The Smart Witness accident camera is compact and discreet and is unlikely to be noticed by anyone outside the vehicle.

If you mention an in-cab camera to most drivers, their first reaction will probably be that they don’t want to be spied on and that having such a camera is a sign they aren’t trusted.

The truth, however, may be the complete opposite. One of the biggest problems with insurance claims is the “he said, she said” type of argument that often results when there are no independent witnesses to a collision.

Having video footage can immediately establish the truth of what happened, reducing insurance claims and protecting innocent drivers from unfair accusations.

This recent story is a great example:

Shocking video footage captures the moment a motorcyclist veers across a winding country lane and is involved in a terrifying collision with a truck. The video shows the bike being smashed to smithereens after driving into the HGV.

Miraculously, the biker escaped with just a broken shoulder after narrowly avoiding being crushed.

The police were called and the HGV driver was allegedly accused of speeding, dangerous driving and poor lane discipline.

His truck was fitted with a Smart Witness Vehicle Accident Camera which proved that the HGV was NOT to blame for the collision.

The video proved that he was travelling at just 27mph at the point of collision and driving safely on the correct side of the road.

As soon as the police viewed the footage, the motorcyclist’s complaint was dismissed and a messy and expensive insurance battle was avoided.

Reading this made me wonder whether van hire companies could also benefit from fitting devices such as the Smart Witness camera to their fleets.

In the event of an accident, rather than being forced to lodge an insurance claim against the other driver using a second-hand and possibly unclear description of events from the driver of the rental van, hire firms would be able to view footage of the accident and provide this to police — and if necessary the other driver’s insurance company — to provide a simple and rapid resolution of the claim.

Top of the range in-vehicle camera models such as Smart Witness’ SVC100GPS accident camera provide video, GPS speed and location data, and a shock sensor for impact measurement. This enables police accident investigators to rapidly work out what happened, and who was at fault. The Smart Witness unit costs £239, but cheaper cameras without GPS are also available from other manufacturers, which would cut the cost of a fleet-wide installation and would still provide the unique benefit offered by video footage.

Installation requirements are minimal and although there would be a risk that the device would be stolen or interfered with by rental customers, I reckon that by avoiding just a handful of insurance claims each year, a system like this could easily pay for itself for hire companies.

In the meantime, in case you are unlucky enough to have an accident in a hire van, why not check out our accident and breakdown guide?