Where to Place a Dash Cam
October 16, 2026 · 12 min read
You have a new dash cam in one hand and a sticky mount in the other, and the adhesive only gets one shot. Knowing where to place a dash cam decides three things at once: whether the footage shows a readable license plate, whether a police officer can ticket you for a blocked windshield, and whether the cable ends up in your airbag’s path. This guide settles all three before you peel the backing.
Updated — six state statutes freshly checked
Quick answer
The best place to put a dash cam is high on the windshield, directly behind the rearview mirror and inside the area your wipers clear, because that spot stays out of your line of sight and matches the written rules in California, Arizona and Minnesota, including California’s 5-inch square at the top center of the glass.
Who this guide is for
This guide is for a car or pickup owner installing a front dash cam, or a front-and-rear kit, in a personal vehicle in the United States. It assumes you have never mounted one before.
This is for you if
- Your dash cam uses an adhesive or suction mount and you have not stuck it on yet
- You drive in a state with a written windshield rule and want to stay inside it
- You are adding a rear camera and need to run its cable the length of the car
Look elsewhere if
- You want to know whether recording itself, including cabin audio, is allowed where you live: read are dash cams legal in your state?
- You are fitting a fleet camera in a commercial truck, where federal rules apply first
How this guide was researched
Every legal zone in this guide comes from the state statute itself, read in October 2026, not from dash cam brands’ summaries.
Our research method
- Cedar Buy read the current windshield statutes for California, Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, Utah and Texas, plus the federal rule for commercial trucks, 49 CFR 393.60.
- Mounting and wiring advice comes from Garmin’s dash cam mounting instructions and BlackVue’s installation guide.
- States were left out where Cedar Buy could not confirm the current wording in the statute text. Third-party “laws by state” lists disagree with each other, so none were used as a source.
- Specifications come from manufacturer documentation. Cedar Buy does not physically test products — see our editorial policy.
Where to place a dash cam, in one sentence
Mount it high and centered, tucked behind the rearview mirror on the passenger side of the mirror stem, inside the wiper sweep. That one spot gives the lens a level view down the middle of the road, keeps the camera out of your sight line, and fits the written rules in California, Arizona and Minnesota. Maryland and Utah only name corner or edge zones, so check the table below first.
If your car has a bulky sensor housing behind the mirror, slide the camera just beside it rather than under it. Garmin’s own mounting instructions tell you to go as high as possible on the center of the windshield.
Behind the mirror: why it works
Behind the mirror works because the mirror already blocks that patch of glass, so a camera there costs you no extra view of the road. Four details decide whether the spot works in your car.
It sits in your existing blind spot
Your eyes already look around the mirror, so a camera the size of the mirror’s back adds nothing to block. Keep the whole body hidden behind the mirror when you sit in your normal driving position. If you can see the camera over the mirror’s edge, move it.
The wipers keep the lens clean
Garmin’s mounting guide says to check that the wipers clear the glass in front of the lens. A camera above the wiper sweep films rain, snow and road spray in exactly the weather when crashes happen. Run your wipers once with the mount held in place before you commit.
Center height gives a balanced picture
A centered lens sees both lanes equally, so a car cutting in from either side stays in frame. Mounted high, the camera looks over the hood instead of filming it. Aim it so the hood fills no more than the bottom tenth of the picture.
Ignore the “hide it on the dash” advice
A dashboard mount films your windshield’s reflections and the dashboard top, and it slides in a hard stop. Use the dashboard only in a state that bans anything on the glass. Even then, use an adhesive mount, not a loose beanbag.
Legal windshield zones by state
The legal zone depends on your state: some name an exact square in inches, some only allow the area around the mirror, and some, like Texas, set no zone and ban anything that blocks your view. The diagram shows where each rule puts the camera, and the table gives the statute behind it.
| State | Where it may go | Size limit | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Top center of the glass, lower passenger corner, or lower driver corner outside the airbag zone | 5-in square top center; 7-in square passenger corner; 5-in square driver corner | Cal. Veh. Code 26708 |
| Arizona | Immediately behind, slightly above or slightly below the mirror; or either lower corner | Mirror area: none stated; 7-in square passenger corner; 5-in square driver corner | A.R.S. 28-959.01 |
| Minnesota | Immediately behind, slightly above or slightly below the mirror only | None stated | Minn. Stat. 169.71 |
| Maryland | A lower corner of the windshield, placed so it does not block your view of traffic | 7-in square | Md. Transp. 21-1104 |
| Utah | A strip along the top edge, or the lower left corner | Top: 4 in down or the AS-1 line, whichever is lower; lower left: 3 in wide by 4 in tall | Utah Code 41-6a-1635 |
| Texas | No set zone; anything that blocks or reduces your clear view is an offense | None stated | Tex. Transp. Code 547.613 |
| Commercial trucks, all states | Outside the driver’s sight lines, near the top or bottom of the wiper sweep | Within 8.5 in of the top or 7 in of the bottom of the wiper sweep | 49 CFR 393.60 |
What the table does not show
California’s rule is written for a “video event recorder”, and Arizona’s and Minnesota’s for “safety monitoring equipment”. Neither statute says “dash cam”, so the zones above are how the text reads, not a court ruling. Cedar Buy is not a law firm; if your state is not listed, check its own statute before you mount.
Rear camera placement
Put the rear camera at the top center of the rear window, which is where BlackVue’s installation guide places it. High and centered, it sees both lanes behind you and the plate of the car that hits you.
Rear-window rules are looser than front ones. Arizona’s and Texas’s statutes exempt the rear window when the car has outside mirrors on both sides, and Utah allows nontransparent material on rear windows outright. Stick the mount on clear glass, away from tint bands and the third brake light, and press the adhesive between the thin defroster lines rather than across them.
On an SUV or hatchback, the rear glass lifts with the hatch. Leave a slack loop in the cable at the hinge so it does not pull tight every time you open it.
Placement mistakes that ruin footage
The most expensive mistake is mounting the camera somewhere the lens cannot read a plate: behind tint, outside the wipers, or so low that the hood fills the frame. Footage that never shows the other car’s plate rarely settles a claim.
- Mounting behind the tinted band or the dotted black fritGarmin’s instructions warn against placing the camera behind a tinted area. Tint and the frit (the band of black dots around the glass edge) darken the picture at night, when you need it most.
- Covering the car’s own safety cameraMany newer cars carry a lane-keeping or emergency-braking camera behind the mirror. Blocking it can switch those systems off, so check your owner’s manual and mount beside the housing, not over it.
- Sticking it outside the wiper sweepAbove the wiper path, rain and grime sit on the glass in front of the lens. Test the wipers before the adhesive goes on.
- Aiming down at the hoodA camera tilted too low wastes the frame on paint. Level the lens so the horizon sits just above the middle of the picture.
Cable routing from the mount
Run the cable up from the camera into the gap between the windshield and the headliner, across to the passenger-side pillar, and down to the power socket. Garmin’s mounting guide describes tucking the cable into that trim gap, and warns that a loose cable must never reach the pedals.
The pillar (the post on each side of the windshield) often hides a curtain airbag, marked “SRS” or “Airbag” on the trim. BlackVue’s installation advice is to keep cables clear of airbag deployment zones. Tuck the wire along the windshield edge of the pillar or behind the airbag, never across its face.
For a rear camera, follow the headliner edge back to the rear glass along the same route. Hardwiring into the fuse box powers parking mode, but the camera needs a fuse that switches off with the ignition; if you have not worked on fuses before, pay an installer.
Key terms, explained
These four words appear in statutes and manuals, and none of them is explained there.
Plain-language definitions
- AS-1 line
- A small mark etched near the top edge of most windshields that shows how far down tint and stickers may legally reach. Utah and Texas both measure their top-edge limits from it, usually alongside a 4- or 5-inch fallback.
- Wiper sweep
- The area of glass your wipers actually clear. A dash cam lens should sit inside it, and federal rules for commercial trucks measure camera zones from its top and bottom edges.
- Frit
- The black painted band and fading dots around the edge of the windshield. It hides the glue that holds the glass in, and a lens behind it records a darker, blotchy image.
- Video event recorder
- California’s legal term for a recorder that films in a constant loop but saves clips when a crash or sudden motion triggers it. It is the closest the state’s vehicle code comes to the word “dash cam”.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to mount a dash cam on the windshield or the dashboard?
Mount it on the windshield behind the rearview mirror if your state allows it. The windshield gives a higher, steadier view, keeps the lens inside the wiper sweep and avoids the glare a dashboard camera picks up from the inside of the glass. Use a dashboard mount only where state law forbids anything stuck to the windshield, and choose an adhesive base so it cannot slide.
Can a dash cam go on the driver side of the windshield?
Only in a small lower corner, and only in some states. California and Arizona allow a 5-inch square in the lower driver corner, and Utah allows an area 3 inches wide by 4 inches tall at the lower left. That spot films from a low, off-center angle, so it is a fallback, not a first choice. Behind the mirror gives better footage almost everywhere.
How high should a dash cam be on the windshield?
As high as it can go while the lens stays inside the area your wipers clear. On most cars that means the lens sits just below the mirror mount, a few inches under the top edge of the glass. Too high puts the lens behind the tinted band or frit, and too low fills the picture with your hood.
Will a dash cam behind the mirror block my car’s safety sensors?
It can if you place it over the sensor housing. Many newer cars have a camera for lane keeping or automatic emergency braking in a plastic cover behind the mirror. Blocking its view can disable those features. Check your owner’s manual for the sensor’s field of view and mount the dash cam beside the housing, usually on the passenger side.
Where should the rear dash cam go on an SUV?
At the top center of the rear window, on clear glass away from the tint band and the third brake light. On an SUV the glass lifts with the hatch, so leave a slack loop of cable at the hinge and pass it through the rubber boot that already carries the hatch wiring. That keeps the cable from pulling tight each time the hatch opens.
What to do before you peel the adhesive
Sit in your normal driving position, hold the camera behind the mirror, and check four things before you press it on.
- The camera is hidden behind the mirror from your seat.
- The wipers clear the glass in front of the lens.
- The spot fits your state’s zone in the table above, or does not block your view if your state sets none.
- A test clip on your phone shows the horizon just above center and the hood at the bottom edge only.
Cedar Buy’s view: if all four pass, stick it there and run the cable along the headliner. If your state is not in the table, read are dash cams legal in your state? before you mount.
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