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Essex helmetcam cyclist claims footage has led to 60 convictions and warningsGoPro HD Hero2 helmet mounted

Essex helmetcam cyclist claims footage has led to 60 convictions and warnings

Rider started filming after close pass by bus – meanwhile national newspaper slams “holier-than-thou vigilante cyclists”
by Simon_MacMichael
Wed, Oct 08, 2014 13:18
35

A cyclist in Essex who uses a helmet camera to record examples of poor or dangerous driving says that his footage has resulted in around 60 motorists being convicted of an offence or receiving a police caution. But an article published in a national newspaper yesterday described the rider and other helmet camera users as “holier-than-thou vigilante cyclists.”

Dave Sherry, aged 37, works as a bus driver in East London but it was a close pass by a bus while he was out riding with one of his five children that led to him investing in a helmet camera.

Last year, another bus driver was sacked after Mr Sherry posted footage of him using a handheld device at the wheel, reports BBC News Essex.

The operator, Roadrunner, denied it was a mobile phone, saying instead it was a handheld ticketing device, but said its use while driving was unacceptable.

The cyclist posts his footage on YouTube and also passes it onto the website PoliceWitness, which forwards some of the videos shared with it to the police so that appropriate action can be taken.

Mr Sherry revealed that he has received verbal and physical abuse from some drivers – a Daily Mail reporter who accompanied him on a recent bike ride recounts how one motorist gave him the V sign – but says he will carry on taking video "until the roads are safe."

He said: "Too many cyclists are being killed by motorists not obeying the rules of the road, texting and talking on mobile phones, and running red lights."

According to Mr Sherry, his videos have led to "about 60 convictions and police warnings", as well as motorists being sent on driver awareness courses.

An article published on the Telegraph's website yesterday questions whether cyclists should be taking such footage at all, described Mr Sherry and other helmet camera users as “holier-than-thou vigilante cyclists,” and suggested bike riders have no right to the moral high ground.

The newspaper’s business news editor, Andrew Critchlow, wrote: “Cyclists are setting themselves up for an almighty fall by portraying themselves as the hunted minority on Britain’s roads who are entirely beyond reproach.

“From what I observe, a fatal combination of poor riding skills, a complete disregard for the Highway Code, and the temptation of turning a gentle ride to work across Battersea Bridge into the final stage of the Tour de France, are just as equally to blame for the number of accidents on Britain’s roads as careless drivers.

“The trouble is that in my experience … cyclists are actually more likely to break the rules of the road than motorists.

“What kind of crimes would be uncovered on a daily basis if motorists unleashed digital cameras, or even drones, on the thousands of London cycling commuters who ride to work every day? Just imagine the paperwork that the police force would have to deal with for red light jumpers alone.”

A 2009 report commissioned from the Transport Research Laboratory by the Department for Transport found that issues such as cyclists riding through red lights was a factor in just 2 per cent of collisions in which a cyclist was seriously injured.

The study, compiled from police collision reports, found that in three in four incidents involving a cyclist and a motor vehicle, the driver was to blame, and in one in four the cyclist was struck from behind.

Helmet cam
Dave Sherry
Andrew Critchlow
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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35 comments

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glynr36 replied to willvousden | 10 years ago
0 likes
willvousden wrote:

At worst, it foments division and conflict between two (imagined) species of road user.

It does exactly this, I almost think it has the intention of that, they treat it like some kind of 'conflict' out on the road.
Just look at the YouTube channels of some of these guys, watch a view of their videos. You can see a good number of them try to irritate and instigate a reaction from people, so they can whack it up on YouTube and get some more likes, and more fuel to stoke the fire. They don't help the situation at all, just create more animosity between both parties.
Just a power trip for a lot of them in their sad little lives.

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oozaveared replied to willvousden | 10 years ago
1 like
willvousden wrote:

I hope he also targets bad cyclists! And pedestrians!

This sort of passive-aggressive behaviour might achieve minor convictions for individual offences – all well and good – but it doesn't really do much to make the roads safer. At worst, it foments division and conflict between two (imagined) species of road user.

I think it does quite a bit to make the roads safer. And the only people who could possibly be annoyed are people already driving badly and they're annoyed because they are bad drivers and they realise that helmet cams might result in their bad driving being prosecuted.

If you don't think that the idea of being filmed is a good influence on driving behaviour then just watch the traffic near a speed camera or driving near a police car. Suddenly it's all by the book. Everyone obeying the speed limit, indicating properly, moving back to the inside lane. There's no-one on a mobile phone or flashing lights or tailgating the "slower" drivers obeying the speed limit. .

Now, you may think that's an inexplicable fluke. But I think I have the answer, I think it's because they know their driving is being monitored. That there might be footage or pictures of them breaking the law.

The Daily Telegraph article has done cyclists in general a favour. Despite the flawed logic it has made the point that the cyclist or other motorist you just cut up or forced off the road or to take evasive action, may just have video evidence of you doing that. And that the police have a website where they can upload footage for the police to look at.

A couple of years back a pretty agressive motorist that had been behind me on some narrow lanes and spent some of that time holding the horn down. Passed by pretty close got 100m ahead of me pulled over and got out. As I approached he started walking purposefully towards me fists clenched. When he was around 15m away I stopped pointed at the bar cam and simply said. "All that's on camera mate and so is this".

A very smart about turn and drive away was executed.

I use a bar cam and that also goes on the dash of my car when I'm driving. If you've nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.

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willvousden replied to oozaveared | 10 years ago
0 likes

It's not the filming that's the problem, it's the sanctimonious behaviour afterwards of specifically targeting drivers (and not just all road users regardless of what vehicle they're using). This just drives a wedge between cyclists and drivers.

Just keeping video footage is very sensible, but when it's done aggressively in a way that stokes up the old "cyclists vs. drivers" war, it really doesn't help.

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finbar | 10 years ago
1 like

Good man, thanks Mr Sherry.

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EarsoftheWolf | 10 years ago
0 likes

It's amazing how Andrew, apparently a keen cyclist himself, is perfectly happy to say things like this:

"Instead of hunting down clumsy motorists, Mr Sherry and his fellow holier-than-thou vigilante cyclists might be better served by concentrating on looking ahead and riding in a straight line."

There's an obviously flawed assumption here that the cyclists who are filming motorists are the same ones breaking the law or riding unsafely. However, I'm sure the people reading his article who already hate cyclists anyway will use this rubbish to crank up the rage a notch and not worry about that. After all, that's who this article is for, isn't it?

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