Why bikers should wear body cams at all times

[humanshield]

Today, two people tried to deliberately run me off the road while riding my 2 stroke bike.

It was a malicious act.  As far as I know, there was no interaction with this vehicle before hand.

I was making a right hand turn at an intersection.   I was in the right turn lane.

The vehicle turned into me from the right most go straight lane.

Had I not been paying attention, they would have certainly knocked me off my bike and possibly run over me.

During this moment, they were looking right at me.  eye contact.

About a mile up the road, they turned into a gas station.  I turned in.  As they stopped I asked them why they had

driven aggressively and recklessly.   They were hostile and immediately said I was the reckless driver and tried to run them off the road.

(small bike vs car....I think that would make me the guaranteed loser in that one)

They were obviously willing to lie.

I said I was going to report them to the Police.  During this time, they insisted I was at fault (there were two of them and one of me).

However, I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that was not the case and they were either insane of just mean people.   About 5 minutes into the argument, after they still insisted I was at fault, I suggested we go to court over this and take this as far as it can go.  They were in my face, until I told them there were cameras at that intersection and everything that happened would be on video.....we'd subpoena that video evidence.

At that point they told me that "You white people think you are privileged".....and left......and then it occurred to me......

These two particular black people were most likely racist and probably did it because they saw a white person on a motorcycle and took out their hatred on me.

There is a national code of hatred being pushed right now by people like Maxine Waters.  And if they so much as think you are a suitable target, you could find yourself in an altercation or bad situation.  This is not about politics, it is about basic right from wrong.

I would bet they decided to do this before hand.   Of course, I have no proof.  But that was my gut feeling from the interaction.

I remained calm during this exchange as losing your cool is a good way to go from victim to prosecuted quickly.

Folks, we have SERIOUS issues in the country.   People are being told by their peers to harass people they think are different.

They had no concern whatsoever that they nearly caused a serious accident.

Race is irrelevant.....

If you ride a scooter or motorcycle, I strongly suggest you get, and start using regularly, some type of video recording device at all times.

You may find yourself in a situation where several people all claim you did something wrong, when in fact, they were the perps.

You are usually solo on a bike or scooter.   The video might be your best and only evidence.

Be careful out there.

[90GTVert]

I'd say one good practice would be to leave well enough alone. If you or your property weren't touched, you're pretty much asking for trouble by confronting people about traffic. If you get hit with a tire iron or shot by some nut on the side of the road, the camera won't heal or revive you.

I get it though, we have tempers. We have to know what the problem is. Whatever the case may be. I think many times though, you can create something much worse with a confrontation. People do make mistakes, and even mistakes that we may think are intentional at times. I'm usually very attentive and head check and all before I change lanes, but I swerved at an SUV on the highway yesterday while taking my father to an eye doctor in a car. Luckily realizing it was there before I hit it. Total accident and I felt bad for it happening. That said, if the person followed me to my next stop and confronted me, they may get an apology at first if they were not total idiots about it. If they continued to tell me how stupid I was beyond there, then I'd either leave or they'd get a "____ off" and who knows where it goes from there. Likely somewhere that neither of us would like later.

If you really want to call the police, do it. Get a tag number and call them. Don't even need to flag the person down or follow them anywhere. If no one was hurt or nothing was damaged, they probably won't care though. They may pretend to, but probably won't do anything about it. I have called because someone tried to run me off the road. The response I got was, if we see the vehicle doing anything wrong we'll pull it over. Basically they'll do nothing, because they'd pull it over if I never called if they saw it doing something wrong.


All of that said, the camera is not a bad idea. A GoPro is not very expensive if you don't need the latest model. I use Hero4 cams, and you can get those around $100 with some shopping around because Hero5 and Hero6 models are out. They aren't terribly difficult to mount to your helmet so they see what you see or you can get chest mounts or mounts for the scoot. Prob the hardest thing will be carrying a bunch of batteries if you ride long and remembering to pull over hourly to change batteries. I've had days where I rode all day and 1 crazy thing happened and it was missed because a battery had just died. Had a car swerve at me on the highway within the last month. My battery died literally 2-3 minutes before it happened. Sometimes batteries lose capacity. I just tossed one out that died in 45 minutes instead of an hour+. This is in 1080P with a Hero4 Silver BTW... times will change with different cams and recording modes but usually an hour is a good time to pull over. You can hard wire them, but it sucks for a helmet cam.

I know there are dash cams for cars where they always film, but only save if you hit a button that will save the 30 seconds or so prior to the button press. Makes them good for such situations. Never really looked into them so I don't know how practical any of those would be for a scoot.

[humanshield]

Yep. Avoidance is the best option.
Until they run you over.  Or better yet, the next person they direct their misplaced anger at.
Of course, they'll probably get away with it because everyone has the "I ain't gettin involved" mentality.
As if the people doing it out of hatred isn't bad enough...the rest of them are too busy texting to pay attention.

Over the last 5 years the number of motorcycles and scooters on the roads here has dropped dramatically. sportbike forums that were once getting 100's of posts per day are now ghost towns. Literally...one post per week...maybe.

All the Bike Nights have vanished.

That's why I would encourage anyone who still rides to get a camera and use it at all times.

The safest bet would be to give up scooters and motorcycles and drive a car all the time or take the bus if you have no car. Apparently the majority have in this area. In fact, I was talking with a local cop recently and he said there's no way in hell he would ever ride a scooter here because people are crazy (boy was he right). He said that if gas was $10.00 a gallon he still would never consider a scooter or motorcycle and called them "Death traps". He knows what's out there. He sees it every day.

I have plans to be moving from this area in the next few years. Where I'm moving "should" be safer.

[peascreek]

I absolutely will not ride without the camera running, and your stupidity will be published on youtube without license or face blocked and freely distributed to every channel that wants it.

[humanshield]

Jul 12, 2018 0:02:03 GMT -5 peascreek said:

I absolutely will not ride without the camera running, and your stupidity will be published on youtube without license or face blocked and freely distributed to every channel that wants it.

Amen brother!

Be safe out there.  They've lost their minds.

I live in South Florida and it's MUCH worse in areas like this.

I'm not saying it happens every day, but it happens too often.

I have escape plans in the works to move further north.

The way they will try to run you over then blatantly LIE ABOUT IT is off the charts.  Pure Evil at work imo.

[peascreek]

There's a car dealer in Pochaontas who insists he did nothing wrong and I was speeding, so up the video went to support my one star review of his business. Mna was he pissed ")

[humanshield]

You know, even the COPS are starting to operate under the "leave well enough alone" MO.

USA Today

72% of US cops reluctant to make routine stops

We can ALL put our heads in the sand......but that won't save our behinds.

You know what the NUMBER ONE TOOL of tyrants is?   Shaming or intimidating you you into silence.

[bluegoatwoods]

I haven't done it yet, but I'm willing to go to the police after some incident and say, "I know this probably isn't actionable, but such-and-such an incident just happened and I wanted to let you know that there's a bad actor running around on your turf. Here's a description and plate".

My hope would be that if they then saw the guy running around they might be more inclined to have a close look at him. Especially if they see him doing something stupid.

[peascreek]

Jul 12, 2018 10:42:54 GMT -5 humanshield said:

You know, even the COPS are starting to operate under the "leave well enough alone" MO.

USA Today

72% of US cops reluctant to make routine stops

We can ALL put our heads in the sand......but that won't save our behinds.

You know what the NUMBER ONE TOOL of tyrants is?   Shaming or intimidating you you into silence.

Cops hate it when citizens of any race or group assert their rights, I know from personal experience, and I notice when ever a cop crosses the line so clearly that they're convicted of crimes, the blue wall of silence kicks in.

We had a cop in Fort Dodge rape a woman, all he got was an extortion charge, a handslap, and no sex offenders registration, and the mother of the victim got a contempt charge for going off on the judge and prosecutor.

Now he's an alcoholic living on his tax payer funded pension as a convicted felon and hangs out with cops all the time in bars.

So there's no single aspect to this, society is just messed up period.

[FrankenMech]

Around here if no contact is made, or the cops didn't see it, then nothing happened. A camera may help you if you get pulled over or sued, but I doubt it will help for anything else. Heaven help you if you are a white male, you are guilty of everything even if proven innocent and you can't prove a negative, life sucks.

I would probably use a handlebar mounted unit. I think the cameras are still too big to mount on a helmet. I would also use a USB charger with cord and a battery backup to keep it running after you are knocked down and run over.

I have had a couple close calls on my scoot with 4 wheel vehicles aiming for me.

[ThaiGyro]

The traffic issue happens all over the world, for many reasons. Ignorance of the law, mys shite is better than yours, I am bigger therefore rule...

But racial is a tough one. Maybe too easy to mask. My insights regarding driving have changed here...Over 90% Bhuddhist, ~5% Islamic, 1+% Christian.

Skin color is of little issue here. Brownies and blackies and whiteies and me. Mixed peoples like everywhere in the world.

The thing I tell traveling friends about coming here on holiday...is that there are NO religious people driving. Meaning that once behind the wheel, the asshole comes out. No more peaceful happy greetings, everyone with blacked out windows, though not legal...including the police. Buddha is not behind the wheel.

I fight my American being quite often, because I was a very astute and courteous driver. Here, I find it easier to blend into the more ass-holish driving methods. No one gives a damn, unless under some influence. The difference? When confronted, they cower, knowing they are wrong.

I am sorry you had to live that. My intent is not to bash people of various faiths...but my life long observations are good evidence that faith does not carry into driving...or shopping. Religion has no following on the road. The percentages of followers drops from a meager 9% (In the U.S.) true believers, to near zero. Here?  Practicing people likely number much higher, but behind the wheel?  Near zero again.

[humanshield]

Jul 13, 2018 5:29:13 GMT -5 FrankenMech said:

Around here if no contact is made, or the cops didn't see it, then nothing happened. A camera may help you if you get pulled over or sued, but I doubt it will help for anything else. Heaven help you if you are a white male, you are guilty of everything even if proven innocent and you can't prove a negative, life sucks.

I would probably use a handlebar mounted unit. I think the cameras are still too big to mount on a helmet. I would also use a USB charger with cord and a battery backup to keep it running after you are knocked down and run over.

I have had a couple close calls on my scoot with 4 wheel vehicles aiming for me.

My thoughts on the camera is that if something does happen, they actually hit you, force you off the road or cause other actual damages, without video they will deny it or say it was your fault.

If there are no other witnesses and it's just your word against two or three in the perpetrator vehicle, then you're screwed.   With video you have a chance at recovering losses.  Video evidence can be presented in court.  What if there are 3 or 4 in the other vehicle and they run you off the road and injure you and damage your bike, then tell the Police you were aggressively after them?

Plus, having a visible video camera going is a bit like having a Samurai Sword in a sheath on your back.....it serves to make folks think twice before acting stupid.

[humanshield]

Jul 13, 2018 6:31:26 GMT -5 ThaiGyro said:

The traffic issue happens all over the world, for many reasons. Ignorance of the law, mys shite is better than yours, I am bigger therefore rule...

But racial is a tough one. Maybe too easy to mask. My insights regarding driving have changed here...Over 90% Bhuddhist, ~5% Islamic, 1+% Christian.

Skin color is of little issue here. Brownies and blackies and whiteies and me. Mixed peoples like everywhere in the world.

The thing I tell traveling friends about coming here on holiday...is that there are NO religious people driving. Meaning that once behind the wheel, the asshole comes out. No more peaceful happy greetings, everyone with blacked out windows, though not legal...including the police. Buddha is not behind the wheel.

I fight my American being quite often, because I was a very astute and courteous driver. Here, I find it easier to blend into the more ass-holish driving methods. No one gives a damn, unless under some influence. The difference? When confronted, they cower, knowing they are wrong.

I am sorry you had to live that. My intent is not to bash people of various faiths...but my life long observations are good evidence that faith does not carry into driving...or shopping. Religion has no following on the road. The percentages of followers drops from a meager 9% (In the U.S.) true believers, to near zero. Here?  Practicing people likely number much higher, but behind the wheel?  Near zero again.

So true about the religion.  I see people with those Jesus fishes on their car, driving like maniacs.  But then, we don't know how many Christians were in the same traffic group driving like respectful angels.  I think there are people who have no self control everywhere you go with or without religion.

Maybe one day people won't  drive cars anymore.  Maybe one day in the future all cars will be self driving.   That would eliminate the problem for the most part other than an occasional technical glitch.

[PirateLabs]

Jul 13, 2018 9:14:25 GMT -5 humanshield said:

Jul 13, 2018 5:29:13 GMT -5 FrankenMech said:

Around here if no contact is made, or the cops didn't see it, then nothing happened. A camera may help you if you get pulled over or sued, but I doubt it will help for anything else. Heaven help you if you are a white male, you are guilty of everything even if proven innocent and you can't prove a negative, life sucks.

I would probably use a handlebar mounted unit. I think the cameras are still too big to mount on a helmet. I would also use a USB charger with cord and a battery backup to keep it running after you are knocked down and run over.

I have had a couple close calls on my scoot with 4 wheel vehicles aiming for me.

Plus, having a visible video camera going is a bit like having a Samurai Sword in a sheath on your back.....it serves to make folks think twice before acting stupid.

Or, they will just take the camera with them after they shoot you.  It is getting pretty wild out there these days.  I work in Security and the number of nut jobs showing up at the business I guard is increasing every week it seems.  One genius came in the other day to apply for a job and then demanded to speak with a manager right that second or he was going to tear the place apart.  He refused to fill out an application and the policy is they will call you IF they are interested in hiring you.  After he was thrown out he probably never even realized why he did not get hired.  Two guys got fired a few months ago and refused to leave the property.  I told them the cops were on their way and they said they did not care about no cops, no one could make them leave if they did not want to.  As soon as the cops showed up, they ran.  It is like the crazy people are coming out of the woodwork, ha ha.

Be safe out there as you never know who that person is that just cut you off...it could be a guy fleeing the scene where he just murdered 5 people.  You just never know.

Bill

[benji]

Jeez bill wheere do you work??? The employees even seem crazy haha.