AI dash cams can be a bit of a double-edged sword. While the devices deliver numerous benefits, such as providing evidence in case of an incident or enabling reduced insurance premiums, many countries have been hesitant to adopt these in-vehicle recording devices in order to respect privacy or safety laws. Let’s take a journey around the world with BRVISION to see where the benefits of AI dash cams are being reaped and where they are being denied.

Asia

The Asia Pacific AI dashcam market is expected to have the highest revenue growth in the upcoming years. Taiwan, South Korea, and China are home to a large portion of global AI dash cam manufacturers, increasing the popularity of the device in this region.

Over the past few years, China has seen a 20% increase in the use of AI dash cams, and that number will continue to grow as China is already the largest automobile market in the world. In short, more cars means more AI dash cams!

Although China currently holds the largest market share for AI dash cams in Asia, other countries in the region are seeing rapid growth as well. Increasing vehicle sales in India and South Korea will also bring more AI dash cams to the area. Problems with road safety and fraud in South East Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have led to rapid AI dash cam adoption in these nations, as people want to better protect themselves.

Japan is an outlier in this region, as AI dash cams in this country are primarily focused on commercial applications, rather than for use primarily by private citizens. Car rental firms, taxis, and police across the nation employ AI dash cams in their fleets to monitor drivers and enhance efficiency.

North America

Crossing the Pacific, we arrive in North America, where AI dash cams have been on the rise around the United States and Canada. Although Asia has the highest potential for growth, North America only lags slightly behind ahead of Europe.

Canada and the US see a combination of consumer and commercial uses for in-vehicle dashcams. In terms of the commercial sector, America has a large trucking and haulage industry, as well as increasingly popular ridesharing companies such as Uber, leaving room for growth here. However, as Canada and the US are broken down into individual states with unique laws, the legality of AI dash cams varies among these different states or provinces.

While Europe battles privacy issues, the US cares more about AI dash cams obstructing the windshield and the driver’s field of vision. States like California and Colorado allow AI dash cams to be mounted on the windshield, but states like Texas and New York forbid anything “non-transparent” to be mounted there. This is not to say that dash cameras themselves are illegal, but that drivers must be careful of where they place them in their vehicles.

Europe

Among the regions of the world, Europe represents the most diversity in terms of its relationship to AI dash cams. Although Europe has about half of the global market share for automotive dash cameras, many nations in the region have placed a ban on the devices.

Here, the biggest hurdle towards European AI dash cam adoption is overcoming privacy infringement. France and Belgium jump over this hurdle by only legalizing AI dash cams for private use, but preventing AI dash cam users from uploading footage publicly online. Germany passed a law that accepts dash cam footage as evidence in the highest court recently, but still rules that any public footage from AI dash cams must have license plates, faces, and any other personal imagery obscured or blurred to protect privacy.

Like Russia, AI dash cams are perfectly legal in Spain and the UK, both of which have the potential for growth in the European dash cam market. The only law about AI dash cams here is that they must not obstruct the driver’s field of vision. AI dash cams are also legal in Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Malta, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, but each country has different laws about the use of AI dash cams in relation to privacy and admissible evidence.

In conclusion, AI dash cams are powerful tools that benefit drivers, fleet managers, and law enforcement officers around the world. As they continue to integrate more advanced AI prevention and driver monitoring features, they are sure to grow in popularity and the world will become a safer and more accountable place. Just make sure you aren’t breaking any laws at the same time.