Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

Was reading a bit about these at the weekend on the Fast Bikes website and how they are producing almost vigilantes on the roads.

Be careful what you do out there and whilst i doubt they could be used to prosecute for speeding it seems they are very much being used by the police for dangerous driving prosecutions.

There is even a website for reporting to the police.

Type 'policewitness' into youtube and there are over 6000 videos uploaded. Showing bikes undertaking seems to happen quite lot.

http://policewitness.com/report-incident/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Road rage is going to step up a gear if this carries on. Drivers will be looking to grab and smash cameras to hide the evidence.

Funnily enough a colleague has a dash cam in his company vehicle, but purely for accident scams, he lives in London and there is a good risk of it happening to him apparently.
It's all a bit of a grey area as I know the Police have said on occasion public video isn't admissible as evidence due to not being 100% sure it hasn't been tampered with, however there was a well known case of a guy that crashed on the Cat & Fiddle due to inept riding and excess speed, iirc the Youtube vid was used against him. The fact he was an utter plank for posting it kind of explains the riding I think.

Having a dash cam to catch accidents or scams is what they should be used for. One of the bus companies I work for has seen claims against them drop my almost 90% since they introduced cameras which cover the inside and the outside of the buses.

Most HGVs have them now.

But when people are going out, like some of these cyclists, with the sole intention of naming and shaming every single driver they don't like, then it's going to be a problem.

Some of these cyclists seem to take offense at pretty much everything. They've turned into militants. Thankfully it's a minority but it's giving the other cyclists a bad name and doing nothing to help relations between 4 and 2 wheels.

I think dash cams for scams and accidents are very useful. I've got one on my Jag in case of accident issues. I can't say I'd use it to report every little traffic violation.

Sadly they are a byproduct of the lack of policing on the roads and peoples attitudes and abilities while driving these days.

I'm surprised they are not offered as an option or as standard on cars in some markets these days. Hugely popular in countries such as Russia due to police corruption and terrible driving I understand.

All professional vehicles should have them IMO.

I think when the police are actively encouraging the public to post up videos of bad driving so they can decide whether they pursue it further then we have a problem.

duke63 wrote:I think when the police are actively encouraging the public to post up videos of bad driving so they can decide whether they pursue it further then we have a problem.

Agreed.

duke63 wrote:I think when the police are actively encouraging the public to post up videos of bad driving so they can decide whether they pursue it further then we have a problem.

Totally agree.

I undertake pretty much every day on the way to work, as morons just sit in the overtake lane and don't pullover.

D6 wrote:I undertake pretty much every day on the way to work, as morons just sit in the overtake lane and don't pullover.

Same happens to me on a stretch of dual carriageway, they think it's ok to sit in the overtaking lane for 5 miles or so with an empty inside lane because they want to turn right at the island at the end....

All to common we see people nationwide lane hogging.

back on topic though, from the youtube camera footage I have seen, generally the people can see what is developing but choose to ignore it and let incidents or near misses pan out seemingly to get a good video to upload (mainly in reference to the cyclist videos I have seen).

I can't understand why they want to get themselves so stressed. 90% of videos I've watched are just the way Reaper describes.

Life is too short.

Cyclists should have their own lane. Now the weather is becoming nicer all I see them do is ride 3 wide and don't even move out the way.

As for dash cams I think it's a brilliant idea, I work with a lot of lithuians and polish and they all find it surprising that we are so calm over these matters. Over there if you don't have money then it's your fault regardless of what you can see! So they have to have cameras so the little man can go to court with evidence. Over here ok we are lucky but some of the driving is absolutely shocking.

I had a women, jot so long ago almost run me off the road because she was chatting away on her phone and didn't pay any attention to what was going on around her. I was so angry I slowed right down to almost a stop in the middle of the road and she still didn't have a clue. I was going to get out and have a go. If I hit into her would it be my fault because I crashed or her fault because she was on the phone and cut me up. I had followed her for easily 3 miles at stupid slow speeds (should of been 50s she was doing 25 sometimes 30) serving around bends because she didn't know it was coming up (signs , missed, grippy surface missed and the fact that the road bent) and over lines. I feel like an idioit because I should of reported her. If I had a dash cam I would of got her plate number and reported her. I got in front of her turned in my hazards and she was still oblivious!

Kwacky get a working prototype of the phone docking station for cars and soon!

There seems to be a fashion at the minute with getting a camera and going out trying to video mistakes or what they class as poor driving. So many times i see videos appear on face book and people are arguing over some ones driving riding and looking at there was not much wrong with it on either party. I think these people just like the attention or find it entertaining.

Rossgo wrote:Cyclists should have their own lane. Now the weather is becoming nicer all I see them do is ride 3 wide and don't even move out the way.

The problem with a separate lane for cycles is that debris from other road users ends up in these cycle lanes causing things like punctures and the volume of cycling traffic is generally not enough to clear it in most areas. As for the second point, why not just treat it the same way as you would overtaking a car as you are supposed to or are you one of those guys that attempts to pass cyclists without crossing the white line?

R34PER wrote:

Rossgo wrote:Cyclists should have their own lane. Now the weather is becoming nicer all I see them do is ride 3 wide and don't even move out the way.

The problem with a separate lane for cycles is that debris from other road users ends up in these cycle lanes causing things like punctures and the volume of cycling traffic is generally not enough to clear it in most areas. As for the second point, why not just treat it the same way as you would overtaking a car as you are supposed to or are you one of those guys that attempts to pass cyclists without crossing the white line?

That's a fair point which is a shame as I think as cyclists would benefit because I'm tired of hitting g their elbows with my wing mirrors!!

I've been a cyclist for a lot of my life, literally covered 10's of thousands of Km's around NZ in my teens and Twenties. Rarely had a problem. If you were riding with anyone we alwYs dropped to single file when cars needed to pass. It's not rocket science. Respect for the other roads users and its your safety too! The attitude to cycling in NZ is awesome. It's a national past time.

Then I moved Aussie. I was riding to work every day. Only 14 km. every week I'd have one or two close calls. Got knocked off twice in 6 months. Thursday afternoons old regularly see half cut tradies in Utes harassing me, cans thrown at me etc.

In my experience Aussie cyclists are bloody arrogant. Ride 3-4 abreast and never budge. My hill is a tight twisty 1000 ft climb and they do it up there,early Sunday mornings, even in the fog. Bloody idiots. They perpetuate their own destiny and have ruined the relationship with other road users. My wife hates cyclists with a passion, even though she knows I have three in my garage!

I think that is the point when they ride 3 or 4 abreast, and then don't even bother to switch to single file for other road users to pass.

I don't really understand why they do it. Either cycle, or go to a pub for a chat.

Then I don't understand people who chat whislt running either,. I just think you obviously aren't trying hard enough.

D6 wrote: I don't really understand why they do it. Either cycle, or go to a pub for a chat.

Then I don't understand people who chat whislt running either,. I just think you obviously aren't trying hard enough.

dead on the money there!