Bicycle Austin forum

RedFalcon

Member

Registered: 2013-10-10

Posts: 233

Cyclist Video Evidence Project

A few months ago I came across this group out of CA that had been promoting the use of safety/action cameras by cyclists to bring dangerous drivers to justice.  Since I always ride with cameras I got interested. I exchanged a few emails and phone calls with the guy who started it and decided to see what I could do to help bring this to Austin.  CVE would like to use Austin as model city!

My hopes for this project:

1. Get Bike Austin/Social Cycling/Yellow Bike/ etc. involved in helping spread the word. Maybe Michael could add a link to this in the side bar!

2. Start getting Austin area incidents documented.

3. Contact local traffic / transportation planners about using the data to make informed decisions about road design and danger points. A video is worth a million words.

4. Get law enforcement involved and work towards getting justice for cyclists.  (Yeah, I know here in the Confederacy this is going to be a long game, but we have to start somewhere, and getting tons of video evidence showing patterns of bad behaviour is where to start.)

5. Get BAC to support these efforts.  Last night I gave a quick overview of CVE at the BAC meeting. Once we get some data we can use that as a basis to push for action by the city.  This went over pretty well, so check off one box.

Here's some background info:

www.cyclistvideoevidence.com

• CVE was started by avid cyclist Craig Davis sometime after 2015 when he stopped feeling safe cycling on the roads out in CA. Membership is free and anyone with video footage of incidents can participate.

• CVE collects video clips that have been entered by members into their Incident Management Database. 

o CVE has helped set new legal precedents in some CA cities so that now reckless drivers can be charged based just on video evidence!

o The CVE website has lots of good info and goes into detail breaking down the types of near misses.

• Quoting from the website: “We created CyclingVideoEvidence.com to empower cyclists with the tools they need to bring transparency and accountability to our legal system. “

o Collision data does not give an accurate picture.

o For example, the number of cyclists killed in Austin is relatively low, but the number of scary close calls goes unreported.

o We all know that the main reason people don’t use bikes for transportation is that they don’t feel safe.

• Anyone can participate by riding with a safety/action camera and entering incidents into the database.

Let's fight back against this crap we are putting up with!!

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,455

Website

Re: Cyclist Video Evidence Project

Red, this is music to my ears!  With all my pessimism, this gives me something to feel hopeful about.

I'm a broken record about "until we change drivers' hearts and minds, the roads will never be safe".  Well, maybe this project will prove me wrong:  Maybe the roads will get safer because drivers fear getting ticketed, rather than driving safely for the ethical reason.  While the latter is preferable, if the former makes it safer to bike, I'll take it.  It's a much more plausible solution than is getting humans to suddenly start feeling they have some measure of responsibility.

My wife always says that if we win the lottery, she wants to fund a City-owned "red-light"-style camera installed at the bike crossing on southbound Dean Keaton just before I-35, where multiple drivers failed to yield and nearly mowed her over.  Her idea is that it would automatically ticket drivers who fail to yield like the red light cameras do.

BTW, we play Texas Lotto and not Powerball or Mega Millions, but if we won the latter, it occurred to me that we could fund rail between UT and downtown.  Or we could be selfish and run one from our house to HEB.

Link added to the sidebar, and I made this thread a sticky.