(CNS Local Life): We should not forget, as it seems many drivers have, that a cyclist was recently killed on Cayman roads and many have been injured by careless drivers. So we are continuing our series on heart-in-the-mouth moments with video clips taken by a brave cyclist in the hopes that the message may get through. The bike rider does not appear to be in any particular danger in the first clip, but given that the RCIPS is cracking down on unsafe loads, it demonstrates that they have some way to go. And if that truck had to stop suddenly, the cyclist could be in serious trouble.
In the second clip the driver is much too close as he/she passes the cyclist, even though there is plenty of room on the road, and doesn’t appear to have great control of the vehicle afterwards.
And what was the bus driver in the third clip thinking? You’d think that people who are employed to drive our children would be extra-careful. Apparently not.
In the fourth clip it looks as though two drivers going in opposite directions on the highway have stopped for a chat. Well, why not? At least the other driver managed to brake in time and avoid a collision.
If you have any dash cam evidence of terrible driving, send to info@caymannewsservice.com and maybe we can help improve the driving on Cayman roads.
Please drive from East End one of these Sunday mornings and you will definitely see what drivers are experiencing, some cyclists really don’t care about how they traverse on the public roads, I’m not saying that it is right to drive close to cyclists but on the other hand cyclists must be careful as well and stop riding carelessly, sometimes leaving home to reach work and while driving you buck up in a slew of riders and they all are riding in the middle of the road, it can be really annoying to know that they can actually ride on the side of the road but chose not to, many times this cause backup of traffic and these riders really don’t care what goes on behind them while they are riding, somebody of them even ride with some flashing flood lights making it difficult for drivers to see where they are actually going, I personally don’t have anything against riders because i have a bicycle as well but all i would like is for riders to be more mindful and more careful on the public roads, many times I’m running a little bit late and it gets really annoying to have to sit and wait for a chance to overtake a bicycle.
What about those a-hole cyclists riding 3&4 abreast with only ONE in the bike lane, and the other 2-3 taking up the whole adjacent traffic lane? When I sat on th horn for 4 of them they nearly all wrecked getting out of the way!! I will continue to be as discourteous tothem as they are to being to the motoring public!
Many of these comments don’t acknowledge cyclists as being rightful road users.
I am both a motorist and a cyclist and I find the attitude of some motorists here in Cayman to be utterly idiotic!
That said, a pet hate is other cyclists riding on the wrong side of the road……
I am glad to see this clip. It gives me an idea!! Maybe I should start to do my own so that I can document the cyclist who are driving crazy, wheeling on one tyre, no lights, etc, putting other drivers and even the cyclist at risk!
CNS: We’d be happy to publish video clips of dangerous cyclists. Feel free to send them to info@caymannewsservice.com
Please do, as a cyclist that rides on the left, it irritates me to face an oncoming cyclist, but also please remember that two wrongs do not make a right. A bad cyclist does not mitigate a bad driver.
This is not a dash cam. This is a bicycle cam. Of course motor vehicles are swerving in front of the bicycle. You have to in order to get around then safely and not hit on coming traffic. This whole piece is a fraud.
As if it makes any difference what you call the camera. Your comment about swerving is incomprehensible. Regardless of what you overtake swerving is not part of the process! Changing direction safely is what is required by law. You are suggesting that abrupt changes in direction are part of the normal driving process.
I have been nearly killed so many times but I do not have enough money to buy a car. Why are they trying to kill off poor people here? Also why do those stupid people have those nasty sharp spikes on their truck wheels? how horrible is that? what if they came into contact with a cyclist?
Yes, those spikes are illegal in pretty much every country in the world except the USA and subsequently here for some reason as that is where they get them from.
Many people have been seriously injured or killed in other countries hence the ban on them.
CNS, good job publishing these clips! Is there a part 3 to this series? I cant find a link to it, thanks.
CNS: If you click the ‘dash cam evidence’ tag at the bottom of the article, you’ll get to all of the articles in the series. I’ve also now posted inks in the left hand side column under the notice board.
The 2 cars stopped to have a chat across a divided median on a highway is a first for me! Maybe they’d like to park and have a picnic on the grass while they’re at it :))
Did you all not take note of the on coming car the school bus was avoiding!!!! I guess bike riders have the right a way.
Bike riders here have no respect for the roads. They ride 3 and 4 wide in veichle lanes like it nothing, but complain if someone gets yo close. Also they should take the ear phones and other devices they have plugged into their heads so they be hear what the traffic flows are doing around them.
I guess we motorists should cause accidents to avoid careless cyclists.
Your response is moronic at best. Yes, I did take note of the oncoming car. What should have happened is the bus should have slowed down and waited for the oncoming car to pass then overtake. Cyclists have the right to ride on the side of the road. Are you justifying killing the cyclist because of an oncoming car? Your response is exactly what’s wrong around here.
I saw a post the other day about a guy running alongside the road facing traffic and someone said that was illegal and he should be running in the direction of traffic. Really?
Only thing I do agree with is the 3-4 wide and wearing headphones. This is just stupidity.
How I look at it the bus didn’t overtake anything. He was in is lane, then forced to cross the line into on coming traffic to avoid rear ending a cyclist and then forced back into his lane to avoid a head on collision with an on coming car, all on a narrow road with a bend at the particular location. And the bike rider only saw what happened directly in front of him as they ride head down in their own zone.
I must be a moronic….
Please tell me you don’t drive! What are you not getting here? The bus overtook the cyclist when he should not have done, it really is that simple. You said it yourself, narrow road, on a bend!
You really should not be driving! The cyclist DOES have the right of way. The vehicle overtaking is by law obliged to do so safely.
What a good idea for cyclists but make sure you have front and rear cams , and always ride two or more together , because they will steal your camera and leave you there .
There appears to be a mindset that bicycles should not be on the road. I would like to see the police on bicycles, then at least a few will get ticketed.
I’m not sure I understand why drivers are so antagonistic to cyclists. Passing as close as possible just to cause a scare? I had a guy get so close his wing mirror hit my handle bars.
A$$hat.
Due to the camera having a wide viewing angle (180° perhaps) – the passing vehicles look closer to the cyclist then they really are.
they were bloody close enough, no matter how you view it. Put yourself in that position; would you feel endangered?
Sure, some of the vehicles may have been too close at times, only the cyclist can tell the truth on exactly how close. However, the type of camera used in the clips makes it look much closer than it appears, therefore creating the type of hyperbole comments like what I’m replying too. Context matters!
Amazing that you can tell the type of camera just by looking at an edited clip.
I know right!
How do you think these types (most) of cameras work?
It’s possible that the edited clips have reduced the viewing angle some, but does not entirely eliminate it (you can see the ’rounding’ of objects every so slightly corrected, but are still there).
As for the type of camera used, well the hint comes from the bottom left in the video. Either the Fly6 or Fly12 from Cycliq (cycliq.com).
Other higher-end cameras as such (GoPro, Sony Action Cam, DJI, etc) also have a viewing option (FOV or Field Of View) to capture more left/right or wide‐angle images. This type of visual is commonly known as the “fisheye look”.
Some of the Newer cameras allow you to reduce or change the wide mode(s), creating less of the fisheye look or rather distortion (that’s where the ‘appear closer’ part I talk about happens).
Either the Wide FOV reduction is done in real-time or post production (with post it’s cheaper as this reduces the cost for the camera hardware/onboard software).
But no matter, because of this distortion, for this type of capture, objects appear Closer to the Source than they really are, even more so if it was close to begin with!
Do recall what it says on a lot of outside car mirrors;
-‘The phrase “objects in (the) mirror are closer than they appear” is a safety warning that is required[a] to be engraved on passenger side mirrors of motor vehicles in the United States, Canada, Nepal, India, and Saudi Arabia.
It is present because while these mirrors’ convexity gives them a useful field of view, it also makes objects appear smaller. Since smaller-appearing objects seem farther away than they actually are, a driver might make a maneuver such as a lane change assuming an adjacent vehicle is a safe distance behind, when in fact it is quite a bit closer.
The warning serves as a reminder to the driver of this potential problem.’-
Here we have similar visual impacts/effects to how we perceive objects with wide angle FOV camera lens.
I hope you now understand a bit more about this subject and see why I wrote what I did. I’m all for safety first, less so about hyperbole reactions/comments to heighten a particular subject.
Stupid comment. It is the other way around
This is one person. Now y’all work out how bad it must be when you look at the population and put it into perspective.
WOW1 A SCHOOL BUS!!!! My hair stand on end from watching.