行车记录仪在美国合法吗？

之前我介绍过选购行车记录仪的知识，有读者问，听说在美国行车记录仪不合法？这种担心主要有以下方面。

未经他人录像是否侵犯隐私？

通常来说，在公共场所录像，不会侵犯对方隐私，也并不需要经过对方同意，就好像走在大街上看到有个流浪艺人在表演，你觉得不错、拿手机出来录像，并不需要先询问对方、征求他／她的同意。

Richmond, VA 律师事务所 Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen 的律师 Chris Jones 在他的文章 What You Need to Know about Dash Cams in Virginia 里解释：

Though some states prohibit recording others without their knowledge, Virginia law allows recording in areas to which the public has access or where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.

在大马路上行行驶，”there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.”

未经他人录音是否侵犯隐私？

Lifehacker 的文章 Will a Dash Cam Actually Help You After a Car Accident? 讨论了这个问题，他们采访了 The University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law 的法学教授 Derek Bambauer，这是他们的提醒：

For the most part, using your dash cam to record video on public streets and parking lots—where you’re almost always driving—isn’t breaking any privacy laws. That’s only for video, however. If your dash cam also records audio in your car (or has a second lens recording the inside of your car), you need to inform the people you’re driving with about the recording or it can be considered wiretapping. Bambauer lays out the types of wiretapping laws you’ll find from state to state:

Some states have “all party” laws, where each participant in a conversation or other setting must consent to the recording. So, if you are in one of those states, and you’re recording with your dash cam while your friend is in the passenger’s seat, you need her permission to make the recording. If you don’t obtain it, you could face a civil suit (assuming your friend gets mad enough to file one) or criminal prosecution. In “one party” states, any participant can consent to recording, so as long as you consent (which you likely do, since you’re running the dash cam), you’re safe from liability. And, if your dash cam is running while you’re not in the car, you might run into problems even in one party states, since it could record interactions to which you are not a party.

If you’re worried about it, you can either inform everyone who rides in your car (nothing else necessary), buy a model that doesn’t record audio, or disable the audio recording functionality.

上述分析很精彩，推荐大家仔细阅读。如果你比较懒，或英语不好，那么我给你归纳一下：

• 在大马路上等公共空间录像并不侵犯隐私。
• 录音的法律风险反而更大一些。有些州需要所有人同意，有些州则需要当事人中的一方（比如你自己）同意即可。这一点对于使用双摄像头 dashcam 记录车内情形的 Uber／Lyft 车主可能更相关：若你不确定自己所在州的法律，有人乘车时要事先告诉他们车内有录像（录音），或者关闭 dashcam 的录音。

延伸阅读：《在美国「偷」录电话内容是否违法？》。

不要遮挡驾驶员视野

大部分行车记录仪安装在挡风玻璃上、或者附近。如果遮挡驾驶员视野，可能会违法。

Virginia 的 § 46.2-1052 是这样说的：

Except as otherwise provided in this article or permitted by federal law, it shall be unlawful for any person to operate any motor vehicle on a highway with any sign, poster, colored or tinted film, sun-shading material, or other colored material on the windshield, front or rear side windows, or rear windows of such motor vehicle. This provision, however, shall not apply to any certificate or other paper required by law or permitted by the Superintendent to be placed on a motor vehicle’s windshield or window.

Alabama 的法律是这样：

No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any sign, poster or other nontransparent material upon the front windshield, sidewings or side or rear windows of such vehicle which obstructs the driver’s clear view of the highway or any intersecting highway.

每个州的法律条款及具体用语都不一样，有的更含糊，有的更明确，据我所知并没有哪个州的法律专门提及「dashcam」。上面提到的律师 Christopher Jones 说，在 Virginia，「dash cams are legal as long as they are mounted in a way that does not obstruct the driver’s view of the highway through the windshield, front side windows, or rear window」；我也持同样的观点：只要不影响驾驶员视野就行。

所以，dashcam 体积不要太大，安装的时候，尽量安装在后视镜背面、或者副驾驶员一侧，这样从驾驶员角度看过去，dashcam 会被后视镜挡住，不影响视野（或影响很小）。Dashcam 品牌 Rexing 的下面这张宣传图片很好地演示了正确的安装位置。

行车记录仪选购

《实测 2024 最好的行车记录仪 —— 哪款能清楚拍到车牌号码？》

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