You ever come across a traffic jam caused by people who were in a small accident and then left their rides in the road? They're endangering themselves and others and causing traffic issues by blocking a lane or three. What are they even doing?
Well, they want to preserve the "crime scene", so to speak, so the correct person gets labeled at fault. This minor car crash is a murder scene, dammit, and Dexter is on his way to analyze the splash pattern of coolant across the road! With loss of insurance coverage on the line and fear of getting charged for causing an accident, people will have a mild panic and do the first thing that comes to mind: abandon the car to keep all the alleged evidence intact.
Folks, hear me now: The 90s are long dead and gone. Get a dashcam and put a high-endurance memory card in it! There are some very expensive options out there, but don't let that put you off. A mere hundred bucks will get you a perfectly serviceable one-camera setup. You don't need some $500 multi-camera system that can stream in real time to your phone, so don't let the high-end costs hold you back.
I'm personally running a Viofo A119 that's several years old by now. Below is an example clip showing me dodge a log some doofus dropped on a highway. Imagine hitting this thing at 70 MPH and then trying to convince your insurance company that there was a whole-ass log in the road and you aren't making up a story to cover up an accident that was your fault. I don't know if an insurance company would actually argue about it, but it's a good to remember that they're not your friend ⸺ that their profit comes from not paying out claims.
Aim for 1080p @ 60 FPS at a minimum as you're shopping around. Many companies tout their models' maximum resolution at 30 FPS, but you really want 60 to lessen motion blur. If you can do 1440p @ 60 FPS, even better! Whatever you buy, odds are good it'll have other handy features like automatic locking of clips when a certain G-force threshold is triggered.
Even if you go all out, it's still a lot cheaper than risking a 50/50 fault ruling (or worse) and the subsequent insurance hike for accidents that aren't entirely clear from the damage alone. Dashcams are about one of the cheapest ways to cover your ass that exist, and literally everyone should have one. As an added bonus, interesting footage can be posted online for internet points. 🙃
I'm honestly surprised dashcams haven't become standard and even mandated factory equipment yet. We have cars that watch the road ahead of you to make emergency maneuvers, some that watch your eyes to make sure you're paying attention, and many construct a real-time 3D model of the space around the car to assist with parking. Why isn't a basic camera recording the goings on out ahead of the car, then? Good question.