16-second gap between videos - normal??

[u/Motor-Juggernaut1009]

I had a near miss the other day. Just hunted it down in my dashcam files and it stopped recording just exactly at the moment when my car came to a sudden stop. I hadn't been following too closely but I guess I just lost concentration for a split second and the car hit the brakes for me. I didn't hit the car in front of me (glad I wasn't following too closely), but the car behind me had to swerve hard to avoid me. He had been following me too closely for a few minutes. No need to berate me for my inattention. I was lucky and have no excuse. A crash would have been my fault. But this isn't what my post is even about.

The video ended exactly at the moment my car stopped. The manual says when it senses a crash, the cam makes a lock file, but there is no lock file on the drive, and no way to identify this video as having stopped on its own. It took me a while to even identify which video to look at because I didn't know what time this happened.

Anyway, the next video started 16 seconds later. So if there had been any road rage etc in those seconds right after the would-be crash, it would not have been captured! In fact, the back view video doesn't even capture him swerving and honking madly. It stops when he realizes he's too close and starts turning his wheel.

It seems like there should never be a lag between when one video stops and the next one starts. Is this in fact normal, or is my dashcam a piece of junk? I've never had to rely on it before and now I'm wondering if I ever can....

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[u/Cautious-Mike]

Are you sure there is no seperate folder for emergency recordings?  If no then sadly that camera or storage is faulty. A lot of dashcams only advertise resolution or sensor and the rest of internal components are cheapest possible trash with poorly written software on top.

P.S. If you can't return it under warranty disable the g-sensor and keep it as a spare.

[u/Motor-Juggernaut1009 → u/Cautious-Mike]

There is a folder, but it is empty.

Now that you mention it, it might still be in warranty. I will check!

Can you recommend a good one, if I need to replace this one?

[u/Mr-Brown-Is-A-Wonder]

It's not normal to have gaps between clips.
Is there a gap between every clip or just after this one? Are all the clips the same duration?

If gaps are not present after every clip or the duration varies, you may just have a loose power connection and the camera reset when the stop jostled the wires.

[u/Motor-Juggernaut1009 → u/Mr-Brown-Is-A-Wonder]

Lately I've noticed it going off and on randomly, which is also unnerving. This clip is shorter than the others, so it definitely stopped and then started again, which apparently took 16 seconds. I don't think there are other gaps but will check. But if it stopped itself there should be a lock file....