Cycle Cameras

[HMS_Dave]

It's something i thought about when i first got back into cycling about 5 years ago, not knowing any better. But quickly ditched the idea coming to the conclusion that for the kind of riding i do, which is purely functional (groceries, errands and A to B type stuff) it is just pointless and a faff and isn't going to put me back together again if i get into a collision. I'd have to turn them on and off and the start and end of each journey, charge them, collect footage, make sure i carry them around in the shops etc... Knowing my luck, if i was hit and run id have forgotten to turn the things on! I haven't had any issues in 5 years worthy of recording and publishing!

 

[Mike_P]

The reason I use one is for capturing unusual or rare things seen when riding.

 

[Tom B]

Just to chime in and agree with some others.

Cameras, like CCTV are a pretty poor or blunt instrument as a preventative tool. They're a detection tool and again not the best one at that.
CCTV would be way down my crime prevention tool listing at home. Some way down a sign or sticker saying CCTV in operation.

I ride daily and don't have a camera, I think it would end up robbing me of enjoyment. I think cameras, a bit like dash cams, somehow embolden and drive undesirable behaviour Have a look at the various dash cam videos on YT and wonder how many people "make the clip".

I also have concerns about helmet mounted cameras punching through the helmet in the event of a knock.

If nothing else its just another bloody thing to charge up, put on, take off, keep safe etc while out and about on the bike. I was at the cafe a few days ago and watched another bloke come in. By the time he'd unclipped his garmin, 4 lights, lock, two cameras and one of his bags to put them in, put on his cleat covers, I was on my second brew. He then had to perform reverse faff to leave.

All that said, like with a dash cam, if you are going to get one, get the very best you can if you want the footage to be usable for prosecutions etc. CCTV cannot be "enhanced" like in the moooooooovies.


Personally if you are new to cycling, or a returner, I would recommend getting a few lessons / training. If you can position yourself right and read the road / use roadcraft, you should find yourself in a position where close passes cant / don't happen.

 

[presta]

Garmin Varia radar rear light

Isn't it like the boy who cried wolf though, for every warning of a car that's a hazard there must be hundreds more about those that aren't.

 

[HLaB]

Isn't it like the boy who cried wolf though, for every warning of a car that's a hazard there must be hundreds more about those that aren't.

Not really, Ive found it to be very reliable, if it says something is there, it is. But thinking about it I'd rather have false positives than it not detecting a possible threat.

 

[GeekDadZoid]

I've started to record my commutes. I use a Gopro hero 5 which I picked up for £40 plus a few cheap accessories.

I wear a chest mount as this reduces faff in my experience.

I don't edit the videos just upload them straight to YouTube for storage. I sometime chat to the the camera and sometimes just ride quite nice having someone along with me 😂

This is an example of the footage, on an ebike that day. Ignore my ramblings.


View: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqokyDE5otRCsnGJtxSzGm81UxvZBWevC&si=5Pd9crh33iURmXWY

 

[ChangFai]

Finally, in reporting the worst incidents, with evidence so that the police can act, we are highlighting the scale of the problem and hopefully, over the long-term with a concerted and collective effort, helping to remove the worst offending drivers from the roads.

Unless you live in Scotland

 

[Sharky]

Bike cameras can be useful to record a ride ....



This was taken using a Voightlander bellows camers, with 120 roll film!
The two central riders were very prominent cyclists, both sadly no longer with us, but some of the oldies from Merseyside might recognise them.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

I followed up this morning on the first couple of footage-backed reports I made to the local constabulary.

One of the two drivers has been reported for the offence of driving without due care and attention. Still waiting for a response on the other.

Reflecting, I recalled a comment on this thread:

Personally, I don't want to start a ride, however short, with the camera apparatus to prove that I'm a victim

It has never occured to me once that I want to prove that I'm a victim. When my life is endangered or when I see someone elses life endangered by a needless and selfish act, I don't feel like a victim.

I do feel dismayed. Dismayed that our roads feel so dangerous because of people who do not think about the repercussions and potential consequences of their actions.

And I do feel that I want a different world. One in which people are not deterred from walking or cycling because they feel that "roads are dangerous".

A desire to hold people to account for their abysmal standard of road use which actively endangers other road users - my main motivation for using a helmet camera - is, in my view, definitely not necessarily a victim mentality.

When I use the highway, in whatever capacity, I always try to do so responsibly because my failure to do so could result in death or serious injury. And that is what I expect from everyone else.

It is awful that roads are poorly policed and traffic/highways legislation is so poorly enforced. I should not be in a position that I need to personally collect evidence and present it to the local constabulary. Education and policing should be effective enough that should I ever encounter a selfish and dangerous road user, I should feel confident that law will catch up with them.

Clearly, that's not the case. So, for now, I will give the law a helping hand. If a significant enough proportion of my reports result in appropriate action, I will continue.

I will however limit it to making one report each ride/day. Any more than that and it's undermining one of my main reasons for cycling in the first place.

 

[slowmotion]

I followed up this morning on the first couple of footage-backed reports I made to the local constabulary.

One of the two drivers has been reported for the offence of driving without due care and attention. Still waiting for a response on the other.

Reflecting, I recalled a comment on this thread:


It has never occured to me once that I want to prove that I'm a victim. When my life is endangered or when I see someone elses life endangered by a needless and selfish act, I don't feel like a victim.

I do feel dismayed. Dismayed that our roads feel so dangerous because of people who do not think about the repercussions and potential consequences of their actions.

And I do feel that I want a different world. One in which people are not deterred from walking or cycling because they feel that "roads are dangerous".

A desire to hold people to account for their abysmal standard of road use which actively endangers other road users - my main motivation for using a helmet camera - is, in my view, definitely not necessarily a victim mentality.

When I use the highway, in whatever capacity, I always try to do so responsibly because my failure to do so could result in death or serious injury. And that is what I expect from everyone else.

It is awful that roads are poorly policed and traffic/highways legislation is so poorly enforced. I should not be in a position that I need to personally collect evidence and present it to the local constabulary. Education and policing should be effective enough that should I ever encounter a selfish and dangerous road user, I should feel confident that law will catch up with them.

Clearly, that's not the case. So, for now, I will give the law a helping hand. If a significant enough proportion of my reports result in appropriate action, I will continue.

I will however limit it to making one report each ride/day. Any more than that and it's undermining one of my main reasons for cycling in the first place.

I quite understand your view. I have absolutely nothing against it. Personally, putting on a camera would lessen my enjoyment of riding, that's all. I'm being purely selfish.

 

[HMS_Dave]

I quite understand your view. I have absolutely nothing against it. Personally, putting on a camera would lessen my enjoyment of riding, that's all. I'm being purely selfish.

It has practical implications for me rather than simply selfishness. I'd have to carry them around the shops with me, charge them, take them off and on the bikes, remember to turn them on etc... but I do understand why you'd want them though, also...

 

[Mike_P]

Get a quick release mount rather than having to faff around with the Go Pro bolt.
Mine comes off, and goes back on in the same time as it takes to fit a bike computer into or take it out of its mount.

 

[ColinJ]

As an aside the tractor driver wasn't a SMIDSY. I was riding at +/-30mph on a slight descent. He tried to overtake, I thought to myself "f*** that's close" as the rear wheel passed my shoulder. Next thing I knew was a young man holding my head saying "it's OK I'm an off duty policeman. I want you to keep still."

Turns out the trailer the tractor was pulling was wider than the tractor and that's what hit me.

I had a tractor overtake me a bit too close yesterday and the clattering from behind told me that it was towing something. That turned out to be a big trailer, which came even closer to me... Fortunately, no harm done in this case, but what happened to you flashed through my mind during the overtake!

How is your recovery going, Paul?

 

[Drago]

The reason I use one is for capturing unusual or rare things seen when riding.

Like BMWs with indicators.

 

[Drago]

But thinking about it I'd rather have false positives than it not detecting a possible threat.

You say that, but that's not how it works psychologically.

Unless you're properly drilled and trained such aids become a substitute for proper observation, not an aid to it. Its inevitable, invioble, how we're wried up to behave. Unless you've been drilled out of it and constantly practice the drills it won't make yo any safer - You just think you are.