Holding cars up...

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Norm

Guest
I wouldn't care. I think i'm a relatively good cyclist who makes clear signals and is courteous to other road users.
Oooo, I wonder how many of those filmed in their cars would think the same of their driving.
 

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
I wonder how us cyclists would feel if motorists started routinely filming us and confronting us at junctions over what they perceive to be bad cycling?
No problem at all, provided they can quote the sources of their supposed wisdom and don't make up their own imaginary highway code rules like most of the motorists featured in video clips do. Even better if they can honestly say that they have sufficient experience of cycling themselves to back up their assertions. (In my case, I have about 400,000 miles of driving experience, including 50,000 miles on a motorcycle.)
 

Hip Priest

Veteran
I wonder how us cyclists would feel if motorists started routinely filming us and confronting us at junctions over what they perceive to be bad cycling?

Funnily enough, I've been confronted at a junction by a fellow cyclist with a camera. He pointed out a minor error I'd made. I said 'I'm sorry mate, I didn't realise', but he persisted in lecturing me, so I told him to 'F-off' and he started squealing like TesterAnimal as I rode away.

But on the whole, as a cyclist and motorist, I have no problem with being filmed. I drive courteously, and I'm able to admit my mistakes and apologise if necessary, which would make me look less like a div if I did end up online.
 

lukesdad

Guest
No problem at all, provided they can quote the sources of their supposed wisdom and don't make up their own imaginary highway code rules like most of the motorists featured in video clips do. Even better if they can honestly say that they have sufficient experience of cycling themselves to back up their assertions. (In my case, I have about 400,000 miles of driving experience, including 50,000 miles on a motorcycle.)


In that case I have almost 400,000 miles as a cyclist so you better start listening ! :biggrin: :whistle:
 

Norm

Guest
In that case I have almost 400,000 miles as a cyclist so you better start listening ! :biggrin: :whistle:
It is strange how figures are thrown around like that as if bigger numbers do mean anything.

IME, people who have only recently got their qualifications have few miles but have the greatest knowledge of what they should be doing and the least aggression and attitude in their approach. However, that doesn't make a very high damp patch on a wall. :biggrin:
 

dellzeqq

pre-talced and mighty
Location
SW2
The question was actually about whether it changed their attitudes. :biggrin:

I agree that speeding is becoming more unacceptable but I suggest that speeding and speed cameras are not particularly relevant points when considering helmet cams.

There is a perception that there are fewer traffic police, with the "jam / honey sandwiches" having been replaced by speed cameras and Traffic Wombles. There have also been comments that fewer traffic police has led to a drop in driving standards.

The only things that speed cameras catch is speeding and they are completely useless for spotting, amongst other things, SMIDSYs, close passes and tailgating.

Cyclecams, however, are pretty good at capturing, amongst other things, SMIDSYs, close passes and tailgating, although they are un-calibrated so completely useless at capturing speeding.

I agree, then, that these cameras change their driving as well as their attitudes, although I don't agree with the idea of a High Court of YouTube and wish that there were some easier way of pursuing due process through the legal system.
I think attitudes changed with regard to drink driving, are changing with regard to speeding, and crucially have changed out of sight in those parts of London where cyclists predominate. I'm suggesting that while individuals vary, the body politic of driving is moving with the times and can be moved further.

As for the traffic police/speed camera dichotomy - I'm not at all impressed by the press campaigns and people like Safespeed. In the end people don't like being caught, and are, in the main, prepared to modify their behaviour to reduce the chances of being caught. The irony is that while helmet cams rightly report on bad behaviour in London, the respect shown to cyclists has increased dramatically, with buses leading the way, but private cars following on close behind. I say irony, because, actually, all political movements tend to flourish when events are already going their way (see Russian revolution and rise in industrial wages prior etc., etc., etc.....). My cause and effect thing above was a bit simplistic - cause and effect are intermingled, with greater confidence within the body politic of cycling leading to greater expectations and assertiveness, which, in turn, results in better driver behaviour.

Put another way - nothing has ever been gained for cycling, or any other cause, by just hoping for it. People like Maggers and BM are engendering a hesitation within the body politic of driving, and that hesitation is compounded by the rise in the number of cyclists in my part of the world. Whether BRSU is ploughing a lonely furrow in Swindon is, perhaps, beside the point. Quite apart from nobody caring about Swindon, the town, 'blessed' with a zillion cycle paths is not enjoying the cycling revolution (I put it no less strongly than that) that is happening in London. Swindon's drivers have no real need to think (the council having switched off its Gatsos) and will continue to exhibit the untermensch behaviour that BRSU records.

So helmet cameras are part of a shift of attitude that is binary. We gain in confidence and our expectations rise on the back of that confidence. Motorists lose the sense of impunity they've enjoyed hitherto. It's patchwork, it's partial, but that's the nature of things. Overall I remain both optimistic in general, and gain some of that optimism from Maggers' and BM's efforts.
 

theclaud

Openly Marxist
Location
Swansea
1611722 said:
That would have to be the punishment of last resort.

Admittedly, most would probably choose to be shot and left in a ditch. But it doesn't hurt to give them a couple of options.
 

dellzeqq

pre-talced and mighty
Location
SW2
1611722 said:
That would have to be the punishment of last resort.
I did suggest Milton Keynes, (being barred from the town myself) but Fab Foodie thought that was too harsh.
 

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
It is strange how figures are thrown around like that as if bigger numbers do mean anything.
IME, people who have only recently got their qualifications have few miles but have the greatest knowledge of what they should be doing and the least aggression and attitude in their approach. However, that doesn't make a very high damp patch on a wall. :biggrin:
Not sure why it has to be a p155ing competition. It's simply about answering the point when the driver assumes that any cyclist has never driven a car and says "what do you know about driving?". Most drivers have never ridden a bike since they were a child, so actually talk from a position of ignorance, whereas most adult cyclists are probably also experienced motorists.
 
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