Question about using action camera footage when reporting to the police | GTAMotorcycle.com

Question about using action camera footage when reporting to the police

Venom01

Well-known member
Has anyone captured footage of drivers putting yourself in real danger or narrowly missing you due to their neglect driving and used that footage to report the driver?

If so what response have you seen from the police? This is the second time someone almost run me over on an off ramp of the 401 because they decided to drive on the shoulder of the road to avoid traffic and almost nail me as I merge onto the ramp.

Im thinking about it a camera but I'd like to know if it's worth the $300 or $400. Do the police care when you report it? This guy this morning blew past us by mere inches to the point our bikes got thrown around by the turbulance.

He had little kids in the back to. When I rolled up on him at the light he looked at me , shrugged his shoulders and turned his stereo up. Simply didnt care about what he did.

Thanks for the input.

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if those situations keep happening to you, you're doing something wrong...

Disagree.

I always ride 20-40km/h faster than traffic flow. The only accidents I've ever had are solo due to doing stupid ****.

Are you suggesting the OP adopt the same mindset and constantly break the law? Some aren't comfortable doing this. If other drivers actually had spatial awareness, or took pride in being able to operate their vehicle well from an objective standpoint (e.g. knowing the maximum threshold before traction loss), and had consideration for others (I've done 200km/h+ in the passing lane and will still change lanes to let a vehicle going faster to pass me) the situations the OP is in would not exist.

Lets see who's feathers gets ruffled after the above ;)
 
Mostly agree with FLSTC. Normally you can spot these drivers long before they get near you.

Don't expect more than a warning letter for the driver. That being said, if there is a note in their file, when they eventually get got by the police, hopefully they won't get any leniency as they have a history of driving poorly.

Dashcam doesn't need to cost nearly that much. Check out redflagdeals for the current value winner. Normally you can get something decent for ~$100.
 
油井緋色;2589146 said:
Disagree.

I think FLSTC is referring to being within inches of another driver before you know they are there. Situational awareness needs to dramatically improve. Anytime someone has gotten that close to me, I knew long beforehand there were going to be issues and would try to take steps to minimize danger to me.
 
I think FLSTC is referring to being within inches of another driver before you know they are there. Situational awareness needs to dramatically improve. Anytime someone has gotten that close to me, I knew long beforehand there were going to be issues and would try to take steps to minimize danger to me.

This is good counter point that I failed to see. Thanks for pointing it out.

If that really is the case........well yea, we're on ****ing motorcycles. Use the agility, speed, and spatial awareness to get out of harms way way before it's even near us.
 
Maybe I didnt explain it right. Traffic moving at around 40kph bumper to bumper, the merge to the off ramp right in front. Start the merge into the off ramp. Guy in SUV FLYING down the shoulder of the highway to pass all traffic in front of him to get to the same off ramp.

Even with a shoulder check this guy cant be seen from the cars/tracks behind us. So as we (guy I'm riding home with) start to merge into that off ramp right as the line can be crossed over and guy in the truck is now probably doing 120kph plus flies right onto the merge lane from the shoulder of the highway.


The other incident I barely mentioned was simply being aggressively and intentionally cut off because the driver decided the needed to south instead of north so changed lanes hard with no checking their mirrors. That one happens to all of us.

I have seen cheaper cams but have read complaints about bad image quality. I'm only thinking about getting a screen grab of a license plate from a video if need be. I've been doing some research on them as of late.

Sorry for the crappy drawing. Did it on my phone.
4fd60dffadabfbd2a7fa19a0171fe096.jpg


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Maybe I didnt explain it right. Traffic moving at around 40kph bumper to bumper, the merge to the off ramp right in front. Start the merge into the off ramp. Guy in SUV FLYING down the shoulder of the highway to pass all traffic in front of him to get to the same off ramp.

Even with a shoulder check this guy cant be seen from the cars/tracks behind us. So as we (guy I'm riding home with) start to merge into that off ramp right as the line can be crossed over and guy in the truck is now probably doing 120kph plus flies right onto the merge lane from the shoulder of the highway.


The other incident I barely mentioned was simply being aggressively and intentionally cut off because the driver decided the needed to south instead of north so changed lanes hard with no checking their mirrors. That one happens to all of us.

I have seen cheaper cams but have read complaints about bad image quality. I'm only thinking about getting a screen grab of a license plate from a video if need be. I've been doing some research on them as of late.

Sorry for the crappy drawing. Did it on my phone.

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Speeds seem a bit exaggerated, you're not checking your mirrors properly, or the SUV in question is supercharged (or a Tesla gunning it in ludicrous mode).

If there were a 80km/h+ speed differential, you would be able to spot the person from further away in your mirror (not in your blind spot). I get that it's not an open lane and most people don't check their mirrors/blind-spots when changing into a lane (off-ramp) that just opened, but it's our reality of rush hour traffic in that everyone wants to get by. Take all the motorcyclists riding on the shoulder of the DVP every morning and splitting the on-ramp line as cars are merging as an example.

If there is no impact, police wouldn't likely bat an eye at the 'issue' unless there was some sort of altercation that escalated into something more serious.

In regards to riding with a camera, it really doesn't help you from a safety standpoint other than the fact that drivers are typically more careful (or think twice) before doing something stupid around you (if they even notice the camera).
I've been riding with a camera (most of the time) for 7 years, and the camera is really just extra insurance of potentially grabbing the plate of a driver who could potentially hit-and-run me or to just review some interesting things.
 
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Speeds seem a bit exaggerated, you're not checking your mirrors properly, or the SUV in question is supercharged (or a Tesla gunning it in ludicrous mode).

If there were a 80km/h+ speed differential, you would be able to spot the person from further away in your mirror (not in your blind spot). I get that it's not an open lane and most people don't check their mirrors/blind-spots when changing into a lane (off-ramp) that just opened, but it's our reality of rush hour traffic in that everyone wants to get by. Take all the motorcyclists riding on the shoulder of the DVP every morning and splitting the on-ramp line as cars are merging as an example.

This guy must have been riding the shoulder passing traffic from way behind us. He was moving. Tires squealing as he shifted over as if he never expected a vehicle way out in front of him was going to use that lane. Even if I got to the merge point far enough to see around the transport behind right behind us it would have been a close call. I'm not exaggerated the speed in the least and you cant tell me otherwise simply because you wern't there. 18 years of riding I've seen and easily avoided much. This was something else.

Not worth arguing about it. I obviously cant explain it clearly and all you can do is assume.

The fact is I was curious about how a situation like this would be handled with footage. The reason I asked is because I'd assume the cops wouldn't give a damn, and if they truly dont then I dont see the need to invest in a camera if I'm just recording my rides. Thats why I was asking if anyone had tried to use footage to register a complaint to the cops.


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This guy must have been riding the shoulder passing traffic from way behind us. He was moving. Tires squealing as he shifted over as if he never expected a vehicle way out in front of him was going to use that lane. Even if I got to the merge point far enough to see around the transport behind right behind us it would have been a close call. I'm not exaggerated the speed in the least and you cant tell me otherwise simply because you wern't there. 18 years of riding I've seen and easily avoided much. This was something else.

Not worth arguing about it. I obviously cant explain it clearly and all you can do is assume.

The fact is I was curious about how a situation like this would be handled with footage. The reason I asked is because I'd assume the cops wouldn't give a damn, and if they truly dont then I dont see the need to invest in a camera if I'm just recording my rides. Thats why I was asking if anyone had tried to use footage to register a complaint to the cops.


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For that situation, any camera will struggle. You only have a couple frames where you could grab a plate number if the closing speed is that high. For complaints called in to YRP, they issue a radio alert for cruisers to watch out for the vehicle, for complaints submitted online they mail the offender a letter that tells them people reported them driving like a ******.
 
This guy must have been riding the shoulder passing traffic from way behind us. He was moving. Tires squealing as he shifted over as if he never expected a vehicle way out in front of him was going to use that lane. Even if I got to the merge point far enough to see around the transport behind right behind us it would have been a close call. I'm not exaggerated the speed in the least and you cant tell me otherwise simply because you wern't there. 18 years of riding I've seen and easily avoided much. This was something else.

Not worth arguing about it. I obviously cant explain it clearly and all you can do is assume.

The fact is I was curious about how a situation like this would be handled with footage. The reason I asked is because I'd assume the cops wouldn't give a damn, and if they truly dont then I dont see the need to invest in a camera if I'm just recording my rides. Thats why I was asking if anyone had tried to use footage to register a complaint to the cops.


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RE: Speed - the argument would be the same argument presented in court if a police officer nailed you for speeding based on how fast a car (or motorcyclist) passed them.
If you were to filter through stopped traffic a modest 20-30km/h, almost every car driver would say that you "flew by" them due to the relative speed and close proximity to their car.
Then again, every situation is different, and you're right - I wasn't there to witness it.

Now aside from that and on to your main question, I've submitted one incident where someone made a right turn in front of me from two lanes to the left at an intersection where there was a right turn ramp (that they missed) present at the intersection in an 80km/h zone.
I had reported them and the response was that I would need to testify in court (even with video evidence) in order for any charges to be laid OR they could visit the person who they deemed as someone that wasn't fluent in english and give them a warning.

Although I could have died as I was inches from hitting him, I wasn't going to take time off work to go to court to "teach them a lesson". I just said to give them a warning - whether they did or not doesn't really matter to me anymore as the anger towards this person had worn off.

Basically if you're not willing to take time out of your day to teach them a lesson, video evidence will not really do anything for you.
It only really helps if a collision occurs and the person lies about what happened, or if the person decides to run.
 
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RE: Speed - the argument would be the same argument presented in court if a police officer nailed you for speeding based on how fast a car (or motorcyclist) passed them.
If you were to filter through stopped traffic a modest 20-30km/h, almost every car driver would say that you "flew by" them due to the relative speed and close proximity to their car.
Then again, every situation is different, and you're right - I wasn't there to witness it.

Now aside from that and on to your main question, I've submitted one incident where someone made a right turn in front of me from two lanes to the left at an intersection where there was a right turn ramp (that they missed) present at the intersection in an 80km/h zone.
I had reported them and the response was that I would need to testify in court (even with video evidence) in order for any charges to be laid OR they could visit the person who they deemed as someone that wasn't fluent in english and give them a warning.

Although I could have died as I was inches from hitting him, I wasn't going to take time off work to go to court to "teach them a lesson". I just said to give them a warning - whether they did or not doesn't really matter to me anymore as the anger towards this person had worn off.
Thanks for the input from your personal experience. I appreciate it.

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Funniest thing in these situations is how they still get caught by everyone they passed at the next red light...

The amount of danger they expose themselves and other people is so not worth it when you consider the time savings
 
Has anyone captured footage of drivers putting yourself in real danger or narrowly missing you due to their neglect driving and used that footage to report the driver?

If so what response have you seen from the police? This is the second time someone almost run me over on an off ramp of the 401 because they decided to drive on the shoulder of the road to avoid traffic and almost nail me as I merge onto the ramp.

Im thinking about it a camera but I'd like to know if it's worth the $300 or $400. Do the police care when you report it? This guy this morning blew past us by mere inches to the point our bikes got thrown around by the turbulance.

He had little kids in the back to. When I rolled up on him at the light he looked at me , shrugged his shoulders and turned his stereo up. Simply didnt care about what he did.

Thanks for the input.

Sent from my SM-N950W using Tapatalk

I would have made him care... one way or the other.
 
Funniest thing in these situations is how they still get caught by everyone they passed at the next red light...

The amount of danger they expose themselves and other people is so not worth it when you consider the time savings
Yeah, dude DID NOT CARE. Like I said, shrugged his shoulders, chuckled and cranked the radio.


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I would have made him care... one way or the other.
As furious as I was, it would have looked bad on my part to really escalate it and he had kids in the car. He deserved some rage but the poor kids dont need to go through that.

Its hard to keep it cool as you can sometimes.

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OP, to answer your question. the police won't be interested in the least, in your camera footage. A couple of years ago, I was actually sideswiped by an road raging cager, who when I pulled up next to him, (stayed back by his rear quarter panel), he swerved to the left and took off in the opposing lane causing oncoming traffic off onto the shoulder.

He then had the nerve to say I caused the collision and damage to his car, (leased car 3 weeks old), which he was driving with BOTH exterior mirrors folded in, (I guess so he could get thru "tight" spots). My insurer based solely on his report found me 100% at fault without EVER speaking to me. Fortunately, I had both rear and front facing cameras on the bike.

When I went to the collision reporting center the officers were NOT at all, interested in looking at the footage. Thankfully, my insurer looked at 2, (one from each camera), 20 second clips. They called me back 10 minutes after I emailed the footage to them, to advise they had changed my status to 0% fault and advised his insurer they had determined, him to be 100% at fault.

So the camera was invaluable from insurer point of view for law enforcement 0% effectiveness.
 
OP, to answer your question. the police won't be interested in the least, in your camera footage. A couple of years ago, I was actually sideswiped by an road raging cager, who when I pulled up next to him, (stayed back by his rear quarter panel), he swerved to the left and took off in the opposing lane causing oncoming traffic off onto the shoulder.

He then had the nerve to say I caused the collision and damage to his car, (leased car 3 weeks old), which he was driving with BOTH exterior mirrors folded in, (I guess so he could get thru "tight" spots). My insurer based solely on his report found me 100% at fault without EVER speaking to me. Fortunately, I had both rear and front facing cameras on the bike.

When I went to the collision reporting center the officers were NOT at all, interested in looking at the footage. Thankfully, my insurer looked at 2, (one from each camera), 20 second clips. They called me back 10 minutes after I emailed the footage to them, to advise they had changed my status to 0% fault and advised his insurer they had determined, him to be 100% at fault.

So the camera was invaluable from insurer point of view for law enforcement 0% effectiveness.
do you know if, even though the law enforcement doesn't care about the videos, are there any penalties for lying straight up to police enforcement/insurer?

I know that certain situations (fake address, ownership) warrants the claimant to have the whole fraud book sent at him/her making them pretty much uninsurable through regular insurance.

In your case as an example, you had solid video evidence that could not be subjectively interpreted and showed that the other driver full on lied... that should be some kind of offense...
 
do you know if, even though the law enforcement doesn't care about the videos, are there any penalties for lying straight up to police enforcement/insurer?

I know that certain situations (fake address, ownership) warrants the claimant to have the whole fraud book sent at him/her making them pretty much uninsurable through regular insurance.

In your case as an example, you had solid video evidence that could not be subjectively interpreted and showed that the other driver full on lied... that should be some kind of offense...

Privacy considerations mean most of these are not prosecuted. You wouldn't want to offend the delicate flower after they drove like an idiot and then pretended it was someone else. From the insurance perspective, proving the driver from a video is unlikely.
 

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