Should motorists start installing dash cams in their vehicles? That’s a question that is being asked by many, who recently viewed a YouTube video that was uploaded on Aug. 30, but the incident seemed to occur on Aug. 23 (or even Jan. 2010).

The video in question shows a girl attempting to create a fake car accident in order to generate cash in Taiwan. The 47-second video begins with the culprit running full speed into the car and then landing on the hood looking seriously hurt. When the driver gets out of the car, she rolls onto the ground.

It then appears that the man tells the culprit that not only does he have a video camera on his dashboard, but that he is also a cop. Towards the end of the video, it looks as if he is letting her go and just gave her a warning.

This incident has been a big hit on YouTube as it has been viewed more than 2.4 million times and has generated close to 3,400 comments. Although most of the remarks have been posted in Taiwanese, the English comments suggest that many are flabbergasted by the incident and surprised the officer let the woman go.

Earlier this year, a similar dash cam video was posted on YouTube that created a tremendous amount of buzz in Toronto news outlets and elsewhere around the world.

A young motorist was driving on the 401 in Toronto when traffic ensued. A vehicle in front of him began to roll back and hit his front bumper. The driver informed the offender, Raguruban Yogarajah, that he had a dash cam and it was all caught on tape.

It was later reported that the whole ordeal was part of an insurance scam. Yogarajah was charged with fraud over $ 5,000, public mischief and attempted fraud. Yogarajah’s personal information was posted online by “web vigilantes” who searched for his license plate. His whole life was published online; people stalked him, took photographs of him and harassed him at the bank he works at.

This begs the question: is there merit to installing a dash cam in your vehicle?