Cyclists were the first British road users to use action cams to record their encounters with other road users, and we’ve all seen terrifying footage of Russian road lunacy. Now it seems British drivers are picking up dash-cams in a bid to prove that everyone else on the road is a menace — and especially cyclists.
According to Paul Gallagher and Rachael Kitson in the Independent, sales of dash-board mounted cameras are booming as drivers seek to record evidence of altercations with cyclists and other road users.
Halfords saw a 150 percent increase in sales of dash-cams over Christmas, though it’s estimated that only 3 percent of drivers are using one. A spokesman for Electronics website Digi4u said: "The product is particularly popular among taxi drivers who use it to monitor their on-call drives and use the video as evidence in insurance claims in case of an accident."
And despite the Independent’s initial comment that drivers are using cams to monitor cyclists, it seems that other drivers and insurance are bigger concerns.
Halfords in-car technology manager Alec James said: "Following an incident people are often reluctant to admit guilt and risk losing their no-claims discount. In addition, the surge in fraudulent 'crash for cash' claims is causing genuine concern among innocent drivers. The range of recording devices we now offer means that we can provide drivers with the means to produce evidence."
The police are quite keen on the idea too. Paul Marshall, Suffolk's deputy chief constable, said: "Increasing use is being made by the public of digital cameras to record evidence of offences which can be used by the police to support prosecutions. This is welcomed by Association of Chief Police Officers as quite often the only evidence available is an eyewitness account which is disputed by the alleged offender."
Our tame freelance motoring journo, Jamie Fretwell can see why drivers might want to be using dash-cams though. He said: “Cyclists and motorists have to share Britain's roads, and perhaps drivers have seen an increasing number of cyclists armed with helmet cameras and decided to play them at their own game.
“The only cyclists who will complain about motorists filming them are those who are jumping red lights or breaking the rules of the road. Those who have nothing to hide needn't worry about being filmed.“
So can we expect lots of video evidence helping police nail bad drivers and erven bad cyclists? Drivers relying on dash-cam footage might be in for frustration and disappointment if the experiences of cyclists with helmet cam evidence are anything to go by.
At the end of last week, Chi Yong La was told by the Metropolitan Police that they planned to take no action against the moped rider who allegedly attempted to kick Chi off his bike on January 16, even though Chi had clear helmetcam footage of the incident. Police said a “lack of independent witnesses” meant there was no “realistic prospect of achieving a successful prosecution”.
The police have as yet taken no action against the passenger of a white Audi who appears to have pushed a rider off his bike in Farringdon two weeks ago. Helmetcam footage of the incident from a witness clearly shows the car’s registration, and the rider involved has made a complaint, but a police spokesman said no arrest has been made.
In 2010, the authorities declined to take action against a driver caught on camera threatening to kill cyclist Martin Porter. Martin is also a senior lawyer who blogs as the Cycling Silk, but it nevertheless took two formal complaints about the handling of the incident before a prosecution occurred. The driver, Scott Lomas, was fined £250 and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge as well as costs of £300 after pleading guilty to the offence of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress.
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Not sure why they are bothering - just be like Clarkson and use your handheld mobile to photograph/video when you're driving.
Are Question Headlines Justified when you Know The Answer To The Question Is No?
Why aren't these statutory, GPS enabled and (relatively) tamper-proof like black boxes in aircraft yet?
Designed specifically for cyclists the HD camera & tail-light combo will record what goes on behind cyclists to look out for their most vulnerable spot. Fly6 will be available through Kickstarter next week. For more info check out www.fly6.com where cyclists already posting crazy stuff using Fly6.
When motorists become aware they will be recorded, they will start behaving themselves because there will be clear HD footage of the incident.
Hopefully you don't need the camera and just use it as a tail-light but if something ever happens, it will be recorded!
When riding through my city, Copenhagen, I use a sport cam primarily to shows friends and family the cycling infrastructure for my commute or on 'fun rides' with my recumbent or velomobile.
Occasionally when reviewing the footage, I catch things I would not have normally seen. I treat it like an extra pair of eyes, so that I can improve my future riding.
"...you guys at Road.cc, maybe tone it down a bit... Sensationalist headline and write-up."
But...then they'd have nothing to write about!
All sounds fair enough. Hopefully it'll get a few of the idiot cyclists out there to tone it down a bit, and stop giving the rest of us a bad name.
oozaveared - I recall that some police cars were (and probably still are) fitted with two speedometers - a normal one and a more accurate one which moved a lot more slowly. They would follow a driver for 2/10ths of a mile to get an accurate reading.
They still count as independent evidence.
The only time I think I would use a camera is when there is that nude bike ride in town
Hi Road.cc
Well done for exacerbating the tension between cyclists & drivers by continuing the Independent's sensationalism with your ridiculous headline.
There is quite a lot of that on here - although this article probably isn't the worst example of this. But the readership seems to lap it up..
Alongside this, there is some good reporting of issues affecting cyclists, particularly highlighting the injustice and negative reporting of the mainstream media, and campaigns to promote cycle safety.
if you relied on this website alone for your news on cycling in the UK today, you'd be forgiven for thinking motorists and cyclists are at war though.. The bias in reporting is a little like reading the daily mail, just with the other view represented! (but sadly with less influence than the aforementioned rag)..
Road cc is frustrating and brilliant in equal measure!
I don't think they even bother installing these any more. They are certified by the Home Office for use but the officer has to have maintained an even distance for at least 352 yards. It's a bit like morse code. Yes the military still learn it but it's way out of date. And the trouble is that it can be challenged on the distance covered and the fact that an unscrupulous officer could just keep accepelerating and closing the distance to get a higher reading.
I think the courts and a defence lawyer would absolutely go to town on evidence like this and actually bringing a case based on it would be embarassing. Nowdays police vehicles are predominantly fitted with ProViDa.
and use the Police Pilot system approved by ACPO. It doesn't require any effort to use. It monitors the police car speed and the speed of the target vehicle. It can be used stationary or fully mobile, and provides speed overlay and high quality video footage of traffic passing in both directions.
In this day and age turning up with a statement from an officer that swears blind he stayed at exactly the same distance for 350 yards would be laughed out of court. The technology to do the job to a much higher standard without the police being able to influence the results is readily available.
In fact several defences have been mounted on operator use (easier to make out that copper is incompetent that go to war with the Boffins at Petards) However in those cases the training record of the officers has been cited in evidence. To pass the training they have to demonstrate that they can consistently provide accurate reading to <0.5mph. I understand that no defence has tried this since because it is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot.
all you need then is a live stream and a z list compere, and you've practically got running man as a reality
Since i joined the job in 1989 we have never had 2 speedo's. The panda's have always had one and the traffic cars had one with another speed system installed which accurately measured a drivers speed which was digital. That has now evolved to an even more accurate system. Also panda drivers are not allowed to do people for speeding, it must be a traffic car / arv fitted with the correct machines.
As for dash cams, its a brilliant idea.
every car sold should have a black box to monitor acceleration, speeds, phone calls made in the car etc. it should also have a camera watching the road, and another watching the driver.
every bicycle sold should have a bell, and front and back light fitted, reflectors on the pedals (or spd pedals should be made of reflective metal/material). these are all highway code requirements and a bike should not be sold without them because it allows idiots on bikes (not REAL cyclists) free on the road to give us all a bad name and kill themselves.
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