on-board cameras; have they made a difference?

[Mile195]

My camera is only there as a "just-in-case" I ever get knocked off, and I have to prove what happened to an insurance company or a court. I certainly don't think it deters anything, as to most people it probably just looks like another front light. I used it once to send some stills to Ocado, one of whose drivers nearly took out two seperate cyclists at two seperate junctions within 5 minutes, but other than that, the only useful function it has is it show my other half any particularly cute doggies I saw on my way to work.

 

[classic33]

Surely the issue is not that they act as a deterrant, but they provide evidence of dangerous driving in the event of being involved in an incident involving a motorist. This is why some motorists have dash cams, not to deter stupidity form other drivers, but as a record of someone else s stupidity or recklessness in the event of a collision.

Nothing to do with some insurance companies offering cheaper insurance if you have a colllision camera fitted? There to help them out in the event of an incident, not the driver/owner.

 

[sleuthey]

I don't think the presence of helmet cameras alone will make much difference to the way motorists treat cyclists. Firstly as I believe the vast majority of dangerous manouvers are due to the motorist failing to understand the cyclists requirements rather than them thinking they can get away with putting the cyclist at risk. Secondly today's helmet mounted lights look very similar to cameras and I believe the lights are more common and motorists (inc myself) have become wise to this and will be unaware of a camera when a cyclist has one as they will assume it's a light.

However, I believe the reporting/sewing/broadcasting culture, if it continues to grow, will have a long term positive effect on the way motorists treat cyclists as motorists will know what they could face and as a result will hopefully incorporate more safety margins into their manouvers involving cyclists. A camera is required to facilitate this.

As it happens I have recently purchased the cheapest 170 degree camera that I could find from eBay knowing that if it's a load of s**t then I won't be disappointed. Early observations are that it would provide suitable means of settling a claim in day light however I am yet to test it in the dark but I think it will be a "get what you pay for" result.

 

[400bhp]

You can watch the video here. (The rider has come in for a lot of stick on here but I don't want this to go down that road. I'm only interested in presenting a rare example of a close pass that the police judged fit to prosecute.)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98f5j-YS5aA

Looks a good image that. What camera is the front facing one? My camera has recently broke and I could do with replacing it.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Sunday past, out with a varying array of supernaked, classic vtwin and 1000cc superbikes.

As organiser and lead rider - 3 different drivers pulled out on us in the space of 15miles or so. All modern bikes with bright bulbs or LED headlights and certainly plenty of noise..

My own attire a well thought mix of fluoro yellows on my jacket and a bright orange helmet (my exhaust is also fairly antisocial)

I'm not convinced anything works, I ticked all of the SMIDSY as you weren't loud enough/bright enough/reflective enough/out of bed early enough excuse boxes

I'm sure though, had I been a cyclist in black at night with no lights or reflectives, it would have been different

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Looks a good image that. What camera is the front facing one? My camera has recently broke and I could do with replacing it.

I'm not sure. I know he's a fan of GoPro but he's also mentioned having a Sony (I think). You'd need to ask him via his blog or twitter.

 

[icowden]

I ride with a chest mounted GoPro.

Prior to owning it, I had a couple of run-ins with angry pedestrians who don't understand cycle lanes / roads etc.
Since wearing it (almost a year now), i have found that people are far more reluctant to start being aggressive and will back off if you suggest that "we review the footage together".

So I do think they have some deterrent effect, but more where you cycle along paths shared /alongside pedestrians rather than cars.

 

[Arjimlad]

My local police do very little about a close pass unless another car is inconvenienced/endangered. A warning letter is sent to the registered keeper and that is it.

Only if there is oncoming traffic which is forced to take evasive action will they send a NIP.

The message I take from this is that the danger of nearly hitting another vehicle is deemed more serious than the danger of nearly hitting me.

I have to bear that in mind when deciding whether to report things.

 

[Randombiker9]

After getting hit but didn't fall off last tuesday i picked up a helmet camera the next day and to me it has made a difference. But as i only got it on friday. I havent had anything to report luckily and i have no idea if the police force actually does anything about cyclists because their was a cyclist that jumped a light in front of a police car the other day. But they didn't do anything.

 

[MikeG]

I'd have thought that the deterrent effect of a camera would be multiplied many-fold if the cyclist wore a big sign with a camera symbol, or "you're on camera" or "camera" with a big arrow pointing to the camera location.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I'd have thought that the deterrent effect of a camera would be multiplied many-fold if the cyclist wore a big sign with a camera symbol, or "you're on camera" or "camera" with a big arrow pointing to the camera location.

There's a road safety campaign in Ireland that sells these (very expensive):

But the downside could be that an offender in a collision with you may take the opportunity to remove the camera from you or your bike. I prefer to let mine go unnoticed and in the event of an incident I never mention to anyone at the scene that I've recorded it.