I looked a while ago at apps for an old cell phone.  But thing is, I think you want something that live uploads to the cloud.  So maybe there is a camera that can either stream to your phone to upload, or use your phones hotspot (unless you want to spring for a dedicated mobile line - sold through the dashcam provider it might not be that prohibitive)

posted by gut

But thing is, I think you want something that live uploads to the cloud. 

what? no. you don't want this.

most of the footage is inherently useless and will never be viewed, so you'd be paying a recurring fee for bandwidth/storage for nothing. i don't even think such a thing exists on the consumer side.

99.999999% of dashcams on the market just write to a microsd card until they fill up and then start overwriting the oldest footage. in the event something bad happens, the footage is still sitting on there because it hasn't been overwritten yet. you pop the sdcard and grab whatever you need. some of them have smartphone apps that let you call up/record the footage straight from the app, but obviously, those cost a little more. they leverage wifi to do this, not a cellular plan.

justin - you probably want one of viofo's offerings. their product stack has cheaper offerings or expensive offerings depending on what you need. i suggest looking at vortex radar on youtube as he reviews them and has no problems calling them out when they do something stupid.

he also has a website

my new toyota has one. after reading your story, i'm activating mine. sorry i'm not much help. i hadn't thought of the video storage either, that's another problem i've got to understand.

Thanks Monty, I'll take a look when I get a chance. 

Monty nailed it.  I've had a Garmin dashcam for about 4 or 5 years.  I have only taken footage off mine once.  (A semi lost a tire and I watched it bounce across 4 lanes of highway and the median.)  There is no need to upload to a cloud.

justin, if you didn't make your move yet the black friday deals are live for most of the viofo offerings

posted by MontyBrunswick

what? no. you don't want this.

most of the footage is inherently useless and will never be viewed, so you'd be paying a recurring fee for bandwidth/storage for nothing. i don't even think such a thing exists on the consumer side.

And, yet, that footage 2-3 seconds immediately before and after an accident, which could be destroyed in a crash or fire, is what you most likely want this for.

Or if you have an accident and, you know, they see your dashcam and destroy it.  Again, what's the point if 80%+ when you need it is going to get destroyed?