Modern cars have eyes everywhere: cameras looking forward, backwards, sideways, at blind spots, in the cabin. You name an angle, the car probably sees it. Most of the time, they're meant to serve as a way to avoid clipping a car just out of your mirror's view or nailing a curb in a tight parking spot.

But if they're always watching, why not put them to work? GM announced a new feature that does just that at its GM Forward tech showcase in New York.

The automaker showed off OnStar Connected Cameras, a feature that uses the car's existing cameras to automatically capture important events and make them available to drivers on the upcoming OnStar app. The idea is similar to Tesla's Sentry Mode or Rivian's Gear Guard, though GM's implementation is a little bit different. While Sentry Mode might start recording when someone gets close to your Tesla, OnStar Connected Cameras need a more severe trigger.

If an incident occurs, the system can save footage from the car's exterior cameras—the same ones that help power Super Cruise and 360-degree parking cameras—to automatically capture important events and save the clips to the OnStar app. Nick Festa, GM's executive director of product management for OnStar, told InsideEVs that the recording will look forward and back about 30 seconds, meaning each clip will have about a minute's worth of context around it.

GM specifically frames the idea around the chaotic moments following an accident where everyone suddenly has a completely different recollection of what happened and a bit of clarity could be the difference that determines who's at-fault for that fender bender.

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