st driver wasn't
2) You can only overtake a car by its left (hence 1)), 2nd didn't
3) The Accident it self
4) Hit and run (the worst of them all) I´m not trying to defend the second driver, what he did was plain wrong and he obviously was driving like an @$$H0le, but the first one wasn't driving as he should either. -
Somewhat true, Though that was not an interstate so the left lane only for passing rule does not apply. Also, that's not even a law in TN. I have to say though, Every time I go through knoxville, I want to pry my eyes out due to the way people drive. What gets me the most is the fact that it does have a temp tag in the back window. Who drives a new car like that?
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I know thats not a law, thats why I also put misconduct. I never saw the temp tag, great observation
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Actually, the interstate rules differ by state too. Oregon = Keep right except to pass.
California = Slower Traffic keep right. (makes the most sense)
Washington = Keep right excpet to pass or when moving faster than the traffic flow. (Well DUH!). -
Regardless if it's a punishable law or not in the state, it's one of the basic laws of common sense while driving, left lane is for passing slower cars, then you go back to the right lane, or at best you can keep on the left lane, when you are the faster car on the road, that's a basic rule of traffic, not necessarily a punishable offense, thta's the way it is in the US, in Europe, and even here in Brazil, where I live. It's funny you see here in brazil, in some states, people driving and respecting that law perfectly and in others, like my state, most people drive in the left lane like it's their own private lane, in cities and interstate, you even see trucks on the left lane, it's ridiculous. The guy who hit and run was sure driving like he was gonna save someone from death row, but the accident would not have happened if the driver hit was driving in the right lane to begin with. On a mean note, it seems the camera didn't capture the car plate, and considering the difference between the two cars, one seem a brand new full of HP and the other an old one in not so good shape, it's unlikely he could've catch up with the guy who hit him.
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Sorry LGiusti84, but you are wrong on your first two accounts. You can see an intersection coming up with stop lights. If you were the driver who got hit, how would you ever make a left hand turn at that light if you were never legally allowed to enter the lane in which he was traveling in order to make that left hand turn? Likewise, you certainly can pass someone on the right if in the same type of situation if the vehicle in the left lane is traveling slower than you are. I live in Wisconsin and this is the way the exception to allow passing on the right is allowed: "Upon a street or highway with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width to enable 2 or more lines of vehicles lawfully to proceed, at the same time, in the direction in which the passing vehicle is proceeding" so, clearly the driver of the hit vehicle was NOT doing anything wrong.
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How would I made that turn (and I don't even know if he was going to), thats easy, I would stayed on the right lane and as I approach to the turn I would first looked through the mirrors to see if anyone was coming since the last time I looked, put the turning lights, change lanes until I got to the one on the left, that one that has the turning arrow painted on, that one that it is specially added at the left for that purpose.
But I wouldn't kept 12/15 seconds or more (thats what I can see on the video from its beginning) on the left side while it wasn't necessary. As we drive on the left side of our cars, thats the side we have a better view so if you want to look whats ahead the car in front of you to overtook it, you have to: Passing it on the right:
- Invade the right lane with half your car just to look
- Then speed up and pass a car on a lane where cars go slower (usually)
and I this case
- Expose yourself to higher chances of finding a stopped car on your way, as cars the right lane have to at least reduce considerably their speed on this lane to turn right, while cars turning left have a specially added piece of lane just for this Passing it on the left:
- Taking a look is a lot easier, most probably you wont even have to step on the other lane
- Drive faster on a lane where cars drive faster (usually) And you can't overtake cars on their left if that lane is occupied. Alright, there its not a law (I wasn't sure), as I said, for me it is a misconduct (keep the "/felony" part just for 3) and 4)) or not applying common sense, I drive this way, I always try to keep on the right no matter where I'm driving. Where I live its not a law (at least for what I know), but I remember as a kid seeing road sings saying "KEEP YOUR RIGHT" on almost every road (Interstate or not), to bad they are disappearing, and that every day they are giving driving licenses so easily, specially to guys like the one who hit and run. PS: the car gets hit @18s (aprox.)
PS2: the car on the right start braking @16s (aprox.) -
Every state and country is different man. I don't know which state that one is though.
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It was Tennessee.
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What is the difference between this app and the video recorder/camera?
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It records continuously and only keeps the footage if you want it to.
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Is it me or does it look like this guy is starting to speed up when the white car starts trying to pass him (using the yellow center lines as reference). Don't get me wrong the guy in the white car is just a bad driver, but nothing pisses me off more than someone crawling along in the left lane and then when you go to pass them they speed up.
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After watching the video for the 3rd time, not only the guy was crawling on the left lane, when he saw that the white car was gonna pass him, he definitely speed up, but the guy's car was a piece of junk, so he couldn't match the horsepower of the other car, but it seemed enough to almost prevent the pass.
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I work right over the hill to the left. I recognized the street right away.
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awesome.
was just thinking about this type of app recently.
now i have to buy a car dock...you planned this, AndroidCentral...you've been watching my posts--baiting me... wonder if this would stand up in court or insurance claims -
Are there any car docks that don't block the camera? Virtually every one I've seen is intended as a GPS and doesn't have any opening for the camera. (Bonus points if your answer is for the Thunderbolt)
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I have the iGrip for the tb (thanks android central!) and not only is it very solid, but the camera isn't covered at all. You can, however, see a tiny bit of the mount's arm in the side edge of the camera's view
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Funny thing, that car of the driver who was using the app is not a Mercedes even though it has Mercedes rims. Needless to say very useful app, especially here in Toronto. Crazy drivers
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You are mistaken. Those are clearly Mazda rims. The have the Mazda logo in the middle.
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Pros:
- BlackBox utlity! Cons:
-I would forget to turn it on, haha
-If I remmeber to turn it on, sure I would be using it alongside with the GPS Navigation, lookout and music player and that would slow my phone down a lot just to get crappy video (yeah, I know I might need a newer/better phone) I'll have to try it and see By the way, people using Spica on froyo (2.2), now you can get your phone to record 640x480 @30fps (at your own risk) thanks to the amazing people on samdroid.net and have a better evidence of a hit and run Link: http://forum.samdroid.net/f57/640x480-camera-30fps-mp4-4873/ Also remember to visit their site to get the update to Android 2.2 -
but then how are you supposed to text and drive if the phone is recording video?!?!
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Hello, thats what Multi-tasking is for, psh. lol
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The guy's last name is Bender, it was like it was his destiny!
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I've been using this app for a month now and is the best black box app I've used so far.
What makes it great is that it runs in the background and doesn't interfere with other apps like navigation and music.
However, it stops recording during phone calls. This could be a limitation of the hardware but I would rather it continue recording if it is possible.
Battery stops charging while recording, again probably a hardware limitation or excess heat from the sun.
None of the backbox data is saved in the video file, GPS, speed, alt, etc. It is only viewable when playing back through the app. To use it as evidence you need to record your phone playing back the video with another phone.
It has its flaws but I hope the dev continues to work on it. It is a huge step in the right direction and an app I would gladly pay for. -
During phone calls the app is put into background mode, but should continue recording, if background mode is enabled in the settings. That's certainly what happens on the phones I tested with. Android doesn't allow anything to be overlaid on video sequences. I am working on an external service, where you'd be able to specify what GPS info to embed. The next major version (1.7) of the app will have this service integrated.
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in his defense he did signal, LOL. Hate people like this. Surprised how often people drive off like this.