KUALA LUMPUR - The government and relevant authorities have been urged to study the need to make dashcam installation mandatory or at least strongly encourage it, for private vehicles.
Lawyer M. Partiben said the approach was worth considering, drawing a parallel with the introduction of child restraint seat (CRS) requirements as a road safety measure.
He said dashcam usage had become increasingly significant in aiding investigations and legal proceedings.
"Footage now plays a major role as a source of digital evidence in a wide range of cases, including road accidents, hit-and-runs, road bullying, criminal threats and other offences," he said.
Partiben said advances in technology meant video footage could provide a more accurate account of an incident than human testimony, which may be influenced by emotion, perception or memory lapses.
"A dashcam functions like a mobile CCTV system, continuously recording the vehicle's surroundings.
"In many situations, the footage helps investigators understand the sequence of events in greater detail, making it easier to reconstruct the timeline of an incident," he said.
He said such recordings could be admitted as primary evidence in court, provided the content was authentic, relevant to the case and had not been altered or manipulated. Good recording quality, he added, also strengthened the arguments of both prosecution and defence during trial.
Partiben said dashcams had proven particularly useful in hit-and-run investigations under Section 52(1) of the Road Transport Act, as footage could quickly identify key details such as the vehicle registration number, driver identity, time of incident and route taken.
"This information is extremely useful in expediting efforts to trace individuals who flee the scene after an accident," he said.
He said dashcam recordings had also served as important evidence in road bullying and criminal intimidation cases under Section 506 of the Penal Code, with many incidents involving aggressive behaviour, obstruction of other vehicles and verbal threats successfully captured on camera and subsequently used in investigations and court proceedings.
"With such recordings, the court does not need to rely solely on witness testimony, which may vary in interpretation. Every action and word that took place can be assessed directly based on the actual circumstances at the time," he said.
Partiben said the technology also proved beneficial in robbery, snatch theft and street crime cases, where parking footage or security mode recordings had captured suspect movements and the vehicles involved, helping authorities track down perpetrators while also serving as an alibi by recording time-stamped location data.
In missing persons or abduction cases, he added, dashcam footage could help authorities trace the route of a suspected vehicle and reconstruct the sequence of events.
However, Partiben stressed that footage should not be treated as conclusive evidence that automatically determines guilt or innocence.
"The court will examine all evidence presented, including police reports, witness testimony, forensic findings and the overall facts of the case before reaching a decision.
"While dashcam footage carries high evidentiary value, the court's ruling ultimately depends on an assessment of the totality of the evidence submitted," he said.