Welcome to the world of not owning something fucking obnoxious, which is, to say, owning a Mazda Protege is a setup for failure sometimes.

I recommend a dual camera system. Just incase something happens behind you. I've used a few now, my current is the Blackvue DR750S with a hardline power adapter (I got rid of the Magic View Pro because I dont care about parking mode)

The original is actually 1080p but I lowered it to 720p to directly post 

@TVwazhere that looks great, but yeah I'm looking for something like... In the 100 dollar price range lol. I don't drive a Lamborghini, and I have insurance. 

There's a few good front mount only cams in the $100 range. Mostly "action cams" but I think some can be hard wired so they come on when you start the car too and overwrite the SD card. I recommend not cheaping out on storage, getting something with High Endurance Flash memory (the Samsung pro over the EVO for example)

@TVwazhere

I found this one, it's supposedly good, with a 1440p front and 1080p rear. 

https://www.amazon.com/APEMAN-Driving-Recorder-G-Sensor-Recording/dp/B07GRV85NP/ref=sxin_4_ac_m_pm?ac_md=4-1-QmV0d2VlbiAkNTAgYW5kICQxMDA%3D-ac_d_pm&keywords=Dash+cam&pd_rd_i=B07GRV85NP&pd_rd_r=c155c762-df67-420d-b899-6dad424200ae&pd_rd_w=knTvC&pd_rd_wg=lqCX6&pf_rd_p=7ffdbddd-e073-4cb0-834c-3e54bd44941a&pf_rd_r=QMZFPAF0XXQQDWE5DH0F&psc=1&qid=1567651261&s=gateway

Sounds like it might be an action cam tho. 

I am open to changing the budget if there are only shit cameras in this tier lol. I don't want to enter something, and get something shit. I'd be fine with a front only camera, but clarity is key here. 400 dollars is a little steep though. Like 200 bucks is probably the best I could go. 

I paid $300 for mine on (mass)Drop including a $25 adder for a box I ended up tossing but I got the money back on it so it was about $275

The Apeman cam doesnt look too terrible, but its hard to tell if the pixelation is from the original recording or compression from amazon. 

@TVwazhere I believe it to be compression from Amazon, though it exaggerates flaws in video. So some videos look blocky while others just look bad. But all the reviews look great. I found one a bit better with GPS logging and tracking. You can also purchase a hardwire kit with it, so it's always running I believe. I think I'll go with this one, it's a bit more expensive, but if it can save me from these methheads I'll go with it. All in with a 64gb card, the cameras, and the wires it's about 200 dollars with tax.

I appreciate you helping me out here

Couple tips when you go to install it:

• Looking at your cover photo you dont seem to have much of this, but any black weather stripping on the front of your windshield should be avoided, as the extra heat loosens the adhesive and makes you spend $5 + more than that on shipping for replacement pads (ask me how I know  )
• You can easilly hide cables in trim, weather strips and interior body panels for a very clean looking interior. I've done this install in about four vehicles now and they're all relatively straight forward. 
• When hard wiring into a fuse, you can either do what I do and wrap the wires around the car fuses (assuming your kit comes withs built in fuses like mine did) or get fuse adapters for wiring. Either way, double check your manual and try to find fuses that are not "always on" like interior lights or remote keyless entry. I usually find some sort of accessory like "sun roof" (which I dont have on my car) for this. 
• Keep your windshields as clean and streak/glare free as you can!

@TVwazhere yeah I usually keep my windshield immaculate. That's one thing I'm very particular about.

But finding something that's not always on will be kind of difficult, there's no sunroof, keyless entry and very few interior lights (a pod of 3 small ones). 

So when I plug that kit in for the hard wire, is that just like a tap off whatever fuse I put it in? 

I've ran a few wires, don't know if you've seen my posts before. I put an after market radio in my car, and I installed subwoofers too. 

Do you think I could run the wires above my headliner? There's clips in the back that hold it in place, so I assume it slides into position, and uses the clips to stay put. 

A kit like that will indeed tap into the fuse it's plugged into which makes replacement easier. I'm not sure if it needs to be a specific amp fuse though (7.5, 10, 15, etc) I've used 15a's without issues, but I think I've used 10's too.

You can tuck wires around the perimeter of the headliner and A/B pillar covers.