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At the AGM we were discussing dangerous driving on and off campus and the question was asked if anyone was using a camera and what sort of response was priovided by Thames Valley Police.
I picked up an old camera on ebay a month or so ago (the original BulletHD – 720p 30fps) and have been using it most days. Anecdotally it seems most drivers are giving me more space than before as it is mounted on the right side of my helmet and fairly visible. There’s always the occassional idiot though and I reported my first driver to TVP on Wednesday night via 101.
The operator was very helpful, collected the usual details – date, time, place and witness/video details. It was explained that usually without an independent witness no action can be taken but they consider video showing the incident as sufficient to proceed. She arranged a callback the following day from a traffic officer. The officer asked for a few more details and also how I would like to proceed with the complaint. I thought a letter of advise from TVP would suffice and the officer suggested I upload the video to Youtube both so he could look at the incident and include a link in the letter – apparantly it can help some drivers realise how close they actually were. The fact the driver has been reported will be kept on file and may influence decisions on any future incidents they’re involved in.
All up it was a pretty painless process and I didn’t feel at any time that it wasn’t being taken seriously.
Here’s the video link:
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Hi,
I have reported similar incidents either with me cycling or driving via their website, and the usual response appears to be that without independent witness there will be no prosecution but they will log the incidents and the details – pretty close to what you got.
Cheers,
Dimitris
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That was a nasty pass – seems like you had a positive response from the Police. I normally use a Virb mounted under handlebars, and though I’ve not contacted the Police, this year I’ve emailed ~ four companies re. close passes, and generally had a reasonable response.
Re. close passes, you may be interested in what the Met have on their RoadSafeLondon ‘reporting’ website, which includes:
“Video footage
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Videos should not be edited in any way. They must not rely on a perception of distance such as a close pass as the apparent distance will vary according to the type camera and settings. There are other issues with video evidence, such as parallax error, which makes objects appear close together when they are seen in line. In general, evidence of provocation or disproportionate reaction will mean that no action is taken..” -
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My reason for having it is more about giving the British Cycling insurance a decent chance to recoup costs following a crash – I had a £250 repair bill earlier this year from running into the back of a car following an overtake/hard brake at the bottom of Chilton Road. I’d rather not repeat that….
Could you clarify if that was 250 of bike damage or car damage, If it was car I hadn’t thought of the prospect of having to pay for damage to cars after they put in front and break which they all do everyday.
I have had several near misses, including one this morning where white van overtook and turned off left feet in front of me without indicating and almost took me out. came looking on harbug for similar instances and what to do, seem like I need a camera. but I had thought camera was just to catch the idiots and have the police tell them how to drive. do I need one to cover myself legally?
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