Horrible day today

[wobbly]

Well, got the expected letter from their 'no win - no fee' solicitor today.

Claiming for injuries and compensation etc etc.

Sent it off to my insurers, will email them the video clips imminently.

I am completely unfussed by the whole thing, I have protected ncb and a video showing me not doing anything wrong. Will be interesting to hear what the insurance company think of my video, they seemed very interested.

If you havent got one, they are great, I am so much more relaxed than I would be otherwise.

Pete

 

[Towpack]

Well, until I read this thread I'd never even considered an in-car video camera/recording gadget but now I'm seriously interested. IMO, without the camera footage, you'd be the loser, given that several so called 'witnesses' are saying it was your fault and the cyclist's attitude. I don't see how they can argue with video evidence so I hope it goes your way.
I'm going to get myself one of these. Where in the car do you have it mounted?

 

[Chas]

How long is the recording time, obviously that will vary on size of card and what do these cameras do when the SD card gets filled, do they record over the earliest recordings?

 

[froggy Steve]

How long is the recording time, obviously that will vary on size of card and what do these cameras do when the SD card gets filled, do they record over the earliest recordings?

It goes on a loop, but mine will go for 6 hours before over writing the previous recordings, but it depends on size of card and recording quality.
Steve

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk 4

 

[frank rabbets]

If you cross a white line into another lane then traffic in the latter lane has priority. If you are in a lane marked by a kerb/line or 2 lines and come up behind a cyclist or a car then you overtake at your risk as overtaking in 1 lane is not permitted.

Frank

 

[Towpack]

If you cross a white line into another lane then traffic in the latter lane has priority. If you are in a lane marked by a kerb/line or 2 lines and come up behind a cyclist or a car then you overtake at your risk as overtaking in 1 lane is not permitted.

Frank

I don't believe this applies here as the cyclist was in a cycle lane, not the main carraigeway. JMO

 

[wobbly]

Cycle lane, clearly marked by dashed lines. Absolutely no doubt that had I collided with them whilst they were in that lane I would be 100% to blame, and happy to admit my culpability.

In this case, the cyclist is stationary, has their left foot on the kerb, bikes wheels are just to my side of the 2 yellow lines that are within the cycle lane preventing cars blocking it. Lights change and the cyclist almost immediately goes to the right, in order to pull round a cyclist in front. In the video I move forward at exactly the same time, then almost immediately pull to the right to avoid the cyclist, they go out of sight of the camera which is windscreen mounted -and you then hear me say 'Oh crap'.....at this point my offside is at the centre line of the lane, my nearside must be almost 2m from the kerb.

You dont see the collision, but its clearly down the side of the car - and as I was pulling to the right the only explanation is that the cyclist was turning into me far quicker than I could get over to the right. I could see this in the nearside wing mirror.

Theres no doubt from watching the video that the cyclist is responsible for their own misfortune. I look forward to reading their version of events, they dont know I have a camera fitted.

The witness is also interesting, the video shows they arent looking at us, and equally importantly, at the point of impact the witness is completely screened from view by a large roadside info board.

Would post it here, but dont know how.....

I use a 16gb sd card, it constantly overwrites itself. Takes a few moments to transfer to the computer if needed.

Pete

 

[Chris Green90]

I have been toying with the idea of incorporating something along these lines into my new business venture. Having been in the CCTV/Alarm trade for over 5 years I have come up with some interesting solutions for 12v camera systems for various aplications. mainly boats, catering trailers and Caravans and the transition can't be that hard.

When I first installed a camera in my own truck I did it purely for recording my laning trips. Very Cheep £25 jobbie from ebay. This has developed into a 4 camera system front, rear, and 1 down each side all cameras record whilst the ignition is on and the 2 side cameras record 24/7.

When I get home it syncs up with my wifi at home so I can pull off all the video plus I can stream video from the 2 side cameras anywhere in the world (with an internet connection or through smart phone)

It is quite a convoluted system at the moment but I should be able to streamline it with a little thought (Its kinda just cobbled together from pieces left over from Jobs I have done for customers.

Fortunately never had to use it for anything other than pleasure but it is there If I ever do.

 

[wobbly]

Complete coverage would be ideal, my camera loses site of the cyclist to the left at about nsf wheel level, and the collision was at nsr wheel point, a nearside camera would show the exact distance the cyclist was outside the lane. Not going to go that far myself though, at best I might spend £15 and get another camera and point one at 45deg left and one 45deg right, so giving greater coverage of the front end and sides. The newer camera are more tubular and take up less space, but dont have a little screen.

Pete

 

[frank rabbets]

I was agreeing you had done nothing wrong wobbly. Presumably your insurers will wait for a full version of the claim then punch holes in it with your video Their solicitors are just flying a kite. Solicitor work has in general dried up. A large part of their work comprised conveyencing which has almost stopped. I don't think we are necessarily following America completely.

Frank

 

[wobbly]

I did toy with the idea of uploading it to youtube and putting in a link, but I dont want to risk giving the info up too soon.

My wife had an accident in a supermarket car park last year, she was manouvering in a space and drove into a passing car, this was at less than 5mph. The guy was impatient and wouldnt wait for her to finish parking.

His car was written off and he got a payout for whiplash. If she'd had a camera fitted, she could have argued he drove around a manouvering vehicle, but without a camera its his word against hers.

If it was just a case of saving the insurance company a few quid, I wouldnt bother, but in my case the video shows just how careful I was being, not just at the point of collision, but in the 5 minutes prior, where there were lots of cyclists, so Ive got the hump about it !

Chances are if its a small claim (less then £25k) the insurance company wont fight it, its all about the ££££, if its cheaper to settle, they'll settle. Whether it affects me is a moot point, Ive got all the 'extras' and 'add-ons' with the policy, if they put the core premium up I'll just bin the add-ons or change insurance companies. It always cracks me up that I protect my ncb, then if a claim is made I keep the ncb but they double the premium.......

Not moaning about insurance companies though, my insurance company is the very same one that I claimed from when my LJ got written off, and they treated me very well.

Pete

 

[Shayne]

I wouldn't trouble yourself too much about it Pete no win no fee lawyers are more often than not just chancers and ultimately they have zero budget to pit against the colossal wealth of defense you bought with your insurance policy , rarely does the little man win . Your own innocence is a foregone conclusion . In your wife's unfortunate circumstances it was insurance V insurance only then does a quick settlement become much cheaper option than financing a legal battle . I understand you having the "hump" but its not worth the emotional investment you know you are blameless so put it out of your mind .

 

[AndyCook]

nasty business,
i wouldnt post the video until its all sorted

how is the camera powered? by the 12v ignition feed with a backup battery?

 

[wobbly]

Yes, it's meant to come on automatically but doesn't always do so, hence I like a model with a screen so I can tell if its on!

 

[clivehorridge]

nasty business,
i wouldnt post the video until its all sorted

Certainly not would be my advice!, the oppo will try to do anything to discredit your defence including the video and publication may render it inadmissible as evidence. Keep it to yourself until the business is over.

Wish you luck.

 

[karl webster]

Seems to me if he has so many people as a witness then this could well be one of those staged Insurence claims....

Thank god for the camera

 

[frank rabbets]

The insurers are spending loads now clamping down on spurious claims so in the long term they will make more money by making a point. Your claimant will evaporate when they are shown the video.

Frank

 

[wobbly]

The cyclist works in a shop (they were late for work, have to be there for 9am, accident was at 08.58am, its a 5min cycle....) and right outside the shop is a display for this legal company, you know the sort of thing, guy there handing out leaflets.

On the positive side.....I'm involved in a legal dispute where we are suing our bank, been going on for 7 years now, and every morning I wake up and its the first thing that I think about, but now I think about getting sued by a cyclist. No better, but at least theres some variety in my life......

What i need is to wake up thinking about a gorgeous blonde. Unfortunately last time that happened was after a Status Quo concert, waking up every morning and thinking about Rick Parfitt not quite what I had in mind!

Cheers all for the support. Once its over, will post video.

Pete

 

[Chas]

After reading about your incident Pete I've now bought one of those cameras. Cheers

 

[frank rabbets]

That's the human condition Wobbly. I woke up one morning thinking about my son in laws Renault. I'd done the valve timing [cam belt] the day before and when I started it up it made a terrible rattling noise!. What got me to sleep was thinking at the worst I could just buy him another car. By midday we had made all the correct tools and it ran better than before! I woke up this morning thinking about the freezer. The thermostat failed yesterday and the pump was getting really hot running all the time. So I'd been the thermostat switching it on/off. But what to do overnight? I left it on with my spare smoke detector on the top. Thermostat duty for me now until Tues a.m. when the new one arrives!

Frank