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Helmet/Bike Camera why dont you have one?!?!?


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Sorry that title was a little full on and slightly agressive but i wanted your attention. Now that i have it lets discuss this. In this day and age how can some people still not have some form of camera on them whilst riding? motorcycles are the most vulnerable motor vehicle users on the road.


We all hear those scary statistics the news and police read out that we make up around 30% of all fatalities in road incidents.


here are some of the pros and cons as i have seen them


Pros

undeniable evidence

instant fear (ill explain that one a little more in a second)

Youtube


Cons

price

mainting equipment e.g. batteries charged memory cards ready an so forth

proof of wrong doing (should you do such a thing which i have never ever done)


ok so lets look at this. I ride a bright green and purple kawasaki ZX6R that when under revs sounds like hell flying towards you. however due to the latest in cage technology they are sound proof and for the most part motorcycle proof. so they dont hear us over thier music and they dont see us whilst they are texting and they arent worried when they crash into us as they will be protected.


But modern men and women have devised a new anti predator instict. rather then understanding animal sounds we have instead developed the ability to spot a 1 inch camera lense at 100 yards provided it is recording and pointed at us. you know what i mean. that sense that you are being observed but not by eyes but by a camera.


no other example of this is more perfect then my before and after experience when i first got my drift helmet camera. drivers male and female (its not one of those rants) would look me dead in the eye before pulling out infront of me or cutting me up despite the road presence my ninja has. fast forward a week. those same roads and people would sit when they had plenty of time to go but when passing them i would see thier eyes fixed upon the drift camera atop my helmet (no dirty pun intended) unwilling to even change the radio station but instead sitting completely still hands glued to the wheel eyes locked on me. as soon as a driver knows a lense is upon them thier entire attitude changes. countless times just glancing at a driver will make them drop their phones, food, even a full cup of coffee (i know its evil but i laughed so hard at him i nearly fell off). its safe to say that my camera has saved my admittedly short arse more times then i can count


so surely the minor price of £100 (a decent camera) is worth it for all the benifits. and yet i still meet riders who say that having a camera is "dumb" "pointless" "a waste of time and money"


i could go on and on and on and on but i want to know you guys and glas takes on cameras on bikes/persons


if you do have a camera share why


and if you dont jump in and tell me why. i would love to know your side of this.


i look forward to reading your stories Britninja88

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so you think your shiney new camera has altered the way other road users drive? or it has suddenly made your more visible to other road users?

i drive a 12ft high white hgv and they still can not see me.they still try and drive and ride down my blind side,yes bikers are as bad for this as cyclist

forever having cars pull out of side roads.nearly wiped out a young girl and her baby the other week,just pulled out right in front of me.i dont think your camera will make any difference,some people can drive, ride, some people can not,did you see how i included the word ride.yes some people should'nt be allowed on 2 wheels,some people should'nt be allowed to go out of there homes,if you think your helmet camera has made you safer then thats good.if you enjoy shoving your camera in others peoples faces as you ride passed them,dont be surprised if someone takes offence

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This is a bit preachy for my liking. Have a camera if you WANT a camera. You're better off riding better and watching the road more carefully, as my riding instructor ( an ex-bike cop ) always said. "If you got into an accident, why were you there" always annoyed me a bit untill he explained it more. Read the road, read other drivers, is there a junction coming up. Move over a bit, but is it on a corner? don't move to much someone might cut the corner. Slow down? is the driver behind you paying attention? Your riding skills and experience are what will stop you crashing not a camera.

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YOu post is very good, so good i want one....



I'll pm you my address so you can purchase one and send it to me.. cheers mate


otherwise, don't believe your own hype, otherwise we will be watching a you tube video of you being smeared across the road :(

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and next on the list is pedestrians wearing them in case they get hit by a bus crossing the road......................i personally have never used or will ever use a camera on a motorcycle,has everyone also forgotten that the police can use the footage stored on it to prosecute you for motoring offences and they dont stop the other idiots on the road trying to kill you as other ops have said

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Mister-t i dont think my camera has made me more visible and changed the way people drive i know for a fact it has i see the proof of that every time i ride. im not saying its fool proof people still miss me but it does help and i dont use it to feel safer i know my riding is of a high enough standard to look out for me in that respect. i do agree with you though there are people who shouldnt be on the road cyclists, motorcyclists, car drivers and HGV drivers there is always someone out there who shouldnt be allowed to control a vehicle.


NeilM thats fair enough you feel better without one. no but i would very much like to have shares in Drift or Go Pro they are in a very good place in the markets at the moment.


tuktuk i can only assume you may go over the speed limit by 1 or 2 mph whilst enjoying your motorcycle which is fair enough it would be silly to be prosecuted using evidence you recorded.


Glorian i get what you are saying skill + experience over safety features and i am 110% with you on that but you admit yourself you have a camera. you obviously see the plus of having the camera yes at present to re watch some of the antics people get up to on the road but in the event of an accident or a claim against you be it by police for speeding or someone claiming you caused an accident (i have been there) then that little camera is invaluable to you. it may read a bit preachy but my points are valid even the police are filming everything they do these days because a persons word is worth nothing when it comes to law and lawyers. you are correct a camera wont stop you from crashing but it may help catch the person who caused it and explain to family what happened to you should the worst happen.


soll ha like i have the funds to buy cameras at the moment all my funds are being poured into my demon bike. in the event i am smeared up a road the video wont be online itll be for investigation and closure for my family. and thats why i have one in the event i am left in the road broken and unconscious it will give the emergency services the info they need to help me. police can use it to catch the person who harmed me and at the very least it will allow the ambulance crew to see exactly what happened to me so they can help me more effectively. a friend of mine suffered a horrific crash and was rendered unconscious instantly and has no memory of that day. but his camera helped get the idiot who pulled out on him prosecuted and helped my friend come to terms with exactly what had happended to him.


eastanglianbiker i get where you are coming from with this one. although motorcyclists and the police have never had a great relationship i dont believe in fearing them and what they may do. i agree with you that they dont do enough to catch the real criminals of the road hell i could rant about that for a few hours. in all the times i have been pulled over by the police never have i been asked to provide footage of my riding. i have often had a friendly chat with them regarding their recording equipment and so forth. also to your point about them not doing enough about other road users braking the law. i as im sure many other camera users have done have in the past given footage to the police to help them take some of these drivers down. and dont be silly where would a ped mount a camera haha

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Point i was trying to make (i'm not very clear) is i wouldn't RELY on a camera to protect me from someones idiocy. You see on all these vlogger channels that cars drive no differently, and a lot of bikers feel like the justice police (we're turning into cyclists on that one) when we do a lot of the mistakes, Just recently there was a topic about a vlogger, and watching his riding i thought to myself "What a crap rider". Have a read through.


viewtopic.php?f=2&t=58732

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Glorian i have at no point said rely on a camera for protection. i agree with you that how we ride is the best way to defend our selves from other road users and none road users but in this blaim and claim society we now live in it helps to know that (provided you are obeying the rules of the road) that the camera will have your back in anything legal. i dont disagree that we all make mistakes hell we are all learning and no one is perfect.


Phil young im not sure people who have been rear ended would agree but i do take your point being observant and riding safely would greatly reduce the amount of bike accidents. but hear me out on this. you are filtering to the front on a dual carriage way when one of the drivers decides f**k this biker getting to the front and trys to block your path. in doing so you have to stop suddenly causing you to have an accident you and your motorcycle collide with a car each side of you. when the police arrive you tell them your side of things. however mr i hate bikes informs them he was indicating and preparing to change lanes when you came up behind him going to fast. now you are in a word for word argument and based on the facts available you are at fault for the damage as you struck them. sure you might get lucky that someone witnessed the driver cause it but most likely everyone who witnessed it felt similar and left the scene. leaving you with a broken bike an insurance claim and the next 5 years of your motoring life ruined Financially speaking if you are lucky enough not to have been hurt in this.


example 2 you are sat at a set of lights waiting to join a main road the lights change 1 car stops on the main road the other does not causing a rear end accident that you are not part of. the driver of car number 2 decides he does not want to tell the police he was to busy on his phone to spot the car infront had stopped so instead says that the biker ran the red causing the car infront to stop before the lights had actually changed. driver number 1 is not there to clear this up as he is in an ambulance on his way to hospital and you are taken into the back of a police car to be questioned as you are being read your rights you inform officers that it is all on camera. they inspect this footage and then release you.


^ this is fact. i am writing my own encounter from early this year


Grumpy Old Git i know im safe skynet has no interest in my mastubatory habbits as they do not play into its grand stratergies for world domination. nor does motorcycle cameras for that matter

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Phil young im not sure people who have been rear ended would agree

Like I said, MOST collisions can be avoided by the rider. Even rear enders.


There is almost ALWAYS a sign. driver on their phone, driver talking to their passenger in the seat opposite, driver with their elbow on the window, driver too close in your mirrors, driver not paying attention etc... all these little things should be included in your risk assessment that you may collide with this person if you don't take care. Collisions rarely come out of nowhere - there is almost always a sign, we just may have missed it.


In your example 1... if you as a rider or driver cannot safely perform an emergency stop, you are simply going too fast for your position and could have been prevented by going slower.


Example 2 is really the only case I would accept as not being realistically being able to prevent.

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you are filtering to the front on a dual carriage way when one of the drivers decides f**k this biker getting to the front and trys to block your path. in doing so you have to stop suddenly causing you to have an accident you and your motorcycle collide with a car each side of you. when the police arrive you tell them your side of things. however mr i hate bikes informs them he was indicating and preparing to change lanes when you came up behind him going to fast.

 

I filter assuming everyone in front of me is going to swerve lanes! So am doing a speed I can safely stop from quickly :) I did have a van driver who I saw looking in his mirror and moved right over to the white line to block me. As I went past (due to a lovely person in the other lane who clocked the situation and dropped back to let me go round the van, I did thank them!) he was holding his middle finger up at me! :shock: Most van drivers are quite lovely to bikes around here and let us out / move over to let us by :) just bloody smart cars and foxton minis you need to watch out for....

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example 1 was described as a malicious act. not a complete fantasy these days given traffic is increasing and road rage incidents are on the rise. i have experienced both accidental and intended close calls but as you say observing the signs can be the difference between close call and accident. i maintain that having a camera is far better than not regardless of situation. better to have it and never use it rather than not have it and wish you had.


hoggs as do i. as everyone has said its skills b4 gadgets and we are the best safety device we have. but lies confusion and no information at all can be our worst enemy in the event of an incident. then it is up to other parties to decide. parties who will have their own agendas and opinions thats when facts get lost and the whole thing falls apart

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Phil young im not sure people who have been rear ended would agree

Like I said, MOST collisions can be avoided by the rider. Even rear enders.


There is almost ALWAYS a sign. driver on their phone, driver talking to their passenger in the seat opposite, driver with their elbow on the window, driver too close in your mirrors, driver not paying attention etc... all these little things should be included in your risk assessment that you may collide with this person if you don't take care. Collisions rarely come out of nowhere - there is almost always a sign, we just may have missed it.


In your example 1... if you as a rider or driver cannot safely perform an emergency stop, you are simply going too fast for your position and could have been prevented by going slower.


Example 2 is really the only case I would accept as not being realistically being able to prevent.

 

:thumb:


You can 99% of the time, if paying enough attention and you know what you're looking for prevent an accident. Read the road, Read the people. You'll be safe. Ride around at 60+ on the tight 30mph back roads to work (YES YOU MR ORANGE TROUSERS) and you're going to get taken out by that car you didn't see pulling out. Camera will not help, and i'm not sure on where footage stands in a court case/investigation into a crash, Might not be acceptable, someone less lazy than me should look into this

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Cameras are cool, but they don't make you any safer. If anything it seems they lull some into a false sense of security...


People don't look at you and suddenly behave themselves because they spot a camera! Most road users don't see it, and the ones that do don't know its a camera.

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But modern men and women have devised a new anti predator instict. rather then understanding animal sounds we have instead developed the ability to spot a 1 inch camera lense at 100 yards provided it is recording and pointed at us. you know what i mean. that sense that you are being observed but not by eyes but by a camera.


so people can spot a 1 inch camera lens at 100 yards?,really,now my maths aint that good,100 yards is about 300 feet,(please correct if wrong)

so by having a camera these people who have not seen me previously riding my bike with headlight on,hi vis motorcycle jacket,white helmet,can suddenly see me from 100 yards,now if you think it makes a difference to you than fine,but the facts are.other road users will not see your camera untill you are right next to them,if other road users like you suggest are aware of being watched by cameras,then why do so many get caught by average speed cameras on motorways,in bus lanes,speed cams,these are way bigger than a 1 inch helmet cam,the uk is supposed to be the most heavily monitored by cctv in europe

so if people dont care what they do in front of those cameras they aint going to care about anyone wearing one on there head

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This discussion has began to circle and i am no longer willing to give it my time. i tried to make a point in a light hearted manner to encourage discussion but it seems to have offended some. despite my logical points and clear reasons some have deemed to come after me because i have a different opinion to their own. while i thought discussing an added safety device would make a good topic most peoples responses boiled down to "just ride better". this will be my last post on this forum as i am clearly the odd one out and not willing to change my opinion to match the majority


i hope you never find yourselves in a situation where your riding wasnt better enough

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while i thought discussing an added safety device would make a good topic most peoples responses boiled down to "just ride better".

Camera's won't make it more safe, they are merely for insurance AFTER a crash. That's the point of everyone here - great for insurance (no one disputes that) but nothing safety added about it.


Don't think you offended anyone though... :thumb:

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This discussion has began to circle and i am no longer willing to give it my time. i tried to make a point in a light hearted manner to encourage discussion but it seems to have offended some. despite my logical points and clear reasons some have deemed to come after me because i have a different opinion to their own. while i thought discussing an added safety device would make a good topic most peoples responses boiled down to "just ride better". this will be my last post on this forum as i am clearly the odd one out and not willing to change my opinion to match the majority


i hope you never find yourselves in a situation where your riding wasnt better enough

 


Lol... Say Cheese :lol:

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