[Allen Key]

Hi all,

Just registered, mainly so I can ‘like’ posts and contribute the odd comment 🙂
I have a question about uploading bike-cam videos – Is it the norm to post them on Youtube or twitter (or similar).
The impression I’ve got so far, is the police aren’t really interested unless there’s “contact” and won’t open a full investigation just because “someone gave you the v-sign one day” *wink*, but surely some close overtakes border on careless/dangerous driving for putting lives at risk?

Anyhoo, thanks for reading and happy riding

Topic

[Allen Key]

So do ‘Near Miss of the Day’
So do ‘Near Miss of the Day’ and the “CyclingMikey” clips etc, exist to name-and-shame bad driving, could it be that’s more effective than the police and their ‘letters’ (assuming they do really send them)?

Edit 19/8/21 : Sorry, I meant in the minor cases with just letters (being on youtube is more persuasive). Not the serious ones where they get points etc, in which of course I am grateful to the work of the police.

[Allen Key]

Thanks for the info, seems to
Thanks for the info, seems to be a real battle to get these videos looked at, the way they have all these convenient rules in place – makes me wonder if they even want the clips. I wonder if that applies to other crimes too, 24-hour window or it’s not serious – wow. Good to hear your brother-in-law is having some success though 🙂

[pablo]

Speaking to my brother-in-law
Speaking to my brother-in-law a few weeks ago. He was contacted when he submitted a load of close passes by an officer via phone. He was advised to submit within 24 hours the officers opinion was that unless you submit quickly a lawyer for the defense could argue it wasn’t such a serious issue because you took X number of days to submit. I have no idea why the time to report is relevant but that’s what he was told. I think he’s reported since based on that advise and has had some positive results

[HoarseMann]

sheridan wrote:

I’m not sure what relevance this has to the query

Just my interpretation of ‘is it the ‘norm’ to upload videos’.

I think whether it’s normal to you or not, will depend largely on when and where you ride. I would not say it’s normal to have to do this in the Netherlands. It’s infrequent enough for me for it not to be normal – it’s the exception that I will upload/report something.

[sheridan]

HoarseMann wrote:

It also depends on the area and times of day you ride – more likely to have incidents during busy rush hour in the city than Sunday morning in the country.

I’m not sure what relevance this has to the query – are you saying that the police are more or less likely to take any action if the punishment pass happens during rush hour?

[wtjs]

Warning letters are worthless

Warning letters are worthless- so that means No Further Action on any of them. Is it any wonder that we’re on here year after year complaining about close passing, when drivers discover they can pass as close as they like and get away with it?

[quiff]

Allen Key wrote:

Interesting, quiff, that you mention more interest in close passes than collisions – I would not have guessed that.

The issue in my case was that collisions are handled by a different team in the police force, which has different policies and priorities. The team dealing with close passes will take action even if nobody’s hurt. The team responsible for dealing with actual collisions won’t. Ludicrous really, but not sure if that’s the same in other forces. 

[Allen Key]

Thanks for the replies so far

Thanks for the replies so far *cheers* Interesting, quiff, that you mention more interest in close passes than collisions – I would not have guessed that. I’ll be honest, I’m suspicious of the police saying they send out a letter or whatnot. I have had the odd word with drivers because I wonder… if the police are too busy, how are things ever going to get better? But now I’ve got the camera it’s a bit different. I’ve included a few stills from an overtake that was dodgy at the time, whether it’s as clear on the pics… Anyway, thanks for the suggestions 🙂

[stonojnr]

It varies, much like the
It varies, much like the whole process, force to force, initially my local force used Dropbox, they now use a goverment online file service.

Nearly all my early submissions,pre 2020, resulted in NIPS. All submissions since Covid, warning letters at best, with one they didn’t take any further.

But the stats they publish show roughly
1/5th result in NIPS, though 3/5ths don’t meet submission criteria, the remainder split between letters or no further action.

So whilst my impression maybe one thing, it’s not borne out by their stats.

[quiff]

In my experience, the force

In my experience, the force either has an upload facility as part of its submission form, or they ask you to put it on YouTube as an unlisted video as HoarseMann says. They also generally ask you to take it off social media if it’s posted anywhere else in case that prejudices an investigation. Also in my experience, they have been more interested in close passes than actual collisions. I’ve reported 5 or 6 since I got cameras 3 years ago – I only bother with egregious ones. Action was taken in all of them (one went to court) except the one where I was actually knocked off by a left hook. On that one, no further action was taken because there was no injury or property damage.    

[HoarseMann]

It really does depend on the

It really does depend on the police force area that you’re reporting an incident to.

Some want it uploaded to YT as unlisted (i.e. not publically viewable without the link), others want the footage handed in on physical media etc.

It also depends on the area and times of day you ride – more likely to have incidents during busy rush hour in the city than Sunday morning in the country.

I’ve reported 3 in 18 months. One was very dangerous, so I did my best to chase the police up and get a prosecution. The other two were less dangerous, so I just submitted and left it up to the police as to whether they had the time to deal with it – one they did, the other they didn’t. None involved injury and I ride in the country at quieter times of day.

[Author]

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