People ask me all the time if I get crazy footage of drivers. But the camera de-escalates things way more than anything else. Some psycho pulls up and yells “HEY!” then all I have to do is point to the camera and 9 times out of 10, they shut up and drive away.
CaptainJackVernaise on
What camera are you using? I tried using a GoPro for a little while, but I found it to be less than great until it just stopped recording video longer than 10s, and the “no questions asked” replacement for their faulty garbage came with a pretty unexpected $99 deductible.
delicate10drills on
Nice. Is the Backpack Shoulderstrap Mount a standard thing or a custom 3d print?
LimitedWard on
Looks like you have a Star Wars droid sitting on your shoulder!
Guru_Meditation_No on
A low budget intervention is to mount something that looks like you’re wearing a camera.
I’ve heard this before – fortunately while cycling for utility it’s pretty civil where I am, but I might start doing this on my road riding. Tried it out before but the only issue is the GoPro I’ve got is so unreliable when it comes to runtime even with new batteries.
Jucior on
Not sure if this is legal in your country but what I did is, I mounted it on the helmet ( I know it’s not the safest way) and marked it with holo tapes so it is even more visible.
Still I get 3- 4 close calls recorded which I happily send to police so they deal with those guys.
Signal_Tomorrow_2138 on
Yes. Everytime somebody posts a bad experience, I recommend to get a couple of action cameras.
My riding experience has improved tremendously since riding with them.
And bad drivers I capture running red lights, illegally parked, other dangerous act, I report to the police’s online complaints form.
Commercial vehicles, I contact the executives of the company and complain.
And I upload a lot of my videos to Youtube.
dryerincluded on
Why not mount on helmet?
nosuchaddress on
I happy for you if it keeps you safer, but I am skeptical. I don’t think a car driving at speed is going to notice a little black box of a few cubic inches from a distance. Cars in my area don’t notice the mail box sized metal boxes taking pictures of them as they speed by. I bike a lot and I also drive a car. I’m aware of bikes and pay special attention as I pass them, but I could count on one hand the amount of times I’ve noticed a camera.
I could see where it might de-escalate a confrontation once you point it out to someone, but as for keeping you safer because people are aware they are being filmed as they are passing, I think that’s just wishful thinking.
soaero on
Oooh I run a front camera for legal reasons (our judge/jury/executioner when it comes to collisions will put cyclists at equal fault, and even make them pay for car damages, if there’s no evidence) but you’re making me think I should, at the very least, get a little cheap rear camera with a flashing light just to see if I can limit those close passes.
jb0nez95 on
I kind of find these claims hard to believe, because are the drivers even aware of the camera? I have a hard enough time getting them to see me when I’m in their line of sight, with lights on, and high viz jacket–would they really notice a black lump of plastic on my helmet or handlebars?
MrGurns on
I designed and printed a brick holder for a water bottle mount cage.
Working good so far.
Cosworth_ on
What camera is it?
mana-milk on
It’s fucking insane that cyclists have to dress themselves in surveillance equipment just to stop people from assaulting and/or murdering them.
cz3pm on
Tempting but I’ve never been interested in riding with a bag.. might try it though, who knows. I change my mind constantly! Lol
B_B1SHY on
I had a GoPro mounted on my helmet for a number of years. Never turned it on but people definitely drove nicer around me
evilhomer3k on
It could be that your camera and mounting system remind them of the shoulder mounted cannon that the Predator uses.
19 Comments
People ask me all the time if I get crazy footage of drivers. But the camera de-escalates things way more than anything else. Some psycho pulls up and yells “HEY!” then all I have to do is point to the camera and 9 times out of 10, they shut up and drive away.
What camera are you using? I tried using a GoPro for a little while, but I found it to be less than great until it just stopped recording video longer than 10s, and the “no questions asked” replacement for their faulty garbage came with a pretty unexpected $99 deductible.
Nice. Is the Backpack Shoulderstrap Mount a standard thing or a custom 3d print?
Looks like you have a Star Wars droid sitting on your shoulder!
A low budget intervention is to mount something that looks like you’re wearing a camera.
Link to camera:
https://www.rexingusa.com/product/a1/
Link to mount:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7DVCCZX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I’ve heard this before – fortunately while cycling for utility it’s pretty civil where I am, but I might start doing this on my road riding. Tried it out before but the only issue is the GoPro I’ve got is so unreliable when it comes to runtime even with new batteries.
Not sure if this is legal in your country but what I did is, I mounted it on the helmet ( I know it’s not the safest way) and marked it with holo tapes so it is even more visible.
Still I get 3- 4 close calls recorded which I happily send to police so they deal with those guys.
Yes. Everytime somebody posts a bad experience, I recommend to get a couple of action cameras.
My riding experience has improved tremendously since riding with them.
And bad drivers I capture running red lights, illegally parked, other dangerous act, I report to the police’s online complaints form.
Commercial vehicles, I contact the executives of the company and complain.
And I upload a lot of my videos to Youtube.
Why not mount on helmet?
I happy for you if it keeps you safer, but I am skeptical. I don’t think a car driving at speed is going to notice a little black box of a few cubic inches from a distance. Cars in my area don’t notice the mail box sized metal boxes taking pictures of them as they speed by. I bike a lot and I also drive a car. I’m aware of bikes and pay special attention as I pass them, but I could count on one hand the amount of times I’ve noticed a camera.
I could see where it might de-escalate a confrontation once you point it out to someone, but as for keeping you safer because people are aware they are being filmed as they are passing, I think that’s just wishful thinking.
Oooh I run a front camera for legal reasons (our judge/jury/executioner when it comes to collisions will put cyclists at equal fault, and even make them pay for car damages, if there’s no evidence) but you’re making me think I should, at the very least, get a little cheap rear camera with a flashing light just to see if I can limit those close passes.
I kind of find these claims hard to believe, because are the drivers even aware of the camera? I have a hard enough time getting them to see me when I’m in their line of sight, with lights on, and high viz jacket–would they really notice a black lump of plastic on my helmet or handlebars?
I designed and printed a brick holder for a water bottle mount cage.
Working good so far.
What camera is it?
It’s fucking insane that cyclists have to dress themselves in surveillance equipment just to stop people from assaulting and/or murdering them.
Tempting but I’ve never been interested in riding with a bag.. might try it though, who knows. I change my mind constantly! Lol
I had a GoPro mounted on my helmet for a number of years. Never turned it on but people definitely drove nicer around me
It could be that your camera and mounting system remind them of the shoulder mounted cannon that the Predator uses.