Are cameras always useful?

[Crankarm]

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

He (TesterAnimal1) seems to have got good footage of a moton driving and dialling. Wonder whether he gave the footage to the local plod and the moton has been fined?

 

[Chutzpah]

Glad to see a polite debate in swing

In work at the mo so can't reply in depth, but my main thought about some clips is that when I'm on a patch of road, I own that road. I can cycle anywhere within it, but at times keep to the left to assist the flow of faster moving traffic behind me.

However, it is the responsibility of the vehicles behind me to make a safe overtaking manoeuvre if they want to pass me. End of story.

When I flip it around, the same rule applies. If I'm filtering, the vehicle in front owns that piece of road, and if I choose to overtake it must be safe for me to do so. This is why I very rarely pass down the left. Often I filter down the right and pull back in, then filter out again if it is safe to do so.

I see plenty of clips that violate this principle, leading to the person filming flinging out a list of expletives... despite it being their job to do the filtering safely.

(Yes, I know mirrors etc. are there for a reason, but as with driving a car it's always better to expect the unexpected......)

 

[JoysOfSight]

I find having a camera on makes me calm, calm, calm (I can be a bit of a terror if somebody comes close to hospitalising me).

I think it's just as simple as knowing that first, their actions are already on camera and can't be denied, and second, so will yours be if you sink to their level.

That's not to say that I don't sometimes lose it anyway, but I think that there's just not enough information to conclude that having a camera makes a calm person angry, as it might just have made an angry person much less angry!

A good illustration is, suppose I'm riding along contentedly when someone changes lanes without looking. My immediate temptation is to shout at them, or to knock on the window and point out what they've done (when we get to the lights!). But with a camera on, I largely think "well, that might make an interesting clip", and let it slide.

And a clip doesn't necessarily have to show you being wronged. Quite often I've reflected that, second time around, it seems like what they did was understandable (if never forgiveable) and I might even have set myself up or made the situation worse. That IMO is where the real value is. I ride completely differently in a post-camera world, and have far fewer issues.

 

[gaz]

Without a camera i reckon this guy would have hit me!

 

[Norm]

Not all my videos are about bad driving and people putting me in dodgy situations. I have less experienced cyclists following me on youtube and my videos are posted on forums where people will see them. In this case, i showed that you need to be careful when coming up to a side road with a vehicle in front of you as you can never tell if they plan to turn. Notice how i didn't even say anything (apart from some mild swearing but that was just to myself). Just said the plate and got on with it.

A sound reason to post the videos, Gaz.

Could I suggest, then, that the video should have opened with "I know that cars can turn without signalling, so I stayed back rather than passing but I was still a bit closer than I liked when this guy did turn left..."

 

[Jezston]

Some cyclists do over react, and some of those have helmet cameras.


This guy:
http://www.youtube.c...r/TesterAnimal1

Seems to over react over a lot of things. Watch his latest one about red light and planning. yeah, bad driving, but he sounds like he is going to cry. It wasn't that big a deal, certainly not worth the argo. Maybe stopping and clapping or something patronising if you really must.

On the other hand, this guy does have some very, very good videos (depending on how you look at it). One where he gets hit by a wing mirror and nearly ends up under a car. I couldn't fault any reaction to that. Especially as the driver didn't stop.

I'll be honest, if you look at some of my past videos I probably over react, or at least post really boring stuff. I seem a lot more laid back recently, but if something is bad I will react. I do try to remain calmer and let things go though.

Wow, that guy truly is a total penis. Or sociopath. Whatever.

Saw his video of getting clipped by the passing van (although I'm not sure it hit him as I didn't hear any sound of impact) ... someone asked him if he had gone to the police and he responded with whats the point they won't do anything anyway. Yeah, and screaming at people for the smallest infraction is going to change the world. You utter tool.

 

[Origamist]

Wow, that guy truly is a total penis. Or sociopath. Whatever.

Saw his video of getting clipped by the passing van (although I'm not sure it hit him as I didn't hear any sound of impact) ... someone asked him if he had gone to the police and he responded with whats the point they won't do anything anyway. Yeah, and screaming at people for the smallest infraction is going to change the world. You utter tool.

The video with the WVM is scary and I can see why he vents his anger/fear in that situation. To be honest, he was fortunate not to go down after being clipped and had he not controlled the slide/wobble he could have been taken out by the oncoming vehicle.

 

[jonny jeez]

I tend to find helmet cam clips very boring as there's an awful lot of poor or sloppy driving out there on the road, like late signals, no signals etc. I don't need to see it on a helmet cam clip. One of the arts of driving and cycling is to assess the neighbouring vehicle and guess what it is likely to do whether it signals or not!

That said, I think helmet cams are a good idea but I'd only review the clip on my own if I'd had a truly serious incident (or wanted to see a part of my ride that was particularly enjoyable).

+1...



-film it

-bin it

-repeat if necessary

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Different good reason for a cam being useful....

Took the scenic route out into Derbyshire on way to work, cycling past a field entrance I saw a sheep wedged under a gate looking ill and exhausted, it had got itself well and truly stuck.

I managed to raise the gate enough to pull the sheep free without causing it further injury but had no signal and low battery on my mobile, and the sheep was still in a bad way

The cam was handy just to point at the small sign by the gate to get the farm details, then ring the farm to let them know upon getting to work and shoving the SD card in the PC

 

[thomas]

Wow, that guy truly is a total penis. Or sociopath. Whatever.

Saw his video of getting clipped by the passing van (although I'm not sure it hit him as I didn't hear any sound of impact) ... someone asked him if he had gone to the police and he responded with whats the point they won't do anything anyway. Yeah, and screaming at people for the smallest infraction is going to change the world. You utter tool.

The worrying thing is, I found out about him from the CTC newsletter. About their SMIDSY campaign and the use of helmet cameras. He'd be the last person I'd show to recommend the use of a helmet camera.

Should I, politely, point him here? I'm sure he won't care less about our opinions, but considering a fair number of people posting in this thread have cameras and think he is a little extreme - he might care.

My fav, has to be this:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=SIyG5BqjM10

He goes over the line, then tells the car off behind for....going over the line lol. and says:
"I don't stop behind the line, but i always STOP for a red light..always" *sounds like he's going to cry again*

I have to say, when I see a lot of his videos and his reactions I think of a popular phrase that's said when someone isn't drinking/necking their drink fast enough for a night out..."man the *hell* up!"

 

[gaz]

The worrying thing is, I found out about him from the CTC newsletter. About their SMIDSY campaign and the use of helmet cameras. He'd be the last person I'd show to recommend the use of a helmet camera.

Should I, politely, point him here? I'm sure he won't care less about our opinions, but considering a fair number of people posting in this thread have cameras and think he is a little extreme - he might care.

My fav, has to be this:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=SIyG5BqjM10

He goes over the line, then tells the car off behind for....going over the line lol. and says:
"I don't stop behind the line, but i always STOP for a red light..always" *sounds like he's going to cry again*

I have to say, when I see a lot of his videos and his reactions I think of a popular phrase that's said when someone isn't drinking/necking their drink fast enough for a night out..."man the *hell* up!"

Thats an interesting one, the first time i have seen it.
There is no point in pointing out the flaws of a driver if you broke exactly the same law.

 

[DrSquirrel]

Also discussed said user with a few others, their more recent videos have been a bit more correct although sometimes the attitude is really wrong.

I even tried on the above video.

 

[Matthames]

I have watched most of TesterAnimal1's clips. TBH he could do with riding a lot more defensively than he does. For instance this clip could have been anticipated, my instinct told me what was going to happen right at the start of the clip. I could see that he was approaching that junction far too quickly for the conditions, in that situation I would be feathering my brakes to take the edge of the speed and to keep the water off, ready to stop if I have to.

 

[400bhp]

The worrying thing is, I found out about him from the CTC newsletter. About their SMIDSY campaign and the use of helmet cameras. He'd be the last person I'd show to recommend the use of a helmet camera.

Should I, politely, point him here? I'm sure he won't care less about our opinions, but considering a fair number of people posting in this thread have cameras and think he is a little extreme - he might care.

My fav, has to be this:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=SIyG5BqjM10

He goes over the line, then tells the car off behind for....going over the line lol. and says:
"I don't stop behind the line, but i always STOP for a red light..always" *sounds like he's going to cry again*

I have to say, when I see a lot of his videos and his reactions I think of a popular phrase that's said when someone isn't drinking/necking their drink fast enough for a night out..."man the *hell* up!"

Feck me, the guy has issues.

Male version of PMT.

 

[Crankarm]

Without a camera i reckon this guy would have hit me!

T'was a pity the footage taken by your camera was so dark hiding the face of the aggressive moton. I think had the camera footage been a lot brighter we would have clearly seen his face and the police would definitely have taken it further as a public order offence maybe just cautioned the guy but better than nothing.

Gaz - have you managed to sort out your camera's metering since as you have made a lot of vids since?

I found with my Muvis to have them pointed so there was only a small amount of horizon visible and not much bright light cuasing the lens to shut down making the foreground and shadows really dark / black.

I take your word that he may well have hit you, but unfortunately one cannot see this in the footage.
Plus he forced his way past you, crossing double white lines into the path of oncoming traffic.

The few times I have been out with the Contour HD strapped to the top of my helmet motons have given me loads of room most going right over to other side of the road as if overtaking a car which is great. I still looked behind loads though. I should imagine it clearly looks like a camera from a motons perspective. Even peds have noticed it where they previously didn't notice the much smaller Muvi cam which is very discreet.