Action cameras and safety

[Jimidh]

And by far the majority of your riding is still in Denmark, or at least not in busy British cities?

I’m with Danish Stevie - whilst not all drivers are great I can think of only once that I felt in proper danger by a driver, lorry overtaking on a tight bend, generally in my experience most drivers I come across give me enough space.

Maybe I’m lucky living in an area where cycling is a big sport, lots of MTB and road cycling, so lots of drivers are or know cyclists.

 

[Arjimlad]

What I find alarming about this is that in the last 15 years I could not think of a dozen occasions where I would want to report someone. I ride about 1000km each month.

I am not suggesting you are doing this. But watching youtube clips it appears some riders are going out to pick fault with motorists. Just because they have bought a camera. In my experience it would maybe be better if cyclists sorted out cyclist first. My biggest danger is from cyclists with headphones and mobile phones. Often both at the same time.

Having the camera does make it much easier to report dangerous driving so yes, I have reported a lot more than I would have done if it'd been a case of visiting the police station. Before online uploading, I would report things less often, but that doesn't mean that they happened less frequently.

With this one, the outcome was a police visit to the driver who (they told me) was genuinely remorseful & shocked at how close the pass was from my POV. Her husband cycles a lot and she would be taking a lot more care in future. I thought this made it very worthwhile reporting !

I don't encounter other cyclists all that much on my commute, but I regularly get close passes from drivers, chiefly through carelessness. I am not looking out for them but if something happens like that, why not let the driver know that it is substandard & hazardous for the cyclist ? If no-one tells them they will never change. If they get a letter of advice from the traffic Police it is not just my opinion being communicated. At least they have had fair warning & a chance to improve their driving.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Some riders may be very lucky to live in an area where the level of motor traffic doesn't present a threat, or where drivers are more considerate. That's fantastic and I wish I lived/rode somewhere like that. However, don't let that take away from the real concerns of those who have to contend with frequent life-threatening behaviour from drivers in their area and feel the need to invest in a camera so that there's a slim chance police will believe them.

In terms of road harm reduction, I doubt there are KSI stats anywhere in Europe that show a greater risk to life than motor traffic.

 

[bianchi1]

I reported a driver (using a video) for a close pass a couple of months ago. Turned out I sort of know the bloke. He wasn't too happy to go on a driver awareness course as it cost him £90, and apparently he "always gives cyclists loads of space".

Hopefully the course will show him that he is mistaken as under 1/2 meter isn't enough!

 

[fossyant]

Not having a camera, and not riding on the roads leads me to a happier life. I have a camera, but I'll occasionally use it for filming fun stuff on the MTB.

You can lose too much of your life worrying about poor driving - just wait till they very nearly make you paraplegic - that led me to not bother with road cycling again. I had too many months lying there to think about it.

 

[steveindenmark]

Some riders may be very lucky to live in an area where the level of motor traffic doesn't present a threat, or where drivers are more considerate. That's fantastic and I wish I lived/rode somewhere like that. However, don't let that take away from the real concerns of those who have to contend with frequent life-threatening behaviour from drivers in their area and feel the need to invest in a camera so that there's a slim chance police will believe them.

In terms of road harm reduction, I doubt there are KSI stats anywhere in Europe that show a greater risk to life than motor traffic.

You want me to invite you all oved to Denmark dont you ?

 

[sheddy]

when can we come ?

 

[Johnno260]

What I find alarming about this is that in the last 15 years I could not think of a dozen occasions where I would want to report someone. I ride about 1000km each month.

I am not suggesting you are doing this. But watching youtube clips it appears some riders are going out to pick fault with motorists. Just because they have bought a camera. In my experience it would maybe be better if cyclists sorted out cyclist first. My biggest danger is from cyclists with headphones and mobile phones. Often both at the same time.

I think location plays a big role, If I cycle around my home it's very rural and I'm quite lucky and feel rather safe.

If I commute to work it's nice until I reach Tunbridge Wells, once in the town it's not very pleasant people are rushing around and I get squeezed and I had some very close left hooks, but it's the same if driving people just have tunnel vision.

I have found a better route now that follows the train line so I can avoid roads for a large chunk of my journey now.

 

[AlanW]

I have a 25 mile round trip everyday, with a mix of main roads and country lanes, and near enough everyday some knob head will pass to close, guess its part and parcel of riding on two wheels?

 

[classic33]

You want me to invite you all oved to Denmark dont you ?

Yorkshires fine.

 

[Arjimlad]

I have a 25 mile round trip everyday, with a mix of main roads and country lanes, and near enough everyday some knob head will pass to close, guess its part and parcel of riding on two wheels?

It really shouldn't be part of the experience. This is why I report them. One by one they'll learn...

 

[AlanW]

It really shouldn't be part of the experience. This is why I report them. One by one they'll learn...

I agree it really shouldn't but it is, its a fact with two wheeled transport, motorised or otherwise. Like most people, if I were to report every near miss or close pass or cars pulling out on me then I would spend more time reporting them than I would riding!

That said I have had a few truly shocking experience's which I have reported to the Police and despite the lack of any camera footage they have followed my complaint and spoken to the drivers.

The classic close pass was a tractor and trailer, in this case the trailer was a huge muck spreading trailer with the trailer wheels being the same size as the rear wheels on the tractor. As he went past me he pulled into soon and the nearside trailer wheel rubbed on my right shoulder putting a number of circular marks on the arm/shoulder of my Assos jacket.

We chased the tractor and found out which farm it belonged to and I reported it to the Police. Initially the response from the Police was very negative, saying no one has been injured and there are no witnesses, so tough in other words. Then I returned the next day with my jacket and said, how much more evidence do you want? Fair play, they acted pretty quick, located the driver and issued him with a caution.

 

[Arjimlad]

I agree it really shouldn't but it is, its a fact with two wheeled transport, motorised or otherwise. Like most people, if I were to report every near miss or close pass or cars pulling out on me then I would spend more time reporting them than I would riding!

That said I have had a few truly shocking experience's which I have reported to the Police and despite the lack of any camera footage they have followed my complaint and spoken to the drivers.

The classic close pass was a tractor and trailer, in this case the trailer was a huge muck spreading trailer with the trailer wheels being the same size as the rear wheels on the tractor. As he went past me he pulled into soon and the nearside trailer wheel rubbed on my right shoulder putting a number of circular marks on the arm/shoulder of my Assos jacket.

We chased the tractor and found out which farm it belonged to and I reported it to the Police. Initially the response from the Police was very negative, saying no one has been injured and there are no witnesses, so tough in other words. Then I returned the next day with my jacket and said, how much more evidence do you want? Fair play, they acted pretty quick, located the driver and issued him with a caution.

Good work. I agree that not every incident should be reported otherwise it'd be a full time role - but a couple of weeks ago I had five to report in three days. Results were two NIPs, two letters of advice and one NFA.

 

[Sunny Portrush]

I am looking at getting some sort of camera but I am completely undecided lol

My main concern is how much videoing I can do in one go or if I can get a camera that will still record if Im using a power-bank on it.

And it`s not for recording bad motorists, I`m actually off cycling in the Alps next year and I want something that will record the climbs for me. That rules out any cameras that conk out after an hour as I would still be halfway up a good alpine climb!

 

[classic33]

@Shut Up Legs hasn't started on the alps yet, I think. But he did a fair amount of videoing his rides.