For awhile now I've been riding my bike with a helmet cam and I've been thinking about how to make videos of commuting incidents more useful. As in eventually maybe people will pay more attention and give me more of a break and I'll live longer and be happier. Actually (unscientifically) riding with a camera already seems to provoke more people into slowing down and being more cautious, but it really feels like we should be able to do more. Law enforcement and insurance company representatives seem largely uninterested. I'm guessing they aren't so ready to change what they do just because I strapped a camera to my head. Even though I feel a video of a stressed out driver's car followed by a police officer's or insurance company's warning might remind your average person to slow down and be more careful next time, before they get in a wreck.

So as a question to everyone, what else can we do with videos where someone acted dangerously but no actual collision occurred?

Forward to your elected representatives and demand they enact a law banning dangerous, erratic, incompetent, distracted, and irrational behavior.

Like that's legal now?

IF you have a video that shows the license #, maybe your local police would be interested?
Maybe they won't/can't do something/anything since they weren't present, but maybe they'll look up the license and find a driver that's already treading a thin line to losing their license.

I think in most cases, unless something bad happens, the cops won't care. I wouldn't bother reporting anything unless it was really extreme or it caused an accident.

Wait, you want Congress to outlaw itself?

End result: A ten-to-thirty-minute video of bad driver behavior, a collection of short clips grouped by city.

Procedure:

Make a web site advertising your efforts.

Make some way for people to send you their clips. Ask for a date and city name to accompany each clip. A clip should long enough to grab interest, short enough not to be boring.

Collect clips and group by city (assuming you get enough).

Assemble the final video.

Put it on your web site and on youtube. See if it takes off.

If the videos show license numbers, all the better unless there is anything illegal about it. Theoretically, since cars have license plates and license plates identify drivers, behaving badly in a car is sort of like behaving badly on foot while wearing a name tag with your home address. I think that people forget that a car is not some sort of cloaking device that shields them from public view. Would people behaved like jerks if they realized that they were doing was on display for all their friends and neighbors to see?

If it doesn't take off, what have you gotten for your efforts? Some video editing skill, maybe some fun if you like that sort of thing. I don't like that sort of thing, so I'm not going to do it.

I wouldn't bother reporting anything unless it was really extreme or it caused an accident.

To be fair, if you're thinking about doing some kind of infotainment theme, then you should also include any instances of salmon riders, bike ninjas, and the cyclists who blatantly ignore traffic control devices. It isn't just the cagers that make things 'interesting' for the rest of us...

Not sure that you can achieve much with your video material (good luck though, I hope you can)

You mention that drivers behave better if they know you have a camera - cameras are increasingly small and hard for drivers to see, have an online custom jersey site make you a jersey with "Video Camera in Use" or something like that.

This is actually what I've been thinking about. A site somewhat like youtube but with the purpose of focusing on these sort of video clips. I'm just not sure how interested cyclists would be? If you had a web site that had tools in place to track these sort of clips and ensure high quality, would you use it?

Thanks all!

I wondered how long it would take for the camera enthusiasts to experience buyers remorse. Of course there would be disappointment when the $$$ investment in camera equipment failed to produce any measurable change in peace of mind on the road. Duh. But, no, the answer couldn't be to flog that useless equipment on Craigslist so the cash strapped snowboarders and BASE jumpers can document their exploits. No... lets collude in the madness and publish a website where we can out reckless drivers for the good of society. I was thinking yesterday while I was balanced on the white line while three grateful cagers roared past me on the left, about how a lot of you here on this forum would be wetting your shorts and screaming about being buzzed!!! I was also thinking that the alternative... to "take the lane" would also have worked. I could have held those three and any more that came up behind them, for as long as I needed to get to the next turnout. Thing is... I ride that road every day. Twice a day. A good many of those cars that pass are repeat customers. I don't know which ones, but I have to assume lots. LOTS! So... do I make a reputation for myself as a road hog (although legally empowered to do so) or do I make a reputation for myself as a stand up guy who lets other guys with cars get on with their day. Easy choice for me, others... not so much.

H

You could always use the camera to document your prowess at passing other bike riders. Or to document your daily commute in case it is not fully engrained in your mind, given that you ride it every day. You can watch it over and over, or post it here so others can see what a fascinating commute you have.