Decent helmet camera?

I had an accident whilst commuting. Driver denied responsibility and it turned into a drawn out fight. It worked out okay because a driver behind me kindly stopped, waited and insisted on giving his details to the police. I had some pain for months and two broken fingers but lost a lot of confidence and bought a garmin virb. I've used it on my helmet to commute for about 18 months now.

I rarely watch the footage and its even rarer to do anything with it. I've posted 3 clips to youtube in that time and deleted one of them after getting an apologetic email from the company in question. I had emailed the company to tell them the clip was there.

I emailed the police about one incident, where I had a terrible overtake from a van which cut in front of me and the van hadn't paid their VED. Their response was to say their systems can't view youtube, could I come in to make a statement. By this time I had calmed down and decided not to bother.

Where it does help if at all is modifying people's behaviour. People often change their minds about an overtake when they see the camera for instance. I recently had a woman in the passenger seat of a sports car who intended to throw a bottle top at me and stopped when she saw the camera. 10 metres down the road she threw it at a parked car instead.

I get a roughly equal response from a small number of van drivers, where they either peep at me or give me the thumbs up. I'm not clear why, but I take it as disapproval/approval.

Oh and finally, if your adrenaline is up, sometimes because of an earlier incident, it can be easy to overreact. What the camera also does is let me see that some overtakes or incidents weren't as bad as I thought they were at the time.

Nebulous2 wrote: »

I had an accident whilst commuting. Driver denied responsibility and it turned into a drawn out fight. It worked out okay because a driver behind me kindly stopped, waited and insisted on giving his details to the police. I had some pain for months and two broken fingers but lost a lot of confidence and bought a garmin virb. I've used it on my helmet to commute for about 18 months now.

I rarely watch the footage and its even rarer to do anything with it. I've posted 3 clips to youtube in that time and deleted one of them after getting an apologetic email from the company in question. I had emailed the company to tell them the clip was there.

I emailed the police about one incident, where I had a terrible overtake from a van which cut in front of me and the van hadn't paid their VED. Their response was to say their systems can't view youtube, could I come in to make a statement. By this time I had calmed down and decided not to bother.

Where it does help if at all is modifying people's behaviour. People often change their minds about an overtake when they see the camera for instance. I recently had a woman in the passenger seat of a sports car who intended to throw a bottle top at me and stopped when she saw the camera. 10 metres down the road she threw it at a parked car instead.

I get a roughly equal response from a small number of van drivers, where they either peep at me or give me the thumbs up. I'm not clear why, but I take it as disapproval/approval.

Oh and finally, if your adrenaline is up, sometimes because of an earlier incident, it can be easy to overreact. What the camera also does is let me see that some overtakes or incidents weren't as bad as I thought they were at the time.

Google Dave Sherry to see the sort of problem with helmet cams

There are all sorts of things modifying cyclists behaviour. A male researcher found cars would give him more space passing if he wore a long blonde pony tail that made him look female from behind. Cars go closer to bikes where the rider has a helmet. Unless you stopped and asked that passenger about her behaviour that's nothing more than correlation

Nasqueron wrote: »

How would a camera have helped to get a reg?

Cameras can take photographic images. I could have used the technology to capture an image of the registration plate.

Nasqueron wrote: »

If she stopped then you could have her reg on paper or a phone...

I was too badly injured to write anything. And I was in extreme shock. I also trusted the driver when she gave me what she claimed was her business card.

Nasqueron wrote: »

I have been hit by cars twice and neither would have been aided by a camera...

Well, if they didn't help you in those two situations, then clearly they won't help anyone ever. They should be illegal, since they're obviously not fit for purpose.

Nasqueron wrote: »

I have nothing against cameras...

Come on -- pull the other one! :rotfl:

Nasqueron wrote: »

... but they're extremely rarely needed for a few mile commute and much more commonly used by angry people who want to police the road, who capture bad driving that doesn't affect them, shout the license plate out and then cycle and have an argument with the driver then post it on youtube.

How did you conduct this survey? Where did you get your figures from?

I too am looking for one, the other day I got knocked off and it cost me a new wheel. Thankfully the other driver owned up and paid for it but it got me thinking what if he didnt? I really dont like the idea of a go pro on the helmet due to the size so was thinking of one of those telescope ones on the side of the helmet with continuous loop recording facility. Does anyone know of one anywhere which fits the bill?

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

Firstly, hope you're ok and just the bike that was damaged?

It sounds like you're thinking of a drift camera:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drift-Innovation-Stealth-Resistant-Accessories/dp/B00MCWWL0G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1490537683&sr=8-3&keywords=drift+ghost

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Camera-Photo/Drift-Innovation-Waterproof-Sports-Action/B00GJRCPRO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490537683&sr=8-1&keywords=drift+ghost

Sony's action cameras are also more of a cylindrical design:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-HDR-AS50-Waterproof-Housing-SteadyShot/dp/B01A8QRVBQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1490537762&sr=8-4&keywords=sony+action+cam

As I mentioned earlier, the GoPro session is a lot smaller than a normal GoPro and you can use adhesive mounts to put it to the side:

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/oncirrus/3/image/product/zoom/6NZgT7bdhN/CI5msisRyU/gophero-session-lpf-0-low-profile-helmet-swivel-mount-piu2-19557727.jpg

Yes thankfully Im ok, but the rear wheel and parcel rack werent!

Really like the look of the drift stealth 2 camera and if it has continuous loop recording (just emailed the manufacturer to double check) then its the one for me. Thanks for your help, nice to know that someone out there knows there stuff!