Anyone see this on the BBC website? Judging from a few threads recently increasing numbers of cyclists are using bike/helmet mounted cameras to record their journeys. But… does anyone know of any cases that have been successfully prosecuted using footage from such a camera?

[Edit: terrible spelling]

Police say they can see no evidence of any offences being committed? Whit!!!

Have a look at magnatoms videos on youtube, if you fancy a look at some terrible driving. All filmed in Glasgow, they show some seriously dodgy driving, including people getting out trying to fight him, spitting in his face etc… bad times!

Conviction for this one:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKB9V7MNEXY[/video]

Guilty plea for Due Care and Attention (and one case pending I think) for this one:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qycF0raqpg[/video]

This hit and run in california, I believe, resulted in an eventual conviction after being picked up by the news

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj5o23coP5Y[/video]

OK, so one common element for an offense to be prosecuted is being physically struck by a car or a person. What about warnings issued to drivers by police on the back of a close shave (ie where there is some ambiguity)?

Am thinking about a camera after being forced into a ditch while towing my daughters in their buggy/trailer by two teenage lads racing each other on an unclassified stretch of road near Aberdeen. Wish I had been able to film it to show as evidence. Unfortunately the lads were away so quick that I didn’t get a proper look at their cars or their number plates (was looking after the girls).

All those clips up there are gobsmacking.

A lot of people in London send clips to “Roadsafe”, and the police (I presume) often send the registered keeper a warning letter.

That’s better than nothing.

Just found this… “cyclingmikey” has a playlist of videos which have resulted in “convictions or consequences”:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF45F148D5B8AE101

Cheers ormondroyd good to get a sense that it’s probably worth carrying a camera on known iffy stretches of road.

If nothing else I can waist some time on YouTube posting sweary videos.

How idiotic are some drivers?!!! Very scary. How much for a reasonable camera? Don’t want to shell out for a GoPro

Ta

I use a £30 cheapy off ebay.

This one from that playlist is a doozy. The mouth breather driving the van managed to get himself both driving convictions and a caution for assault

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94vzorR8fFM[/video]

As riski said how much for a camera that will film a number plate while being run down or punched by an angry beer boy?

Sorry ormondroyd was a bit slow there

How about this one from Amazon;

Mini HD Video Camera from Amazon

I will say that my £30 cheapy isn’t so good at catching number plates. Not like some of the ones on here.

I’ve only put up one video, which isn’t too horrible anyway, just a couple of lemming-like drivers trying to have head on crashes (one with a digger) so they can get to the back of a long queue quicker.

This is it: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221087869936?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

And for what it’s worth, here’s my slightly crappy video. The first and third overtakes are the ones… but you can’t really tell that the oncoming car for the first was standing on its brakes and leaning on the horn, and that the digger had to move a bit gutter-wards. I mostly just wanted to see how it looked on YouTube. Might get a better camera but it’s at least something you can deter an angry road-rager with. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz_7LQYk3wc

When I spot someone pull out on me, I’m hard on the brakes and moving right to increase my forward visibility, make myself more visible in the drivers mirror and potentially overtake if its clear. Should I pedal harder and dive up the inside. Am I doing it wrong?

JAG/ormondroyd do you know if they are water proof?

Ta

They seem pretty well sealed to me. The end cap has a rubber seal, the button is soft rubber and flush, the lens cover seems tight to the body. I wouldn’t take it swimming but I reckon it’d be fine in a decent shower.

Fourbanger – is that referring to the white van pull-out? If so, it wasn’t clear to overtake, the driver pulled out VERY late, and it seemed to me the cyclist had to dive for the one available gap (and was slowing down)

I do worry that my cheapy, if anything happened, might end up with a copper muttering “lack of evidence mate, can’t read the plate”, but it’s better than nothing.

This is what I use
http://www.7dayshop.com/7dayshop-vehicle-bike-and-action-digital-video-camera-record-your-journeys?q=video%20camera&sl=sl

(site also has them with sd card included)

They’re not good in the rain, but the quality is good enough to get the reg no.
Only legal problem I see is the date stamp is only correct if you set the date file each time you use it (I don’t).

A sample
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqICht1HZF8[/video]

Obviously, when I’m filming I actually go looking for trouble 🙄

Helpful suggestions for cameras, many thanks ormondroyd/JAG/DezB

DezB – that looks a bargain, better than mine. My video was in awful light, mind, so perhaps I should try it in sunshine.

ormondroyd – yes, thats the one. Van starts to pull out at 14 seconds. Cyclist doesn’t reach point where van pulls out until 16 seconds. That’s long enough to scrub some speed. Cyclist doesn’t appear to slow at all. He does find time to shout “go on then!” in an irate voice though.
Van driver was in the wrong, cyclist could have avoided the situation.

I think it’s very easy to be wise from a distance with plenty of time to think about the video.

The cyclist himself commented on the discussion on the video:

The white lines are 4m long with a 2m gap. He pulls out when I’m about 12m away and doing 20mph+.

I was braking and, to avoid hitting the back of him because he didn’t accelerate, had to? go down the blind side because there were oncoming cars on the offside.

Seems fair enough to me. It’s a lot of speed to scrub in not a lot of time, on road brakes, perhaps not in the best body position to stop immediately.

Just ordered the camera JAG suggested with waterproof case & extreme sports pack, a little more than i wanted to spend but looks to be the best option for rainy Manchester