depends.. my experience is back from 2017 ish when I used to commute in london and have sent a handful of really close calls that left me a bit shaken up and have never had a response. I think they'd care more if you got hit.
Police are loads better these days - seems a drive to combat bad driving and far more social awareness of cyclists with camera. Seems like they appreciate the assist, rather than before it seemed like 'extra work'. Since the start of the year I've reported 5 drivers and 4 have been given 'an advice letter, a driver improvement course or prosecution'.
Yes quite shameful isn't it, so yes I can! Need to make that less of a target!
Certainly seems that case at the moment. Whole system needs an overhaul but short term should be to make it 'profitable' for Police to convict these. I know they're not funded by convictions, but the fines for motorists should at least be setup to cover the costs of processing their fault rather than 'everyone else' footing the bill. Most of the ones which hit the press the drivers fines for court costs barely cover anything, nevermind all those opting for a driving awareness course to avoid points. I don't disagree with that - drivers given the option to learn, but there should be more fines without points coming into it, then the 'income' from those back into the actual processing of these faults. Can't forget these drivers are 'guilty' and admitting as such. If they can afford a £20,000 vehicle to drive recklessly, they can afford a £250 bill for covering the costs each time they're stupid. Basically I feel it needs more deterrent - for those where it's not worth points on their licence for it (and the loopholes found to avoid it).
www.dcrainmaker.com
Dammit Garmin - wrong end!!
Garmin Varia Vue Front Camera/Light In-Depth Review: Worth the Price?
Garmin has just announced the Garmin Varia Vue, which combines a 600-lumen front light with a safety camera capable of recording in 4K. This essentially becomes the logical pairing to the Garmin Varia RCT-715 rear camera/radar combo. Of course,
Yes and he's saying they already have one for that end?
Tbf, how much are GoPro's and how much are half decent lights. It's probably not that crazy a price, if it's any good...
Sorry, I'm really confused. You posted that you're waiting for a Garmin Varia radar rear unit with USB-C. (There is one already) You posted saying they're bringing one out for the front and said 'Wrong end'. You were told there is one for the rear... what am I missing?
Yeah, they look to have a way to go here. If they can get anywhere near GoPro, I could be tempted, even at that price.
Well yes, but you posted a link to a camera/light with bad reviews on video quality and said it was for the wrong end. The other end has camera/light and bad reviews too! It's a perfect alternative at the other end
Bloody hell that tractor video is outragous. It most of been scary as hell.Police are loads better these days - seems a drive to combat bad driving and far more social awareness of cyclists with camera. Seems like they appreciate the assist, rather than before it seemed like 'extra work'. Since the start of the year I've reported 5 drivers and 4 have been given 'an advice letter, a driver improvement course or prosecution'.
I reported 3 late last year and all 3 the same. Before that I hadn't reported any for several years as my prior reports didn't even get a response (like grudas). My region (west-mercia) came up with 'Operation Snap' and the portal thing had always been good - I'd had responses from it before a few years post-covid but really only with reasons why they wouldn't prosecute (including below which got featured on road.cc) then they stopped even responding. So I stopped reporting. Someone recently said they'd had good feedback, so I tried again and have continued. Even got a new camera to improve my footage as I wasn't happy with my old camera!
Hell, I've even had 4 pot holes out of 5 I've reported and 3 more on my commute I hadn't even bothered reporting have spraypaint around them like they'll get done soon as well! Not bad considering we've got the worst roads in the UK. It's quite surprising how much a couple of easy things like this means I'm semi-happy with the 5% rise on my council tax bill this year. Now if only they sort the garden waste so we're not spending £6.50 on 10 'green bags' for grass cuttings we can only get by ordering in advance from the town hall library which is then only open 16 hours a week over 4 days for pickup...
Yes quite shameful isn't it, so yes I can! Need to make that less of a target!
Need to maybe focus some of these longer punchy climbs outside, not done massively more than that this year so far.
Certainly seems that case at the moment. Whole system needs an overhaul but short term should be to make it 'profitable' for Police to convict these. I know they're not funded by convictions, but the fines for motorists should at least be setup to cover the costs of processing their fault rather than 'everyone else' footing the bill. Most of the ones which hit the press the drivers fines for court costs barely cover anything, nevermind all those opting for a driving awareness course to avoid points. I don't disagree with that - drivers given the option to learn, but there should be more fines without points coming into it, then the 'income' from those back into the actual processing of these faults. Can't forget these drivers are 'guilty' and admitting as such. If they can afford a £20,000 vehicle to drive recklessly, they can afford a £250 bill for covering the costs each time they're stupid. Basically I feel it needs more deterrent - for those where it's not worth points on their licence for it (and the loopholes found to avoid it).
£225 for my DJI Osmo 4. Last I looked a good Exposure Strada was £250?
Yeah and totally agree with comments from @fez @grudas - at the time it was just frustrating and then a kick in the teeth the Police didn't bother. They claimed it was too hard to trace and my footage of the numberplate wasn't clear enough so I'd need 2 independent witnesses of the 'collision' to do anything.
forums.overclockers.co.uk
forums.overclockers.co.uk
virb is what I used to run in the end.. with a go pro mini on helmet! still have my virb somewhere..£225 for my DJI Osmo 4. Last I looked a good Exposure Strada was £250?
So yeah price not too crazy comparing to them combined... But it's also not a 1500+ lumen top quality light for nightime riding with 6h+ burntime at that with a 4k camera (and not even sure it has smoothing). It's 600 lumens.
Sounds like it does 6-7h 'daytime flash' with the camera though which sounds good - as a secondary light to run alongside a primary at night times rather than as a replacement. It's overpriced for that, especially if it hasn't got smoothing or night time modes.
Yeah and totally agree with comments from @fez - at the time it was just frustrating and then a kick in the teeth the Police didn't bother. They claimed it was too hard to trace and my footage of the numberplate wasn't clear enough so I'd need 2 independent witnesses of the 'collision' to do anything.
2018. It's long confined to the history books now! Found the original road.cc article - https://road.cc/content/news/239728-near-miss-day-118-tractor-driver-gets-very-close
I've had far worse and drivers making much worse decisions than that. But many other riders on the bike, or a different road it wouldn't have had an outcome like mine - the trailer 'rubbed' my knuckle, but I was ready for it. Kept control. Enough control to feel like I didn't use up one of my lives, so just turned in to work and carried on with life!
Some links to some posts from me showing various footage and bits from my old Garmin VIRB v1 camera along with my thoughts
Road Cycling
Hopefully the more drivers get reported the less likely they'll be to drive like dicks. My bar tape is basically peeling off around the hoods so I took it as an opportunity to tart the bike up. Pink bar tape has been ordered :DRoad Cycling
Ride up grades don't buy upgrades. Become one with the machines you have ;)
Garmin VIRB was great for the money when I got it back in 2014. If they've continued any of the hardware from that it'll be good - mine lasted for 10+ years and was still going strong (ran 3 batteries and even the original was still 3+ hours burntime). I dropped it really because the plastic housing was starting to fall apart, the lens needed replacing and the 720p/1080p quality really started to look poor.
The Osmo 4 I have now is superb, but really lacks the battery life and the form factor - but all these modern action cams is made for wearing, not bike mounting. They stick out a treat, really obvious, really exposed to damage and really not aero like the VIRB was! Also battery life is terrible, I'd become used to 4-5 hours life from my VIRB and could do more than a week of commuting. The default on the Osmo4 (which had a bit of extra burntime from the GoPro?) was poor. I've got the 'extreme' battery now and maybe seeing 3 hours. The battery it came with was less than 2.
