Close shave, do I get an action camera for cycling ?

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Scaleyback

Veteran
Location
North Yorkshire
I had a very scary incident yesterday on a quiet country road a car (moving fast) came around a corner way over my side. The driver saw me late and made a large steering correction. It all happened so fast I didn't see if the driver was male/female. My HR went sky high and I realisied I had a close shave.
I felt/was powerless, had no car details and there were no witnesses. This has made be strongly consider a
helmet camera. My thoughts being if I had the car registration I might be able to track this ba***rd down.
Would the police be interested is another question ?
I was considering the: Drift Innovation Ghost X. Does anyone use one of these, if so is it worth buying ?
Any other thoughts welcome.

 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Thing is, having kit like this can wind you up more. Sometimes you've got to let it go (speaking from someone who was very nearly paralysed 3 years ago).

Camera's really should be just for fun stuff.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
I certainly do not think it would be a good idea to "track the driver down", leave that to the police.
The police may or may not be interested in details of a close-pass, it seems to depend on which police force covers the area, how busy the police may be or the mood of the officer receiving the complaint.
I don't have a cam and my local police would not consider my most recent complaint, which is an unfortunate development as they dealt satisfactorily with a couple of complaints back in the days before cameras became common place:sad:.
 

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
Have you tried the search function?

If you want the slightest chance (and it usually is slight) of the police doing something about bad driving then get a Fly12 and Fly6 combo.
If you ride alone and in quiet areas it may be of use if you're ever skelped in a hit & run, your next of kin will at least know what happened.
 
Good morning,

I see two downsides to having a camera in addition to the getting overly wound up already mentioned.

1) When you are in the wrong it records that too. :-)

2) If you are involved in an incident and the camera is genuinely not working or switched off then the other side will just accuse you of wiping the evidence, making your case weaker.

In my case once the novelty had worn off I won't be bothered to charge it often enough so it would be off when needed.

Bye

Ian
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Just consider your mental health here. Things like facebook etc aren't good either. I had to learn to forget after my accident - driver didn't even get a telling off, I had my life changed. I just have to remember I'm still here, still a dad/husband and able to ride my bike !

Getting into editing/reviewing/analysing and sharing bad driving really won't be good for your mental health.

If you've had enough, ride a different route, or even try some other cycling for a bit.
 

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
2) If you are involved in an incident and the camera is genuinely not working or switched off then the other side will just accuse you of wiping the evidence, making your case weaker.

This is tosh.

Getting into editing/reviewing/analysing and sharing bad driving really won't be good for your mental health.

You're right, that can happen if a rider puts too much focus on reviewing daily footage.
I got out of that habit and my cameras are fit & forget until something happens that warrants police involvement. Then it goes straight to them and is never shared on social media. I bought them as a safeguard not for public entertainment.


Edited to correct a typo
 
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Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
An individual camera will not prevent close passes or being hit, but it will provide evidence after the fact if you choose to use it. On the other hand, the more cameras in use together with proper enforcement can only improve life on the road for everyone.
 

C R

Guru
Location
Worcester
An individual camera will not prevent close passes or being hit, but it will provide evidence after the fact if you choose to use it. On the other hand, the more cameras in use together with proper enforcement can only improve life on the road for everyone.

Proper enforcement is the bit that is sorely lacking. It is highly unlikely that any given driver will be penalised for their poor driving until they do harm, but by then is too late.

Going back to the OP's point, I agree with @fossyant and @glasgowcyclist point of view, the risk with the camera is that it takes over the riding, and is just an excuse to dwell on the events of the ride. This dwelling is a two edged sword, if you concentrate on the nice bits, then great, but if you end up letting the camera reminding you of the ugly bits, then it would be counter productive.
 

Bazzer

Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
IME (a Fly 12 user), as with many new toys, the novelty of a camera on the bike soon wears off and you forget about it, except for certain occasions; starting the ride, finishing the ride and certain triggers during the ride. - These could range from knowing you are recording an interaction with wildlife, to a hit and run.
As @Milkfloat implies, it isn't a guardian angel, but if an incident arises, it records it.
My starting point with drivers and their interaction with me personally is, did it scare me, or, but for evasive action by me, could I have been seriously injured? If so, then I'll review the footage and if I get the same feeling, then I report it.
I also take the view that if I report bad driving and action is taken against the driver, him/her may have second thoughts about the next time they act like a tw@t around a cyclist, as their actions might once again be recorded and the "punishment" of a DEC or a handful of points, will be more severe.
 
OP
OP
Scaleyback

Scaleyback

Veteran
Location
North Yorkshire
Well, interesting reading. Rather different responses ( in the main) to what I expected.
Most posters seem more concerned with the effect a camera will have on my
mental health than the effect these drivers will potentially have on the health of other road users ?
Please don’t worry about my mental health, at the age of 72 it is still pretty robust.
Are you aware of this site ?
https://www.driving.co.uk/news/feat...nding-police-videos-dangerous-driving-doddle/
Surely it is incumbent on all of us where possible to report dangerous driving ?
 

Sixmile

Veteran
Location
N Ireland
I can recommend the Fly6. I've been riding with one for probably 18 months now and have only had one occasion where I've had to report anything. Most of the footage I've kept has been wee snippets of rides with friends or my kids. The fact that it's a brave decent and reliable light first and foremost is great.
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
Are you aware of this site ?
https://www.driving.co.uk/news/feat...nding-police-videos-dangerous-driving-doddle/
Surely it is incumbent on all of us where possible to report dangerous driving ?

The site is very well known, but if the Police at the other end ignore what is posted, then it is utterly useless. I have posted 4 videos to it now, without so much of a reply from the Police. However, I know that they don't have their eyes totally closed to this as I was a witness for someone who provided video to the same constabulary. I asked the Police at the time and they told me to keep submitting as with enough videos piling up they may get some resources to actually do something with them.
 
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