Camsters
- Thread starter montyboy
- Start date
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BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
There are many reasons to wear cameras - how many can you think of?
Here's a start: There have been numerous incidents of assaults against cyclists, and poor driving resulting in severe injury going unpunished due to the circumstances being one guy's word against another.
Wearing a helmet cam or similar ensures that the true circumstances are recorded so that, either way, a fair conclusion can be reached. I'm sure if some drivers felt as vulnerable as some cyclists they'd have cams on their dashboard.
Wearing a helmet cam or similar ensures that the true circumstances are recorded so that, either way, a fair conclusion can be reached. I'm sure if some drivers felt as vulnerable as some cyclists they'd have cams on their dashboard.
I would like to think that no cyclists are going out there wearing cams only in the hope of finding poor driving to post on youtube or send to the cops. Im sure most cyclists would be more than happy if they never had to use any of their footage, but it's an insurance policy should the worst happen.
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
D- for effort surely?
Here are some reasons:
Campaigning against aggressive and bad driving, and less often rewarding good driving with compliments to the company involved about their employee. Bringing consequences for the small stuff makes a big difference to future behaviour.
Educating drivers on how to drive better around cyclists.
Educating cyclists on how to ride better. To be honest, I think I've probably learnt more from my own videos about my own riding than I've taught drivers through the campaigning.
Insurance against lies and dishonesty should a collision occur. This one is not a big one for me personally.
Having blatant video cameras often stops any confrontation in its tracks, as very few people are willing to carry on being an arse when they are obviously being filmed.
Recording stuff that happens on the road is a lot of fun, you sometimes catch some cool stuff.
Here are some reasons:
Campaigning against aggressive and bad driving, and less often rewarding good driving with compliments to the company involved about their employee. Bringing consequences for the small stuff makes a big difference to future behaviour.
Educating drivers on how to drive better around cyclists.
Educating cyclists on how to ride better. To be honest, I think I've probably learnt more from my own videos about my own riding than I've taught drivers through the campaigning.
Insurance against lies and dishonesty should a collision occur. This one is not a big one for me personally.
Having blatant video cameras often stops any confrontation in its tracks, as very few people are willing to carry on being an arse when they are obviously being filmed.
Recording stuff that happens on the road is a lot of fun, you sometimes catch some cool stuff.
OP
OP
montyboy
New Member
I assume that the only way by which a cyclist could end up being assaulted is if they choose to remonstrate with a driver who has driven inconsiderately.
In this day and age wouldnt it be wiser for cyclists (and drivers) to just ride to the best of their ability and to try and avoid any confrontation. Remonstrating with someone who has driven poorly is rarely going to end with an apology and a promise to try harder is it.
In this day and age wouldnt it be wiser for cyclists (and drivers) to just ride to the best of their ability and to try and avoid any confrontation. Remonstrating with someone who has driven poorly is rarely going to end with an apology and a promise to try harder is it.
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
Who said anything about remonstrating with drivers? I mean we all do it sometimes, but most of us would agree it's better to avoid talking to drivers at all. Sometimes that can be very hard with a driver determined to shout a lesson at you despite you doing nothing to engage with him, and that's where the camera can stop them. Sometimes it might just be about a driver noticing the camera and behaving much better around it, just as they would do around a police car.
OP
OP
montyboy
New Member
Erm what??
http://londonist.com/2011/07/violent-assault-on-cyclist-caught-on-camera.php
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12334486
Here's two in a 30 second google search
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
Getting the lesson across to drivers, btw., is done very effectively through afterwards posting the video on YouTube, indexing his registration plate and company name if available, and then complaining via Roadsafe (and the company if a liveried vehicle). No need to talk to them then and there.
Oh, and I forgot another benefit of the camera - it helps me to behave better than I might otherwise do. I'm not perfect and a bit of help is gladly accepted.
Oh, and I forgot another benefit of the camera - it helps me to behave better than I might otherwise do. I'm not perfect and a bit of help is gladly accepted.
OP
OP
montyboy
New Member
I did!
I cant yet see why any motorist would be angry with you unless you either had a go at him first or you have done something to cause him concern.
Maybe Ive just been lucky!
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
I doubt that - not having a camera makes it easy for you to brush off incidents, sticking your head into the sand to ignore the bad. Perhaps for you it's good for your mental sanity, but accepting bad behaviour isn't the way to improve cycling conditions for the future.
Some motorists just get angry for no good reason at all, without you doing anything to antagonise them at all. You just need to exist on the road on a bicycle to generate this.
gaz
Cycle Camera TV
- Location
- South Croydon