DashCams / Helmet Cams - Good or Bad

[locksmith]

Its becoming apparent that we all have things we do normally that others perceive as downright dangerous!

[Grahamm]

This thread  is for those who want to discuss the good and bad points of personal cameras on the road and if they are a good, bad, necessary or irrelevant.

Getting back to the original topic of this thread and away from the childish pettiness...

Personally, I don't use a helmet camera and wouldn't use one for these purposes.

I did try out a couple of cheap ones some years ago, but the aim there was to improve my riding by recording what I'd done and then reviewing it later to see if I could have improved my observation or positioning etc, unfortunately they were both crap and I gave up on them because they never worked properly.

I can understand why some people want to use them, especially if they're riding in a high-risk environment (eg lots of commuting) where there's a much greater than normal danger of being in an accident and where there could be disputes about liability, however I prefer to simply ride defensively and do my best to ensure I'm not on a bit of road which someone else is going to try to occupy since, as I keep saying: There's no point in thinking "I was in the right!" as you're flying through the air, because it won't make it hurt any less when you hit the ground.

I can't say I agree with posting "holier than thou" videos of other people's mistakes or bad driving etc because that just leads to the sort of petty sniping in previous posts with claims of "you can't post that unless your riding is perfect", (see also the definition of Ad Hominem Tu Quoque I posted elsewhere) .

If you see someone doing something criminally dangerous, of course, by all means draw it to the attention of the Police, but examples of bad driving are so commonplace, they're not worth getting worked up about, just make sure they don't endanger you.

[NorthWestern]

Well said

Intentionally left blank

[Frosties]

This thread  is for those who want to discuss the good and bad points of personal cameras on the road and if they are a good, bad, necessary or irrelevant.

Getting back to the original topic of this thread and away from the childish pettiness...

Personally, I don't use a helmet camera and wouldn't use one for these purposes.

I can understand why some people want to use them, especially if they're riding in a high-risk environment (eg lots of commuting) where there's a much greater than normal danger of being in an accident and where there could be disputes about liability.

This is the sole reason for me buying and using a camera - 100 mile round trip a day into central London. The decision was made following the clip Punkstig posted of a lying git who took him out.


I've have never and will never post clips for fun or act as a plastic plod because I have better things to do.


I have found that when you do get cut up and the driver spots your camera you don't get into a slanging match anymore - they know they fucked up, it's recorded so they tend to just apologise - it saves a lot of grief. Simples......

[locksmith]

Now this is what a dashcam is for

[Punkstig]

Once upon a time, etc etc,
So, when I first got a camera I published a couple of clips on the tubeofme that I thought were amusing- some of general bad driving or suicidal pedestrians, couple of me getting knee down and other bits of riding, I've got several bits of footage downloaded onto the pc with the intention of publishing due to cuntish driving, then when I watch them, and although it is cuntish driving, I realise at the time of the offense I was riled, and now, after watching it I can't be arsed, partly as a 30 minute clip will need editing to 2 minutes, but also after watching it I wonder what I'll get out of publishing it- nothing, so I don't bother.
It is literally now only used as evidence for when I have an accident!

[Flooky]

I remember when motorcyclists were all about freedom and not conforming to the norm, if you wanna grass people up join the police.
If someone annoys you on the road kick their mirror off, if you abide by all the rules of the road yourself you don't get it, well done ,buy a micra because you wont get wet and you can carry more shopping.

[crickleymal]

I never knew these youtube clips existed before this thread. So as far as I can see they're almost a complete waste of time. Who's going to see them, certainly not the driver being filmed and the police aren't going to monitor Youtube for RTOs so it's pointless. As far as I can see it gives the poster a fleeting feeling of self satisfaction and nothing more.

Now having a camera for protection in case of an accident is completely different. I can see the point of that.

[JD-LincsUK]

Hmm, my response to the raised points in OP:

Who bloody cares? 

Does that make me a philistine? 

[JOE]

I remember when motorcyclists were all about freedom and not conforming to the norm, if you wanna grass people up join the police.
If someone annoys you on the road kick their mirror off, if you abide by all the rules of the road yourself you don't get it, well done ,buy a micra because you wont get wet and you can carry more shopping.

this!

[Exupnut]

Do cycle cameras make the roads any safer?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37229880

[BBROWN1664]

If you use a camera, make sure you drive/ride like a saint or the footage can be used against you.

[Robgosty]

If you use a camera, make sure you drive/ride like a saint or the footage can be used against you.

which is exactly why i do not have one 

[Grayo]

If you use a camera, make sure you drive/ride like a saint or the footage can be used against you.

How exactly ?
Surely you wouldn't submit any camera footage that could be used against you as evidence.
If my camera captured that sort of footage about me (I don't ride/drive like a twat though) I would delete it immediately.

[BBROWN1664]

If you use a camera, make sure you drive/ride like a saint or the footage can be used against you.

How exactly ?
Surely you wouldn't submit any camera footage that could be used against you as evidence.
If my camera captured that sort of footage about me (I don't ride/drive like a twat though) I would delete it immediately.

That's the point. Many people don't and publish the film to expose something else or gloat about how they did a 200 mile in 20 minutes etc forgetting that to capture the video they were crossing white lines, exceeding the speed limit, generally driving like a tw@t etc which the plod then see and use against you. You also need to remember that you may have an accident and whether it was your fault or not, plod get hold of the footage and do you for something earlier on your ride.

If you ride like a saint, which most of don't, then you will have no problems.

[Robgosty]

If you use a camera, make sure you drive/ride like a saint or the footage can be used against you.

How exactly ?
Surely you wouldn't submit any camera footage that could be used against you as evidence.
If my camera captured that sort of footage about me (I don't ride/drive like a twat though) I would delete it immediately.

You may not always have the time to edit/delete footage, know these guys were a bit extreme but you get the idea
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3701729/Reckless-bikers-banned-driving-caught-camera-doing-wheelies-heavy-traffic-speeding-140mph.html