To allow the accident state recording device recording a video signal obtained by an image pickup means to a memory to clearly identify a bright spot to a dark spot in the case of reproducing a video image.

An image pickup device 1 picks up a state at the outside of a vehicle while revising a shutter time periodically under the control of an exposure time decision section 62. The video signal is recorded in a storage section 5 while being updated into an up-to-date video image and when a defect detector 7 detects a traffic accident, the recording is stopped. The video image whose exposure time is made different is stored to record a scene from a bright spot to a dark spot. After the accident, the recorded video image is reproduced and used for analysis of the accident. In place of differentiating the exposure time, the similar video image is obtained by differentiating the light transmission amount.