Got hit riding home from work last night by a united utilities van who buggered off. Managed to stay on and bike seems OK. Reported to the company but only have time and location. Its pissing me off that not a week goes by without a close pass or pull out etc. So I'm getting a camera and will report to police if needed. So what's best? Forward facing or rear?
Cheers, Graham.
Both 🙂
If only one, I go with forward. Yes being hit from the rear may be more serious but IME things are much more likely to happen in front, people pulling out, cutting off, left hooks, dooring... etc. Plus if you have it on your helmet you can point it where you look.
Close passes start from the rear of course but are generally still close when they get to the front! My helmet camera picks them up ok.
Both
Many utility companies have telematics on their vehicles so time and place might be enough.
And their safety and training departments with take a very dim view of hitting someone and leaving.
As above, I've be very surprised if they don't track their vehicles so worth chasing up
Front IME
Both if that's a choice
Neither work well in the dark, especially against car headlamps
I use a chillitech camera, some on here slate them but mine has done the job needed on lots of occasions, never not been able to see reg on incidents. I have mine on front.
I run both but before that it was just a fly6, i figured if anything bad happened it'd be from behind (stop the s****ing) as I have much more control over whats going on in front of me
I use a chillitech camera, some on here slate them but mine has done the job needed on lots of occasions, never not been able to see reg on incidents. I have mine on front.
Me too. It's no GoPro but perfectly adequate for this use.
Thanks for replies. Unitedutilities are investigating and I'd guess they have trackers. Accidents happen, I get that but to drive off is shitty behaviour. Plus your in a marked van you dick. The fly cameras get mixed reviews so may go the go pro route.
I previously used old GoPro on my helmet facing forwards. Changed to Cycliq bike-mounted front and rear after being knocked off from behind. No complaints several years later. I just looked at the currently prices and don't think I paid that though!
To drive off is not just shitty, its also illegal as far as I'm aware. I'd get the police involved, before the black box data gets mysteriously lost.
Are you a member of any cycling clubs/groups, CTC etc? You might have some legal bods on your team. Much more likely to get a good result with the big guns weighing in.
I've heard that the police liked timestamped videos (not sure if this is actually the case) so it might be worth checking whether a camera can do this before buying.
I've go a GoPro session but it doesn't appear to have a timestamp option (it does have a clock onboard so perhaps individual frames' Exit data is timestamped).
Get something with reasonable battery life too (the Session's is less than impressive).
Close passes start from the rear of course but are generally still close when they get to the front! My helmet camera picks them up ok.
There was a close pass on Near Miss Of The Day and the police wouldn't act and this was their reasoning -
"Thank you for your submission. For us to be able to make a decision correctly we need to be able to view the footage which identifies a clear and obvious offence.
On the front piece of footage we are unable to gauge how close the vehicle is to you as you have turned your head towards it at the point of the alleged offence occurring.
Please be advised that this makes it incredibly difficult for us to make an informed decision as it changes the angle of the footage, which in turn, makes it difficult for us to correctly judge the passing distance.
From viewing the rear footage it is clear that the driver of the subject vehicle is almost completely on the opposite of the carriageway when passing you. No further action."
agree that the cycliq cameras aren't great but they are pretty much the only option.
Please be advised that this makes it incredibly difficult for us to make an informed decision as it changes the angle of the footage, which in turn, makes it difficult for us to correctly judge the passing distance.
I can kind of see their point. I presume they must take some sort of measurement from the image to find the distances involved, so if the frame moves then that's lost. Giving them the benefit of the doubt it might actually mean they're treating submissions seriously and in a consistent manner. In the same way you can't get speeding ticket because someone guesstimates your speed.
On the other hand, the alleged offence they should have been looking at in that video was overtaking on a corner into oncoming traffic. It wasn't actually a close pass!
I did look at that to replace my 2nd fly6 (they tend to last 2ish years).
in the end I decided i also needed the front so went for the expensive (but not a crazy expensive as it could be) front/rear cycliq bundle.
On the other hand, the alleged offence they should have been looking at in that video was overtaking on a corner into oncoming traffic.
Ed Zachery.
Chillitech quality example:
(clueless Range Rover content)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pUS8VYBOrN_aLuo87OevDwKMssdFgb0w/view?usp=sharing
