StoryOfBike

After a decade-long hiatus, I starting using my bike to commute again. In the 90's, I had my occasional run-in with outright abuse, but traffic was a lot lighter and it seemed easier. My current workplace is about four miles from home, and I've tried a variety of routes. I initially got the idea to mount cameras on the bike after the local police suggested that with video evidence, they would actually be able to follow up on complaints about aggressive drivers breaking the law. After much hemming and hawing, I finally got the cameras and have been using them on my commute ever since. I have given up on riding the route I like best, due to high frequency of aggressive, dangerous drivers, and the lack of a proper bike lane and traffic enforcement. My current route follows a dedicated bike path for about half of it, and yet each day there's no shortage of fodder for this channel. Violations are a dime a dozen, so I'm hardly going to document every single one. In fact, the most common ones — illegally parking on the wrong side of the road, failing to display a front license plate, speeding, tailgating, encroaching on the bike lane, and of course using a phone while driving — can be found on nearly every frame of video taken on a roadway. One of the most surprising results of having the cameras on my bike is what I learned about the average driver. As a cyclist, I'm constantly scanning for threats to my safety. Those threats show up on a regular basis, and it's what I remember. But reviewing the video after each day of riding, I have been impressed with how respectful and careful most drivers are around me. Granted, even those with the best intentions are often still poor drivers and can't help make potentially harmful mistakes (drifting into the bike lane being one of the most common I see, but tailgating is endemic as well, just as it is whether a bike is present or not). But it's clear from the footage that they do in general try to leave enough room and yield before turning across my path. So I do try to remember, when the idiot driver of the day has got me fuming about his latest attempt to kill me, that for every one of them, there are another ten drivers who are at least making an effort to keep me safe. You may be wondering: has having the cameras on board helped with getting any police involvement for any of the violations? No, not so far. In fact, mostly what I get from the police are implications or outright accusations that I'm not being a goo