From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation comes the tale of one young cyclist who was tired of having no witnesses to cars running him off the road. So he installed a video camera on his helmet and filmed his rides for a year. Behold, the highlight reel:

I don’t really agree with his assessment that drivers should be polite because you never know who’s filming you. Shouldn’t we try not to kill each other on the road because, you know, endangering someone’s life is wrong, whether or not you’re being filmed? Anyway. Cool project.

Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.

12 replies on “Run Off the Road, Cyclist? Get a Helmetcam.”

  2. I used to ride daily in Toronto. I gotta say that drivers in the city were respectful and curious…but I had to also ride very aggressively. I the suburbs, you’re taking your life into your own hands. Shitheads trying to get from one strip mall to the next. Watch the vid again. That street scape was designed for cars only.

  3. @jebus, I have fantasized about carrying a collapsible baton for those very special encounters where a driver almost kills me. Once saw a messenger in T.O. get door’ed…stand up…take out his ULock…smash the car’s windshield and beat up the hood…then walk his bike away. I felt like clapping.

    whoa. two long comments for me on blogtown. must cut back on coffee

  6. I have a friend who lives in San Diego and has a helmet camera specifically for this reason. He said that riding here is complete paradise compared to San Diego.

  8. its wierd how people talk about cyclist/car encounters as needing more “courtesy” and “thoughtfulness” when in reality it is LIFE OR DEATH for us out there

  10. Well, ntrecek, it seems that for you it is really just LIFE out there… Be sure to let me know when it becomes DEATH for you, though.

  11. This guy’s video says a lot more about him than the drivers around him. In incident #1, he’s riding with his head down instead of watching his surroundings. Multiple cars are turning across his path while the traffic traveling in his direction is stopped, meaning that it’s likely that he was the one running a red light. In incident #2, he angrily hits a vehicle that’s slowly backing up in the dark and snow, somehow expecting the driver to see him as he approaches from a 90-degree angle. Incident #3 is a close call, but he’s not “run off the road,” and he should expect to be passed if he’s going to ride on a very narrow road without being able to keep up with other traffic. Incident #4 clearly shows him exiting a parking lot without stopping, even though he’s screened by a car. He’s lucky that the driver turning across his path saw him in time to stop. If he keeps riding like this, I foresee a lot of painful crashes in his future.

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