This Guys driving ain’t so hot if he can’t read the road or gets so close to the back of the lorry as that. I do agree with catching the drivers who have complete disregard with what ever is happening around them tho.

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How safe is this Guys driving if he is filming other Motorists while behind the wheel!!!

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If they can’t use the evidence in court as it was filmed on non home office approved equipment how and why do they prosecute the guy on the motorbike doing over 140mph and the student in the car doing over a 100 all posted on you tube.

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Slight exaggerations here. Yes, they were inconsiderate to to move from left lane to right lane at island, but the purpose of the right hand lane is for overtaking, maybe he was going slow. Secondly, looking at the road markings the red HGV was in the correct lane when turning right at that island, he even indicated!
Thoe only thing I can agree with is people using mobile phones whilst driving, these are the people who are not concentrating on driving and should have heavier penalties.

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Im no expert but it looks like this guy is tailgating most of the time.

People in glass houses and all that?

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quote “However, they told me that although I was breaking no laws in videoing my journeys they could not use the evidence in any court case as my video camera is not Home Office approved. As a result I began uploading the videos to YouTube”

so how come other people are being sent to court for the same thing!!!!

idiot!!

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This guy really needs to get a life, What with all the speed cameras, road humps, traffic lights, mini roundabouts and that berlin wall thing by the town centre we have enough to contend with on the roads without a vigilante camera man who would secretly like to be a cop.

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Although I sympathise with this man and his anger towards drivers that do not follow the highway code and generally drive like muppets there is little you or I can do about them. The Police seem to be totally oblivious to them, or their actions and apparent lack of concern seems to indicate that. Sadly I feel that videoing them and posting the vids on YouTube will only suffice in making those bad drivers feel good about themselves, that kind of mentality has no shame and will consider their videos to have been taken in admiration rather than as a means to demonstrate their idiocy.

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Surely using a video camera whilst driving is just as dangerous! Maybe this busy body should spend more time concentrating on the road as well instead of on other people! I agree there are many dangerous drivers on the roads but they’ll get caught eventually!

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I’ve only seen the static pictures in the paper but what on earth is this latter day Spielberg complaining about? The picture with the HGV shows the vehicle going over Stableford bridge,the road is clearly not big enough for any other vehicle to go over at the same time and the driver is putting the weight in the centre of the structure like all good drivers do!So what is his gripe? I can suggest ebay or poundland if you want to get yourself a life :-)

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I am absolutely outraged by this.

This driver has no business videoing other drivers whatsoever.

The driver of this vehicle appears to be following vehicles far too close, example, the lorry in the “wrong lane” on the island, and, the white car on the motorway pulling into lane 2 to overtake.

In both instances, had a reasonble gap been left, the ddriver of this vehicle would have had no problem in overcoming the hazards presented in each case.

In the case, earlier in the footage, where a vehicle changes into lane 2 just before the traffic island, it appears that this “driver” doing the videoing leaves his anticipation /reaction and braking far too late – with the commentary saying “having to brake sharply”

It seems to me this is a blatant case of “holier than thou” attitude and I don’t think this promotes better driving at all.

In my 40+ years of driving, over 800,000 miles, I have never been more infuriated.

And finally – was this driver concentrating on his videoing antics, or his driving??

Maybe his driving is worse than that reported recently of the driver doing 100mph on the A5 to Telford??

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Haven’t seen the video but saw the pics in the paper and couldn’t actually see a problem?

Is this guy mad? Perhaps he belongs to the Safe Speed “community” – they have some weird ideas about driving there!

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after watching the evidence
yes i agree the worst crime committed here is the tailgating by the driver with the camera
me think he should pick up the highway code

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What a load of garbage! Is this worthy of a slot in the S.Star.

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As far as I can see from these videos the driver filming these incidents is no angel himself !! He has shown himself to be in the wrong lane and also driving too fast approaching roundabouts – otherwise there wouldnt have been the need to brake as sharply as he did if he had been planning ahead. He looks to have been sitting on the bumper of several vehicles he was filming !!

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Yes, there is some pretty bad driving on the roads these days but this guy’s idea of bad driving seems a little weird and to be honest, his driving seems worse than the cases he is videoing. Maybe he’s the one needing further tuition?

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Thought this was bad, my daughter failed her driving test because a driver didnt cancel their indicator on a mini island where you should not indicate anyway. My daughter was trained by a driving test examiner and her was ppauled a thi error by a so called qualified driver. Standards of driving are so bad with some people they shoud take their test again, I am sure they would fail. I may not be perfect myself but I always let other road users know my intetions.
The car driver in this video filming may be a little too close to the vehicles in front.

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Rang West Mercia and reported his driving. The more I saw of his antics the more I believe he is a menace on the road. Let’s see if our boys in blue give him a knock :)

The more who report it, the more likely he will be told off…

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Well he is reported and will be getting a visit from the boys in blue.

Well done, mate!

During these worrying times it is nice to know there is always a muppet capable of cheering us all up :)

And Shropshire Star: him getting done definately IS a story :)

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Haha, I came across the vidoes posted by this clown on Youtube some months back, whilst looking for something else. Like others above I commented that he was exaggerating some of the accusations he was levelling at other drivers whilst at the same time noting that he was grossly guilty himself of tailgating.
He removed my comments!

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I can’t post any comments to any of his videos any more… he’s either blocked me or blocked all comments!

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Tailgating is naughty too; how much closer could he have been to the Avensis? Let he who is without sin…

Perhaps if he hadn’t been right up the lorry’s ass he would have had more room to manoeuvre, and as pointed out above, the lane markings seem to indicate that the lorry was in the correct lane.

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What is interesting to note here is that:

Everytime there is a news item on these posts that deals with some aspect of driving …
There is AWAYS a huge reponse, but…
NEVER it seems from any “authority on the matter” such as the Institute of Advanced Motorists, or the Police.

So obviously there is a ground swell of opinion here that needs to be taken note of.

Most people on this forum seem to be intelligently criticising the (low) driving standard of the “Video Driver”

and yet,

Conversly, when the “boy racer” 100MPH stunt was reported on thses columns, that particular drivers skills were actually commented by many as being quite good. – AND it seems in such volume that the thread was closed quite soon after the event.

As has been said by Safe speed.. “you cannot measure safe driving in miles per hour”.

That is not to say that 100MPH is safe, but neither is it unsafe, in the right conditions. It may be illegal .. but that doesn’t mean it is automatically unsafe.

But…

Here we seem to have a driver, thinking more about how other people are driving, (AND training a video camera whilst on the move) apparently following too close, displaying poor lane discipline, and very likely causing uneccessary obstruction to the progress of others by these actions, coupled with inappropriate low speed on dual carriageways etc .. etc

SO … by contrast to the 100mph driver … isn’t THIS a case of blatant bad /unsafe driving?

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Safe Speed: It all very well adding further police, vehicles and resources – but who’s going to pay for it in this economic down turn? The taxpayer? or do Safe Speed intend to sponsor a patrol car with money raised from jumble sales and whist drives?

The guy isn’t making a desperate attempt to rise his concerns, he finds the roads terrifying because HE can’t drive and is blaming everyone else.

People drive too fast/dangerously because their pecieved risk is too low. Often based on over reliance on technology.

Sadly my experience of Safe Speed is they also don’t have the faintest idea about car technology and what it can and can’t do. Sadly Safe Speed fuel the danger on our roads by propergating technichal errors which encourage people to drive faster due to the mis-perception of the risk, whilst barring experts who try to correct their erroneous understandings.

Safe Speed also has its share of weirdos.

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I would just like to point out some things in defence of the driver in question. (Who I have spoken to a few times on youtube)

1. The camera is fixed in place and NOT handheld or touched during transit. The driver is free to concentrate on driving

2. the focal length of the lens makes it look as if the driver is closer than he actually is. He is infact at a safer distance than the lens portrays.

3. It is perfectly legal to video and photo in a public place. The only exceptions that come into play under UK law are for when taking images of the police, forces staff, military bases and government property. You can be charged for breach of privacy but ONLY if proved to be continually harrassing an individual, this does not come under that banner.

Lastly I will say this: bad drivers have only brought this on themselves. If you get prosecuted for an offence and are caught in the act you would only have yourself to blame. There is a culture in this country of throwing the blame elsewhere, the issues here are safety, common courtesy and awareness.

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downfader we all agree with you that the guy filming this is a raving idiot who cannot drive properly.

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Sidney where did I say that? Please rephrase what you mean?

I dont personally think he is a raving idiot or a bad driver. I encounter bad drivers on a daily basis and he doesnt meaure up to that in anyway.

Brian(2) you’re not taking the focal length of the camera into account. Stick a camera on your dash to see what I mean.

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Downfader, where it says leave two chevrons it means TWO chevrons, the focal length has nothing to do with making a chevron dissapear or getting in the wrong lane.

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Downfader.

Reference focal length.

I think we must remember that most contributors to these columns are quite intelligent – and many of us understand optics also.

The point is this – We are quite aware of the effects of focal length, and other photographic abberations which may distort or alter the percieved image(s) from a video, or photograph.

BUT – if I take a picture of two objects separated by a known distance, for example two vehicles separated by road markers, then as Brian(2) points out, whether the observed image is distorted or not, it will still record, and “indicate” the exact distance between the two objects.

And of course – the camera doesn’t lie.

For example – When he is in lane 1 (as he exits the A442 onto the slip road) – instead of being in lane 2 at the point of accessing the slip road, then that fact isn’t altered by focal length either!!

In summary – we are all quite well aware of the shortcomings of identifying relative distances, speeds etc in a scenario such as this.

And the camera was fixed in place…..

Whether the camera was fixed or not, I still maintain that the mind of this driver was more concentrated on “finding” the ideal culprit for his video footage, than actually on his driving.

I put it to you that this is a similar situation to the woman recently in court after she was accused of causing an accident just after using a “legal” hands free mobile phone

(That is: the prosecution were claiming that her mind was not on her driving becuase she had been making a phone call PRIOR to the accident -despite the equipment being legal – and I see this “fixed camera as being no different to a “hands free phone”)

So – if this driver was in the same situation -would a court ignore the presence of the camera, and the use to which it was being put? …… I think Not!

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What I am saying about focal length still stands. I have been an amatuer photographer since the age of 6 (now 31) and so have some experience here ;-)

If we take two images with a 28mm wide angle lens and a 50mm lens at the same distance the 50mm will make the image appear closer as you have effectively cropped the outer image off or “zoomed in”.

With the camera on the dash you cannot see the edges of the bonnet.. you are effectively cropped in and so appear closer. I do admit that I neither know his focal length or exact distance, but the fact that we cannot see the front of his bonnet seems to indicate a longer focal length.

I said nothing of image distortion. The camera doesnt lie, Askeric, but it can misrepresent the truth.

Lucy W – those cameras are already here :-) They have been used here in Hampshire on the busses for a good 5 years, and Lorry firms have been using them for the past 2 locally.

Obviously I cannot comment on the court case mentioned as I know nothing of this. My understanding of law is that you concentrate on the road and nothing else. Set-and-forget anything like cameras, satnavs and phones. We should not forget that police vehicles have cameras in and that is often used as evidence – I can see no reason for not using a camera if used safely (I have done myself and know many others who do so). Insurance firms will soon be asking all motorists to use something like these under policy, mark my words…

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Downfader.

I think we could discuss focal length of lenses for some time, and not get anywhere.

However, It still remains that:

Two or more regularly spaced objects
(where of course the distance between them is known, as in the case of the chevrons on the A442) when photograhed, or videoed, can be used to estimate distance.

Also, the rate of movement of road markings (lane markers for example) appearing in the video can be used to estimate speed –
…. Evident from the section of video where a car moves into lane 2 on the M54 in front of our “video car” – which then continues to follow it at a close distance – evidenced by the number of lane markings clearly visible within the two vehicles.

However,

I think we all agree that there is a lot of interpretation needed when trying to extract accurate information from video footage such as this.

And so, IF you are going to do it properly…

I.e In the case of police cameras,

Then..

These cameras will be of much higher quality, built to a specific specification/standard for the intended purpose, properly calibrated, used in conjunction with other monitoring devices, and supported by on screen information such as speed, time and so on.

One would also presume that the police operating them are specifically trained to do so, and are most cerainly more highly trained and skilled drivers relative to the average motorist.

I would also agree that CCTV/video footage of an accident filmed from within vehicles might be useful for insurance purposes, and this has been shown in many of the “police stop” type programs that are regularly shown on TV.

However.

I REALLY don’t think it is right that armies of self styled vigiantes filming everyone’s driving is the answer. THAT is just going to alienate people.

The Woman in the court case I referred to was a very recent case, and was well publicised on TV the other day. – It shouldn’t be too hard to find this on the net should you want to find out more about it.

In closing, I think that the antics of this driver were ill judged, and that his driving standard left a lot to be desired.

It would be nice think that he HAS been given a “Quiet Word” from the police advising him to desist from any further activity of this kind

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