As we reflect on the last few years of UpRide.cc, we are so proud of the community of UpRider’s for posting over 10,000 incidents and together, helping to make cycling safer. With many of our users uploading over 20 incidents to UpRide, we’re glad to see the platform performing its desired task as a cycling safety hub and awareness platform.
Let us introduce our friend Steven.
Steve lives in South Australia, and has been involved in numerous incidents on the road. Thankfully Steve always rides with a Cycliq Fly12 light and camera, so has evidence of all of the incidents.
“I first decided to get a Cycliq camera when a bus squeezed me against a kerb as they turned left and I broke the boa dial on my brand new shoes on the kerb, but I had no evidence of the incident.”
“My bike was fine, even after a ride with a near death experience I’m still riding my bike, and that’s great!”
Record your ride. Make it count.
Why do you record your ride?
“I first decided to get a Cycliq camera when a bus squeezed me against a kerb as they turned left and I broke the boa dial on my brand new shoes on the kerb, but I had no evidence of the incident. Now, I commute to work in some fairly heavily trafficked roads, and am resigned to the fact that I may need the evidence to show what happened. I think the more drivers that get held to account for their irresponsible actions the more that word would get around.”
What do you think about UpRide?
“ I think UpRide is a very useful tool. I use it to be able to send police a link so they can view a video without having to email, Dropbox or give them a memory stick. It’s also fun to show friends and colleagues what kinds of idiocy exist on the roads. UpRide is better than just showing them clips on my phone, as the map really gives some context to the number of incidents. ”
What do you think are the most important things that can be done to improve safety for cyclists on the road?
“Driver education. Teach them that impatient drivers are what makes cycling unsafe. Bike lanes are great, but they aren’t everywhere, so drivers need to learn to look for and respect cyclists as road users. Something like the “think bike” ads for motorcycles would be good, but it needs to emphasise that cyclists are 1. Legal, 2. Don’t break the law anywhere near as often as drivers, 3. Really vulnerable.”
“An ad portraying impatient drivers as ‘selfish pricks’ like our drink drive ads would be good. Sadly though, while all police officers agree drink driving and using a phone are offences that are intolerable, my experience suggests to me that they don’t all feel the same about offences that endanger cyclists.”
If reported, what was the reporting process?
“I can only speak for the process in South Australia. In the event of an injury or damage, less than $3,000 reporting is mandatory. Close passes that don’t result in injury are voluntary.
I take the footage to a police station, and file a report outlining the incident, showing the desk officer the footage which they then included in their report. I usually get a report number.
Something that makes it particularly hard is that reporting a non-mandatory incident can normally be done online, however, there is a single checkbox that asks, “was anyone injured or was there video of the incident” as soon as this box is checked, the auto response is “This must be reported in person at a police station”.
Another issue with reporting in person is that the there is no easy way to actually get the footage to the police officer to include in their report, the high resolution videos are still quite large and on more than one occasion I have crashed their inbox with a 40 second video! UpRide is good for this, as I can send a link. “
What is your advice for other cyclists?
“Know the rules; but don’t expect drivers to. Being right is no good if the bus driver runs over you. In the event of an incident, try to keep calm when you have to talk to the driver. I usually don’t mention straight away that I have a camera.”
Thanks for using UpRide Stephen.
Want to share your story?
We’d love to hear from you. If you would like to share your stories and experience as a cyclist please reach out to the UpRide team.
