Hypermiler + impatient road rager = accident

[Arragonis]

Despite uk.gov wanting to treat anyone filming or taking pics on the street as a terrorist recon unit, it is not illegal here. Also no need for a Helmet cam, just a cheap micro DV from Hong Kong



Mount it in your car and you get vids like this (EDIT - this is not me, just a random vid I found on youtube taken with this type of cheap camera)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5RM2OaW0Eo

I would suspect Mr Plod would not like to be filmed by someone else throughout his arrest. If you happened to pass him when he has stopped someone then thats in public anyway.

At least thats the position here.

[SentraSE-R]

It looks like you'd need four cameras, two at a minimum, to cover all possible accident scenarios. Certainly the OP's situation would be invisible to a front-facing camera.

[toc]

Exactly what I started out looking for.

Then I found ecomodder.com and instead of data logging the project became fuel economy.

Two cameras are a must, side shouldn't be an issue as the blanks are easily filled in from the rear view and front view cameras.

Then you have car data such as brakes, indicators, power steering switch, throttle position, speed, GPS position.
Log all these along with video from front and rear, and you have plenty of data to show what's happened.

[California98Civic]

Get photos of the skid marks on the ramp? They will belie his story, quite probably. And they are still there. Pick a safe time of day, bring a camera with better resolution than a cell phone, use the optical zoom (not digital zoom) and get a good set of snaps. Take him to court for your expenses, legal, mechanical, and lost work time. Was there a traffic cam anywhere around? Even it is is at a light prior to the ramp, if it shows you both arriving it will show you ahead of him. Don't roll over. If you were driving legally, you will be able to show it. And you will get your costs paid and vindication. Good luck!!

Originally Posted by Mifunego

Yep. No kidding. Happened to me. It has taken me a while to convert from a lead-footer to a more mellow, "focus on the mpg" driver, especially with a turbo hot hatch, but I've been pretty successful, as I think my mpg will attest. I have managed to learn to ignore my fellow impatient Chicago drivers, with their horns, middle fingers, and glaring looks for doing something as offensive as driving at the speed limit, in the right lane. Another of the learned techniques I use to help increase the mpg is easy acceleration, upshifting quickly.

Ok, on to the incident. I was merging onto the freeway at morning rush hour (90 westbound, from Foster, for you Chicago area folks). This on-ramp has a light which turns green only long enough to let one car on at a time. As I'm patiently waiting my turn, I happen to glance in the rearview mirror and see a late model silver RAV4 in back of me. As the light turns green for me, I slowly but surely accelerate down the on-ramp lane and check my side view to make sure I had a spot to merge; there was no problem, as I had a good 10 car lengths of space to the first car I saw in back of me on the freeway. As I approach the limit and start my merge, I look to my left just in time to see that silver RAV4's hood inches from my face, as I hear the sickening sound of its wheel grinding down the driver's side of my otherwise pristine Mica Black Mazdaspeed3.

We both pulled onto the shoulder, and as I got out to inspect the damage, (and not particularly calm) I was greeted by the other driver with, "What the hell? Don't you know how to drive, a**hole?" Needless to say, it didn't take much to get me lit up at that point. We had a bit of a yelling match there, for hundreds of commuters' entertainment, until I pointed out to him that he not only had to blow the red light at the on-ramp, but also had to jump the divider to be able to merge and (almost) pass me before I could merge. His reply? (again, not making this up) "I had to pass you because you were merging too slow." Those words. Really. So arguably, my hypermiling technique, along with a bit too much trust in my fellow driver, got me into an accident.

And yes, I know the real reason is that an overly aggressive driver passing an underly defensive driver is what results in many accidents - including this one. Still, if I was driving in my old "foot to the floor" mode...

To add insult to injury, when the state trooper stopped by to check out the scene, she took both of our statements and issued both of us a ticket, since we had conflicting stories. Yep, seems he forgot all about the "you were merging too slow" idea when he realized he was wrong. He actually told her that I came speeding up behind him to merge into traffic.

Moral of the story? Still keep up the hypermiling techniques, but have your cell phone video function ready to record incriminating statements. I didn't think of that until after he made the above comment. I didn't get anything really useful recorded.

[Arragonis]

Be careful on that one, I doubt plod would appreciate you wandering about on a ramp, for whatever reason.

The cameras I use are apparently as low as $3 on fleabay now so you could get 2. Or if you mount it between the front seats e.g. on a headrest mount, it gets a decent panoramic front view.

[SentraSE-R]

The MD80 mini dv only gets mediocre reviews on Amazon.com. Out of 29 reviews, 11 give it just one star. The consensus seems to be to spend the extra $40 and get the Veho MUVI.

[jkv357]

Sounds about right for the Chicago area! I lived and worked there for 20 years, and feel that Hypermiling and Chicagoland don't mix very well.

Drivers are impatient and aggressive.

Bummer what happened, but it may end up as a he-said/she-said situation with no real proof either way.


Jay

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

The MD80 mini dv only gets mediocre reviews on Amazon.com. Out of 29 reviews, 11 give it just one star. The consensus seems to be to spend the extra $40 and get the Veho MUVI.

Yep, if you have the money go for that. But a cheap camera in the car seems like a good thing.

EDIT - I would also give the mini DV's only 2 out of 5 stars myself, but I buy them in pairs because they are cheap and also because they are not, er, reliable...

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

It looks like you'd need four cameras, two at a minimum, to cover all possible accident scenarios. Certainly the OP's situation would be invisible to a front-facing camera.

Actually it would be visible. The cops claim he was merging into the RAV4, which means he would have had to approach the vehicle! If the car was not in the forward field of view, logic would dictate it was behind his Mazda.

This would be pretty cool to have these video cameras. Maybe in a few years when I can actually afford gas.

[SentraSE-R]

^^^ Excellent observation!

Arragonis, I ordered one of the higher quality MUVIs to experiment with. It may go to my son if I don't like it.