Will You Get Low Ratings For Having a Dash Camera?

You guys know I’m a big proponent of dash cams. I think every driver should have one. They’re a cheap insurance policy to prepare for the unknown, like if you get accused of something, or if you get in an accidents. I’m a big fan of them.  But will you get low ratings from your passengers if you use one?

Check out my video to see what I think about dash cams and ratings, then check out the transcript below.

We’ve reviewed a bunch of dash cams in the past so I won’t go too much into that. Personally I use the Falcon Zero which records both the inside and the outside. There’s a front and rear facing camera. At $120 or $140 it’s not super cheap but it definitely can come in handy in a lot of situations.

Get advanced tactics and earn more! Maximum Ridesharing Profits has my top tips for earning more money. Click here to enroll.

After reviewing a lot of these dash cams, people started asking me, “Will you get lower ratings from passengers if you’re going around with a dash cam?” In my experience the answer is no. Passengers won’t rate you lower for having a dash cam but there are a couple of situations that may come up, so you need to be prepared in case a passenger notices the camera or if someone asks you.

What I say to passengers about my dash cam

I’m going to tell you guys a little story. The first time I ever went out with a dash cam, it was with my Falcon Zero. I was a little bit nervous but I think I had maybe five groups of riders that first night and one group of two girls asked about the dash cam because they noticed a little green blinking light and asked, “What’s that light or what’s that thing on your mirror?”

Passengers do notice it. I explained to her, “Oh you know it’s for my safety, and for yours.” Sometimes I’ll make a joke. “Oh you wouldn’t believe the stuff that goes on back there.” Kind of joking but at the same time you can also explain that it’s for security, it’s for safety. That reassures the passengers because passengers don’t want to feel like they’re being recorded and you might go post this video on YouTube.

Some may rate you lower, but overall a dash cam shouldn’t hurt your rating

That first night that I went out with my dash cam my rating did drop by .01. So it’s definitely possible that one or two passengers here and there might rate you lower for having a cam but I think overall it really isn’t going to make much of an impact. The important thing is that if someone does ask you, you have to be able to explain why you are doing it. If you say something like, “Oh I post these videos on YouTube when I’m done driving”, that’s probably not a good idea. That’s probably going to make your passenger feel pretty uncomfortable but if you say something like, “Hey it’s for safety. You wouldn’t believe some of the shit that goes on in that back seat.” Joking around, whatever it might be sort of takes some of the tension out of the air, some of the apprehension your passengers might be feeling.

The other thing to keep in mind is there’s a bit of a learning curve for passengers. I’d say five to ten percent of drivers right now have a dash cam these days, maybe even less and depending on the area for sure. I used to never see them. Now it feels like definitely they’re more frequent and I’d say you know probably in that 5 to 10% range. Drivers are starting to add them and as they become more common, passengers will obviously get more accustomed to it.

One thing that I’ve noticed personally with my dash cam is that it also prevents bad behavior. A lot of other drivers say that their passengers are better behaved when they see the camera, so if you have some really rowdy guys in the back and they see that they are on camera, they’re going to be a lot less likely to act out.

Uber and Lyft can’t tell you not to use a dash cam

The last thing I want to mention is that I Uber and Lyft cannot tell you that you can’t use a dash cam. I’ve seen some emails where Lyft sort of implies that it’s not okay because occasionally a passenger might report it, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that you’re allowed to use it.

So don’t let that them scare you. But also make sure you’re following the laws. I think having some stickers up in your car regardless of whether you’re doing audio only or video only is the safest bet. Make sure you follow your local laws by googling it and finding out.

Ultimately I don’t think having a dash cam will affect your rating, but be prepared with a good answer in case someone asks.

If you guys have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Feel free to like, comment, subscribe to the video. Take care!

Ready to Maximize Your Ridesharing Profits?

Maximum Ridesharing Profits is The Rideshare Guy's online video course. Enroll to learn how rideshare veterans earn more, spend less, and treat rideshare driving like a real business.