hotbike

Came darn close to getting Right Hooked last night, around 6:35 PM. I saw it coming and applied my brakes. The camera was rolling, but I edited this clip down to the part where the car cut me off. (My first time using the iMovie application).

'fraid the resolution is too low to show the plate number.

Anyone else been using a Bike Cam on a regular basis? I use mine all the time now, at least on main roads. I bought a spare battery for the camera. I just hit "record", "stop" and "record" every two minutes. If nothing happens, I simply hit the "delete" button.

I don't plan to show this to Police. Does anyone think I should?

Notso_fastLane

Might be worth filing a report. At least in that case, if this driver causes any other incidents, they might be able to show a 'pattern' of bad driving. Although, without the resolution/angle to get the license plate, it would be hard to prove much. I'm thinking of upgrading my cam to HD soon.

Aushiker

I use two cameras, a Jumbo HD808 #11 on the handlebars or helmet and a Contour HD 1080P on the rear. I have an external battery for the Jumbo which gives me over two hours of video and I carry a spare for the Contour. The battery generally lasts two hours. I just run it continuously and delete if I don't require any of the vision either for venting on You Tube or reporting to the Police.

There is an excellent thread on video cameras for cyclists at the Australian Cycling Forums. Worth a read if you are interested in cameras.

Andrew

Homebrew01

I know a fellow racer that uses a camera on all his rides just in case it will come in useful later.

Mr. Beanz

Sort of strange but to me but looks like you were going 5 mph and the car was going slow too almost as if he was waiting for you but you stopped so he went. Looked like indescison on both parts. I think if you had gone, he would have stopped, seems to me you yielded your right of way to him.

Seems you are already announcing the cut off before he even cut you off. I can't imagine the authorites considering this any kind of threat as it seems you stopped and let the guy go. Of course you will argue my view but I think you should expect this if you report it.

dynodonn 

Personally, I feel it's not worth reporting. Save the reporting for the really close right hooks, or if a collision has occurred. The video quality, that you posted, is not good enough to be able to read the vehicle license number, and if you can read it on your original video, just log it down in case of another incident with the same vehicle/motorist.

dynodonn 

Looks like the motorist was impatient, and misjudged the cyclist's speed, which is typical in a number of motorists' when they think that they have the "right of weight".

I have a video of a motorist right hooking me from the adjacent lane, going head on into oncoming traffic, and I'm in the middle of a sharrow marked lane, doing 20+mph.

Mr. Beanz

I'm not arguing that, but it seems like the rider may have been indecisive which lead to the impatient driver going around. Like I said, the video looks as if the rider hesitated which could be taken as a "go ahead" signal to many drivers.

IMO, the OP should have shown more of the footage leading up to the event. For all we know, he could have been riding side by side with the vehicle for a while both being confused. This stuff happens in car vs car, sure it's going to happen car vs bike as well.

He should have posted the complete footage, like most posters do, or atleast a minute leading up to the event. The short clip he has could have been edited to show his favor. I'm thinking there is more to it than just a guy cutting him off at 5 mph. When it has happened to me, the vehicle is racing 20 mph trying to get around me. But again, in this video, the driver is doing like 5 mph. I see the rider slow then the vehicle gently accelerate around him. Doesn't seem to be an agressive move. More like they were both a little indecisive.

I say show more of the video leading up to the turn and not the super short edited portion.

dynodonn 

I've never been indecisive in any of my right hook incidents, in my clear signal of riding in the middle of the lane, at the fastest speed I could possibly go at the time. Some motorists just don't give a ****.

Mr. Beanz

Cool but I'm referring to the video not your personal experiences.

dynodonn 

Whether the OP hesitated or not, it was still poor judgment on the motorists part, since the motorist known that the cyclist was approaching the intersection. Basically, the motorist took a chance and got away with it. Even if the motorist followed the OP for some time, waiting to pass and right hook the cyclist at the last second before the intersection just reeks of bad driving skills on the motorist's part.

MadCityCyclist

I doubt the police would do anything about it, plus if they did and wanted to use it as evidence in court they most likely would need the memory card, and not a copy of the video. Last year my bike cam & I unintentionally crossed paths with some guys who were casing out an area to mug/assault people, and when I showed the clip to the police they wanted the memory card, not a copy of the video, for this very purpose.

ahsposo 

I've got a Countor like Aushiker. Just recently put it on a bike and am working on placement. Pretty boring footage from the bike if you ask me.

I'd like to mount it on a really good Frisbee dog. That could be fun!

Aushiker

This is a pretty critical point IMO. I have been advised (by a sympathetic Police Officer) when reporting incidents to clearly establish my pattern of riding before the incident. Probably 30 seconds to a minutes worth is sufficient but to clearly show how I was riding and hence if I contributed/not contributed to the incident. Two successful traffic infringement notices issued to date (one was for $600) to date, a formal warning and numerous "chats" with drivers have resulted.

Andrew

Aushiker

That is what is what the delete button is for. If nothing happens on a ride I delete it without even watching it.

You need the Jumbo HD808 for that They use them on radio controlled planes, submarines and I guess boats.

Andrew

dynodonn 

Hogwash, when I report an incident to law enforcement, the dispatchers never asked me to establish my riding pattern before the incident. They asked me where the incident occurred, what took place, male or female driver, vehicle color/make and as an added bonus is when I can supply them with a license number/detailed vehicle info.

Aushiker

I have simply shared what I was advised to provide in terms of the video evidence I present to the Police, which is more than what is provided by filling out the reporting form, at least here. If you choose to disbelieve it that it is your choice but it does not change the advice given or the integrity of it or my comments.

Maybe things are different in your part of the world but from my experience including actually attending Court as an observer and from the media reporting and transcripts in higher Courts there is often a lot of contextual (e.g., driving/riding pattern of the parties involved) and background information put before the Court.

Showing a pattern of riding behaviour also provides some evidence that I did nothing that may have caused or provoked the incident, e.g., swerving in front of the vehicle.

Finally given that I have had successful outcomes with providing a complete video to the Police I am sure as heck not going to change my video reporting format because you consider it hogwash.

Cheers
Andrew

dynodonn 

Frustrating, basically what you are implying, is having the larger burden of proof going to the cyclist in a traffic incident. "I saw the cyclist weaving in and out of between parked vehicles for sometime, so it was cyclist's fault for running into me as I was passing them quickly, so as not to hit the cyclist."

hotbike

Okay, I've uploaded the full video, all 1:23 one minute and twenty three seconds of it. I saw the SUV coming and braked in time. Car cuts me off at 1:10.

Please note, I don NOT intend to report this to the Police. What I'm after is some advice on which camera to purchase, that might be better resolution, to catch the plate numbers more clearly.
Especially, a camera that can take still-frames, automatically, like twice per second? Name a good camera...

Mr. Beanz

That shows more of the facts. Now it is evident, thanks for posting. Stupid drivers are everywhere.

Mr. Beanz

You sound like you have a pretty big history of call in's! Maybe they consider you the Mrs. Kravitz of cycling and pretty much humor you just to get you off the phone.

dynodonn 

Actually, I've only reported six motorists in the last seven years, (one being a pellet gun shot to the rib cage) and that's with my interacting with tens of thousands of motorists annually.

Aushiker

No it has nothing to do with "burden of proof" being on the cyclist; it is all about putting forward credible evidence, evidence of integrity. It applies just as much to motorists as it does to cyclists or any other party to a case. Just because a cyclist reports an incident it does not mean that they are a more credible witness or have got it right! Seriously cyclists break the law all the time ... hardly better witnesses than others. Furthermore videos can be edited to "tell a story".

I have seen it first hand with a cyclist who initially posted a video which showed their contribution to an incident. When the cyclist got criticised he edited the video, removing his role. The context was changed and the story now told was changed; a quite different story. Quality evidence? Not at all.

Any half decent defence lawyer or prosecution lawyer is going to test the credibility of the witness. It happens all the time. Heck go to a Court and sit in a case where the sexual assault of a woman is being heard and see what happens. Nice? Not at all, but it is the way our Courts work.

For me, simply including additional video footage helps make the "story" clearer and enhances the intergrity of the evidence. Hardly a bit issue.

Personally if I choose to report an incident to the Police, I make a copy of the video, then edit the copy, submitting the extract. I keep the full video until the time period for any traffic infringement notice can be challenged (30 days here) for the simple reason I can present the full unedited video to the court and/or to my lawyer to show my integrity as reporter of the incident and the integrity of the video. It is then up to the Court to assesses the evidence as it sees fit.

Cheers
Andrew

dynodonn 

Newsflash...... Seriously, motorists break the law all the time. and are hardly better witnesses as well.


A couple of cyclists were struck by a motorist in a hit and run incident, and it being captured all on video. The cyclists posted the incident online, with several minutes beforehand included, with a considerable number of the comments ending up fixated on the cyclists' slow rolling a stop sign a mile or two earlier. There's a considerable amount of bias amoungst the motoring community toward cyclists.

hotbike

Okay, thank you for your constructive criticism. This was my first time using iMovie to edit a video. I am somewhere on the learning curve.