Monday, September 24, 2018

Bike cameras - the more we use them the safer the roads will become...

Fellow Wayfarers,

I have been using front and rear cameras on my bike for a few months now, and a lot of people have asked me about them. So, this article is about bike cameras and why I believe the more of us that use them the safer the roads will become in the future. We can create an army of regular cyclists recording and reporting incidents of careless and dangerous driving. The police are on our side but there are not enough of them on the roads. I can personally testify that video evidence sent to the police is acted upon, even if there is no injury involved. Bad or aggressive drivers receive official police warning letters and their details are held on a police database. There is evidence that these letters do change driver behaviour over time (see quotes on Sussex Police website "Operation Crackdown" https://webcontact.sussex.police.uk/ASDPRS/).


The two videos below are incidents that I felt were serious enough to report (and the police agreed). There have been other minor incidents that I decided not to report. In each case, the videos show the rear camera recording first and then the front camera footage for the same time period. (Note: the original videos are HD quality with number plates etc clearly visible - the process of uploading videos to YouTube reduces the resolution).
 
16 July 2018. Van driver dangerously overtakes Dave Bartholemew and myself turning right into Zig Zag Road at the bottom of Box Hill in Surrey. The registered owner of the van received a warning letter from Surrey police.

22 August 2018. Car driver dangerously overtakes several Wayfarers (including Simon Lambourn and myself) near Edenbridge in Sussex when there was clearly insufficient space and visibility. The registered owner of the car received a warning letter from Operation Crackdown (Sussex police).
https://youtu.be/HGYNOAWf2jE

Here are a few good reasons to mount cameras on your bike:
  1. Record and report dangerous/careless driving incidents (as above) so that bad drivers get a police warning, which eventually leads to safer roads for everybody.
  2. If you are unlucky enough to have an accident which is not your fault, having video evidence to prove what happened could make a huge difference if it comes to prosecution and damages.
  3. Road rage. Even if the cameras aren't running, just pointing to them has a surprising effect in changing people's behaviour after an incident.
  4. You will capture interesting (and sometimes amusing) videos of your rides which can be fun to review later.
  5. These cameras are now extremely lightweight, affordable and easy to use. They are even cheaper now than when I bought them, and the complete kit (front and rear cameras with mounts etc) can be purchased for under £100.

If you decide to go for it, here is a list of the items you need:
 

1. Two cameras (front and rear) complete with all mountings.

2. Extra batteries. Each battery lasts for ~75 minutes of HD recording. You need TWO of these (for a total of eight batteries including the two batteries that come with the cameras) which will give you around 5 hours recording time in HD mode:

3. MicroSDHC Memory Cards. You will need two of these (one for each camera). Each 32GB card stores about 8hrs of HD video. Conveniently, the recording loops automatically (ie over-writes from the start) when the card fills up. If there is any video you want to keep, just whip the card out and copy it onto your home computerhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0749WNBLJ/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_api_zxhHBbDPPZQPS

I am more than willing to help with setting up the cameras if anybody needs it. Happy and safe riding to all!  Mike Reynell  07748 184755

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