lesiz

It happens so frequently out on rides that I experience drivers risking my life and limb, or that of other cyclists by stupid or hostile behavior on the road. So I finally decided to attach a Garmin VIRB cam to my bike and put up with the attendant additional weight and air resistance. I keep it running most of the time.

My plan is to post these incidences here on the forum, and state the license plate number.

I know that these forum pages are indexed by Google, and I presume a license number I post here will be indexed. So there will be a searchable public record of the actions of psycho and/or clueless drivers.

My fantasy in doing this is:
If one of these drivers in the future is involved in a collision with a cyclist, there will be this public record of their past behavior. The cyclist or her/his attorney can find this evidence of the driver's past behavior.

Further, my fantasy is that other cyclists will adopt this practice and make it hazardous for psycho drivers to do their thing. Having said that, I know that I am not the first cyclist to collect video evidence, and that drivers have been arrested on that evidence. Good.

Also, in the case of someone Googling their own license number, when they see a public video of themselves doing something really stupid, they in the future might decide to be real nice to cyclists, lest they end up in a cage with some mean horny person. This is on You Tube.

Got my first bite Sunday, and I present it here for your viewing pleasure.

I was doing the southbound Hawthorne descent, doing ~30mph, and there are cars passing me. No problem, until the third car to pass me in the video passes close enough to me to raise the hairs on my neck. Dangerous and illegal, in violation of California's “Three Feet for Safety Act”. From the first two cars, you can tell that the road has ample room to give the cyclist a wide berth.

The SUV is a Lexus RX350, and for the sake of indexing I repeat the California license plate number: 6XBE456

https://youtu.be/GwHCPHmooIw

diphthong

+1. thank you. just rode that stretch (uphill on the other side of the street) of hawthorne today. there is ample room and
you were even riding closer tho the gutter/curb than many of us would given the downhill speed.

ZippyThePinhead

I'm not familiar with that stretch of road, and whose jurisdiction it is in; but as I understand it, police will generally not cite for an infraction which they did not witness. You can't establish who was driving on the basis of your video, so just like when a red light camera snaps an unusable photo, the violation is basically ignored.

BTW it may not have made any difference, but in my experience drivers tend to be a little more careful to steer away from me when I have a really bright tail-light. I run a Dinotte 400R during the day, and they have an updated model which is more convenient (Quad Red), as it has an internal battery. But my 400R is 240 lumens, quite visible even in full sunlight.

Elvo

Wow that is a beautiful descent

calamarichris

A great idea. The penalty for hitting&running someone to death is still pathetic, (the drunk girl who killed Arthur Jacobs was out less than two years after snuffing him), but hopefully it won't always be this way.
Thank you and good luck!

Garfield Cat

I think there is a tendency among many drivers to enter a curve to the right, to actually hug that curve a bit closer. Try that when you drive yourself. Not at that exact spot to avoid replication of a scary incident, but some other places. Even off ramps where your curve to the right.

nesdog

On our shop ride Saturday, we descended Westlake Blvd/Decker from Mulholland to the flats. An SUV jammed close to one of our group, got in front of her and then slammed on the brakes. No damage done (other than creating an ultra high heart rate). No video taken, however Lost Hills Sheriff was called with the license plate for future reference.

TrojanHorse

Somebody posted a website on here recently to capture the plate numbers of bad / malicious drivers and now I can't remember it.

I want to say this was it, but google reveals that there are a few more out there as well: Close Call Database For Cycling

It doesn't look like there is a ton of data in there yet.

peckma

Hawthorne is within the city limits of Ranchos Palos Verdes. The LA Sheriff's Lomita station provides law enforcement services to RPV. You might contact them and share your video. Can't hurt.

HBCruiser1

That was close!

tunavic

I've done that stretch of Hawthorne quite a few times in the past couple of months. Thanks for posting that video.

fthomas

Glad you are OK! Certainly way to close and totally uncalled for. Things could have gotten much worse.

My major complaint in the Laguna Niguel area is lax enforcement! There are roads I have to use to get anywhere from where I live with Average Daily Traffic Counts in excess of 40,000 cars and at I5 59,700 ADTC!

Riding is not without risks, but even walking here is dangerous!

Hope your effort results in some positive outcomes and hopefully drivers that are more aware!

Be safe!

PanjoJames

This is great, start a coalition for this, get some public money to put cyclists around the city to keep an eye on activities. Been run off the road a few times on the Westside and drivers sped off. Wish i had public record because I got away lucky.

Number400

I captured video of a lousy and dangerous tow truck driver and posted on Youtube. Months later I got an email from the owner of the towing company saying that he found the video and had already sacked the driver. On occasion, I will send screenshots or video links when I see company trucks driving like maniacs. I usually get excuses back though...in you video, you can see the bike shift because of the air wall from car, crazy. Close and fast passes have happened to me as well. If you run a mirror, you can see ahead of time that they are not giving you space and adjust accordingly. A mirror has really made my cycling more safe.

KingCat

If you live in the area and have Facebook post the video there and people who know the person are more likely to see it.

calamarichris

Thanks for reminding me. Thankfully so many companies paint their names and phone numbers on the side of their vehicles. I've left two bad yelp reviews reporting texting drivers, and also one of an Arizona dirt bike dealership that dumped a full crankcase of used motoroil (at least a gallon) out in a parking lot in my California hometown.
If you're going to do something stupid, at least make sure you aren't advertising your company name while doing it. Information works both ways in the Information Age.

cruiserhead

Either oblivious or being an a hole. I dont thing "psycho" describes that.
Video will be useful if you get hit. Other cyclists videos have helped them after hit and runs.

Good luck with PV popo. They won't do anything unless you're a resident and even then, they won't do anything.

Beachgrad05

Sorry but why not start a blog of your own for all these close calls? Seems to me you are experiencing random inattentive or careless drivers. Rather than posting here...