New Device combines Tail Light with Digital Camera
 

http://road.cc/content/news/110708-a...-bargain-price

Technology is catching up with tailgaters!

I already use a camera, but it is mounted forward.

How is the video performance if there's the slightest bit of dirt on the lens shared by the LEDs and the camera lens?

That circle of LEDs doesnt "tell the motorist" anything. I bet you couldn't find a single motorist that thought that was a camera if you asked 1000 of them. Besides it's way too dim to see in anything but full dark.

5 hours runtime is good. However, without seeing the video including nighttime performance with all the lights on and rain on the casing, I wouldn't buy one. Maybe it's great. It's better mounting for a rear-facing camera than we've ever seen before, that's for sure.

I agree, the seat-post mount is innovative. Yes, I was thinking you'd need fenders, or the lens would get splattered with water from the rear wheel (think skunk stripe on the back of your jersey). But the video did show an immersion test. They said they have distributed about 150 of the "fifth generation prototype" , so it's still a work-in-progress.

I would think of it more as a camera with a tail-light built in, rather than a tail light with a camera built-in.