Having first announced a total ban on the wearing of helmet cams in all events, including during practice, BC have now taken a step back.
Yesterday British Cycling announced that helmet cams cannot be used during racing but can be used during practice, which was the status-quo previous to their announcement of a complete ban. In a statement on the BC website, Cyclesport and membership director Jonny Clay said, ‘Although the rule prohibiting the use of cameras has been in existence for a number of years, the decision to enforce it and the communication of this to participants, sponsors and volunteers came too close to the start of the season and we apologise for that.’
The issue surrounding helmet cams has come about after questions have been raised about the affects a helmet mounted camera could have in the instance of a crash. In particular this has been brought to the fore following the case of Michael Schumacher who is slowly being brought out of a medically induced coma after a skiing accident at the start of the year in Meribel, France. He was wearing a helmet cam at the time and there is speculation from investigators as to whether the presence of the camera contributed in some way to the disintegration of his helmet after hitting an exposed rock between pistes.
BC concluded their announcement by saying, “..British Cycling will now take some time to work with stakeholders across the sport to decide on the most appropriate way to regulate the safe use of cameras. The use of helmet cameras during competition remains prohibited as in previous years.”
BC have issued guidance on when and how cameras can currently be used..
- Helmet cameras are only permitted during practice or designated training sessions. They are not permitted in competition (including qualifying or final runs for DH & 4X).
- The riders are solely responsible for securing the fixation of the camera in order to avoid any danger or distraction.
- Metal or permanent fixtures to attach the cameras are not allowed. Tape, velcro or ties are allowed to secure the device, which must be removed for competition (including qualifying and finals for DH & 4X).
- Chest mounted cameras and bike mounted cameras are not permitted. Any mounts attached to the bike have to be removed prior to event.
- British Cycling, the event organiser and all appointed commissaires have the right to refuse a rider entry to the course if the rules are not adhered to.
- Please note: the use of helmet cameras during competition remains prohibited as in previous years.
Read the full announcement here
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So is chest/bike mounted ok or no cameras at all?
> ” there is speculation from investigators as to whether the presence of the camera contributed in some way to the disintegration of his helmet”
Reading that linked article the speculation mainly seems to be coming from the papers, not the investigators.
Are they really saying that his injuries are worse because he had some nasty hard plastic camera shell between his helmet and the nice soft rock??
What about helmet mounted lights, in some cases they’re bigger
Think the article has been updated, seems to suggest that cams WILL be allowed in practice?
Story updated now.
so you’re only likely to get more seriously injured if you crash in a race with a headcam on than in practice?
seems that the ‘you’ll hurt yourself’ justification is a bit thin.
Madness. To base your rules on the speculation of a newspaper article just defies belief. I’ve seen stories in the press about Schmacher waking up, never waking up, losing weight gaining weight,….it’s all made up.
The helmet completely broke. It was in at least two parts
well, durr.
Helmet cam footage is bobbins compared to chest mount – which is still banned even from practice as far as I can tell
In safety terms the ban on chest mounted cameras makes sense. It’s simply a dangerous place to have a hard lump attached to you. And a GoPro in its casing is a significant lump – I’ve broken ribs from a chest fall onto a fairly small mobile phone (that was snow boarding).
Mounting on a bike would seem to be the safest option, but I guess they don’t want such things to get in the way of scrutineering etc
maybe this means we get more ride footage filmed from the sidelines which is nearly always better to watch than the endless stream of unimaginative helmet cam footage
i suppose the argument for helmet lights is that the prevention of more crashes outweighs the risk of them exacerbating damage in those crashes that do occur.
I have ofter wondered where my joystick helmet mount (with or without a light in it: it still goes through the vent in the helmet…) would go and what it would do if i landed hard enough on it. 😕
jonathan: whilst landing on a GoPro attached straight to your chest (somehow?!) might be painful the actual GoPro chest mount has a large plastic backplate that the camera attaches to. This is effectively a nice big bit of plastic armour to dissipate the force if you crash onto the camera.