Dashcams Top Safety Priority for 48% of Urban Car Owners, Survey Finds

Forty-eight percent of urban car owners want front and back dashcams to be made mandatory in all new vehicles, according to a survey conducted by Park+ Research Labs across three major Indian cities. The survey of 3,000 car owners in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore found that dashcams have overtaken traditional safety features as the top priority for mandatory inclusion in new cars.

The preference for dashcams stems from growing urban challenges including road rage, unsafe driving behavior, hit-and-run cases, and complexities around insurance claims. Car owners now view dashcams not merely as accessories, but as evidence-generating tools that empower drivers and promote accountability in today's driving environment.

Traditional car safety features such as airbags and crash test ratings did not top the list, though not because they are considered unimportant. Instead, consumers now view these features as basic, non-negotiable expectations. The demand has shifted towards smart, tech-enabled features that offer real-time and post-incident protection.

Bharat NCAP five-star ratings secured second place in the survey, with 32 percent of respondents ranking it as their preferred safety requirement. While structural safety remains important, it is no longer seen as a differentiator but as a standard expectation in new cars.

Six airbags received support from only 10 percent of respondents, while all-wheel disc brakes were selected by just 8 percent as must-have safety inclusions. This pattern reinforces the notion that car owners assume original equipment manufacturers are already delivering on these fronts and want more empowered tools like dashcams to take center stage.

Features outside these primary safety parameters attracted minimal interest, with only 2 percent of respondents citing other options. This indicates clear consumer focus on protection and practicality rather than additional features.

Park+ Research Labs conducted the survey as part of its digital-first, data-driven approach to understanding car owner preferences. The platform aims to provide automobile ecosystem stakeholders with actionable insights to unlock business value by capitalizing on its community of car owners and delivering data-driven feedback on car ownership patterns, real-world experiences, and buying decision processes.