Commute Videos

holly.mozley
holly.mozley Posts: 7
edited February 2016 in Commuting chat
Does anyone take any videos of their commute specifically into London? I am researching commuter cycling and it's risks and was wondering if anyone could send me their videos (perhaps with Strava details) please! :D Would really help this project kick off!
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Comments

  • If you don't get any offers here then take a look at Youtube, see one that covers what you are after, and believe me there are thousands to choose from, and get in contact with the uploader.
  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    Are you aiming to say that commuting is safe or that it's not?

    Most people will only post their vids when there's something to show. I'd expect a hugely exaggerated view from Youtube. Every driver will be a maniac and every cyclist either a self important helmet cam warrior or a red light jumper. Would be quite easy to pick out footage that would support any argument without having any idea how many thousands of miles are covered incident free for every video.

    Sorry if I'm sounding cynical. I'm just cynical 8)
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  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,756
    Click on the Gallery towards the top of the forum, there is a sub section with commuting videos. It's quite well hidden for some reason.

    ETA: Or I could just provide a link
    But as Dhope says, people only really highlight the bad bits, so add a chunk of cynicism from me.
  • Fair point from dhope andVeronese68.

    You'll get a very blinkered and biased view from the videos on youtube.
    Should have thought it through before replying, sorry.

    Although to honest most car drivers are bottom feeders when it comes to being around bikes! :mrgreen:
  • On_What
    On_What Posts: 516
    I've got full length videos and Strava, but I question why you want it? I doubt you will get anyone to hand over footage
  • vermin
    vermin Posts: 1,739
    I am researching commuter cycling and it's risks

    Oh dear. Please stop. We're not monkeys, performing in a freak show for your entertainment. We're just people making our way to work. Couldn't you go back to your boss and suggest a less demeaning programme idea?
  • Squawk
    Squawk Posts: 132
    I could record a journey for you, 10 miles into our out of London. Chances are the footage will be as dull as dishwater unless you enjoy hearing me pant a bit when going uphill. It'll be about 40 mins long.

    I don't consider cycle commuting to be dangerous. Obviously any death is tragic and if we can prevent it, we should, but the reality is that thousands of people die every year on the roads and cyclists are a minority of the total. I'm yet to witness a proper accident after 10k miles of London commuting: seen a cyclist cycle into the back of a bus once, but that was just funny.
  • I am researching commuter cycling and it's risks

    Oh dear. Please stop. We're not monkeys, performing in a freak show for your entertainment. We're just people making our way to work. Couldn't you go back to your boss and suggest a less demeaning programme idea?

    That's a bit harsh! :lol:

    I think the intent was honest enough, maybe we could advise rather than dismiss!
  • I am researching commuter cycling and it's risks

    Oh dear. Please stop. We're not monkeys, performing in a freak show for your entertainment. We're just people making our way to work. Couldn't you go back to your boss and suggest a less demeaning programme idea?

    That's a bit harsh! :lol:

    I think the intent was honest enough, maybe we could advise rather than dismiss!
    I have doubts whether it was honest intent, someone was posting round various cycling and motorist forums a few weeks ago looking for helmetcam/dashcam footage for an ITV 'Road Wars' type programme (and the cheeky buggers wanted permission for free as well!).

    That time they were asking explicitly and were (rightly) shot down not just on this forum but also on a motorist forum, so part of me wonders if this is a different tact. Also the OP only has 1 post...
  • mozejo
    mozejo Posts: 115
    Guys I can 100% assure you there is no need to be rude here. I conribute ( occasionally ) to these boards. The original poster is my daughter who is a genuine cycling fan and trying to pull some videos together for her university thesis which is examining the reality of commuting to work in London by bicycle . It does have a safety angle ( obviously ) but she is doing it for herself and it is NOTHING to do with sensationalism / TV programmes / strirring controversy etc. I have supplied her with footage , as have a number of my friends .Thanks for your help so far , and if you have further sensible suggestions she'd be hugely grateful for them.
  • Guys I can 100% assure you there is no need to be rude here. I conribute ( occasionally ) to these boards. The original poster is my daughter who is a genuine cycling fan and trying to pull some videos together for her university thesis which is examining the reality of commuting to work in London by bicycle . It does have a safety angle ( obviously ) but she is doing it for herself and it is NOTHING to do with sensationalism / TV programmes / strirring controversy etc. I have supplied her with footage , as have a number of my friends .Thanks for your help so far , and if you have further sensible suggestions she'd be hugely grateful for them.

    Thanks for the explanation.
    I'm sure that will help put some minds at ease.

    I'm sorry I am unable to help due to being a) Not in London and b) I don't have a camera on the bike, but good luck anyway.
  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    I'm still a bit dubious about "the reality of commuting to work in London by bike" and whether it's any different to the reality of driving in London, using public transport etc.

    It's a bit busier. Takes a minute to get used to it then it's normal.
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  • I'm still a bit dubious about "the reality of commuting to work in London by bike" and whether it's any different to the reality of driving in London, using public transport etc.

    It's a bit busier. Takes a minute to get used to it then it's normal.

    I don't think you do yourself justice.

    I commute from one town to the next one, using "country" roads, which can be bad enough.

    The thought of cycling in London (although I do cycle occasionally in Brighton) fills me with dread.
    I think the skill set you have is of a far higher standard than you let on.
  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    I'm still a bit dubious about "the reality of commuting to work in London by bike" and whether it's any different to the reality of driving in London, using public transport etc.

    It's a bit busier. Takes a minute to get used to it then it's normal.

    I don't think you do yourself justice.

    I commute from one town to the next one, using "country" roads, which can be bad enough.

    The thought of cycling in London (although I do cycle occasionally in Brighton) fills me with dread.
    I think the skill set you have is of a far higher standard than you let on.

    Horses for courses. My folks live out in the sticks (okay, Kent - about 3 miles away from civilisation)
    But I hate driving round country lanes to get there because I know how popular they are with cyclists (myself included) and I think the chances of me turning a corner and facing someone enjoying a descent are far greater than anything I see when driving in London. Roads just don't have enough space as far as I'm concerned - because I'm used to driving in the city.

    I think (may be wrong) the stats tend toward saying there are a higher number of incidents in London but they're relatively minor. Incidents on country lanes I think are less frequent but more likely to be serious when they do occur.
    It's a different set of skills. Neither better than the other, just what you're used to.
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  • I'm still a bit dubious about "the reality of commuting to work in London by bike" and whether it's any different to the reality of driving in London, using public transport etc.

    It's a bit busier. Takes a minute to get used to it then it's normal.

    I don't think you do yourself justice.

    I commute from one town to the next one, using "country" roads, which can be bad enough.

    The thought of cycling in London (although I do cycle occasionally in Brighton) fills me with dread.
    I think the skill set you have is of a far higher standard than you let on.
    I think you just have to change your attitude when riding in London: not to push on when you have the right of way is one of them and also to be prepared that everybody out there to kill you.
    You need to be a bit more assertive with your road position and that's pretty much it.
    Due to the large number of cyclist and cars that will produce higher number of accidents but I'm not sure that proportionally it is any higher than out of London.
    I felt safer (most of the times) in London then now commuting on small country roads with narrow, obscured roads and high speed traffic.
  • vermin
    vermin Posts: 1,739
    I'm still a bit dubious about "the reality of commuting to work in London by bike" and whether it's any different to the reality of driving in London, using public transport etc.

    It's a bit busier. Takes a minute to get used to it then it's normal.

    I don't think you do yourself justice.

    I commute from one town to the next one, using "country" roads, which can be bad enough.

    The thought of cycling in London (although I do cycle occasionally in Brighton) fills me with dread.
    I think the skill set you have is of a far higher standard than you let on.

    You've not seen dhope ride, have you. :wink:

    FWIW, having started my cycle-commuting with a couple of years of riding a 20 mile round trip into the centre of L-town, I don't find my current 60-mile round trip into Liverpool any less demanding. Keep your eyes, ears and mind open and you should be fine. One day some muppet will do something silly and knock you off, but I'd rather that happened at 10mph on a busy London thoroughfare than at 70mph on a rural northern trunk road.
  • I totally understand why some of you have concern about sending videos. However, I am an undergraduate student studying this for my dissertation. So this certainly isn't for TV or anything like that!

    If anyone has any more questions about the study or can send me any links/video that they feel would be useful please PM me.

    Thanks :)
  • I totally understand why some of you have concern about sending videos. However, I am an undergraduate student studying this for my dissertation. So this certainly isn't for TV or anything like that!

    If anyone has any more questions about the study or can send me any links/video that they feel would be useful please PM me.

    Thanks :)

    there are a lot of very bright (and helpful) people on here - can I suggest that you state what you are looking to prove/disprove and you may well get some very useful suggestions
  • I totally understand why some of you have concern about sending videos. However, I am an undergraduate student studying this for my dissertation. So this certainly isn't for TV or anything like that!

    If anyone has any more questions about the study or can send me any links/video that they feel would be useful please PM me.

    Thanks :)

    there are a lot of very bright (and helpful) people on here - can I suggest that you state what you are looking to prove/disprove and you may well get some very useful suggestions

    I am studying the perception of risks to cyclists in media and comparing this with the everyday 'realities' of a cycling commute. Overall, what I want to prove is that cycling is a lot safer than the media and academic literature believe it is.
  • I agree. I think there is a concerted campaign to highlight cycling deaths in London which gives "them" the ammunition "they" need to drive through reforms. The downside of course is that it will put people off cycling.

    As suggested above videos will be a very biased sample size. I would stick with the stats for deaths by pedestrian/motor bikes/ cars and cyclists and then use forums such as this for verbatim comments.

    Also stay active on this thread as we get a lot of first time posters who ask questions and never post again.
  • imatfaal
    imatfaal Posts: 2,716
    I totally understand why some of you have concern about sending videos. However, I am an undergraduate student studying this for my dissertation. So this certainly isn't for TV or anything like that!

    If anyone has any more questions about the study or can send me any links/video that they feel would be useful please PM me.

    Thanks :)

    there are a lot of very bright (and helpful) people on here - can I suggest that you state what you are looking to prove/disprove and you may well get some very useful suggestions

    I am studying the perception of risks to cyclists in media and comparing this with the everyday 'realities' of a cycling commute. Overall, what I want to prove is that cycling is a lot safer than the media and academic literature believe it is.

    It might be interesting to know how many miles are done by the forumites here and the prevalence of accidents - I think you can set up questionnaires/surveys here. I really don't know if the results will bear out our preconceptions or not - the mileage will be astronomical but there are also quite a few accidents reported, some with injuries.

    I will start
    distance - I commute 220km a week
    type - urban (London)
    last incident (any) - road rage within last week
    ever needed care of Doctor - yes within last year
    ever hospitalized - no
    ever involved police - no
  • Squawk
    Squawk Posts: 132
    Inline with imatfaal's input.

    Distance - 100 miles/week for the last couple of years into London
    Crashes - None to date, 9k miles done
    ever needed care of Doctor - no
    ever hospitalized - no
    ever involved police - no
  • never had an accident but when I started 1.5 years ago I was having 3-5 scares per 20 mile journey. This dropped to the odd scare now and then. 3 months ago I moved and on the new route scary incidents soared but are now dropping rapidly. From this sample size of one I deduce that experience makes it safer as does knowing your route (ie every jct)
  • never had an accident but when I started 1.5 years ago I was having 3-5 scares per 20 mile journey. This dropped to the odd scare now and then. 3 months ago I moved and on the new route scary incidents soared but are now dropping rapidly. From this sample size of one I deduce that experience makes it safer as does knowing your route (ie every jct)

    Also I have, possibly, found that using the same route at the same time everyday means that the motorists are expecting you to be there, which helps.

    Not sure how true this is, any thoughts from others?
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Also I have, possibly, found that using the same route at the same time everyday means that the motorists are expecting you to be there, which helps.

    Not sure how true this is, any thoughts from others?

    I think this does help - although I guess there may be a critical mass beyond which the drivers get more frustrated by any holdups caused by the number of cyclists - and then a few may cut up rough .... but, where I commute I'm unlikely to see another cyclist (a couple do similar routes but not at the same time) - and I believe a regular sighting of a cyclist or two does make the journey safer for all cyclists ...
  • I totally understand why some of you have concern about sending videos. However, I am an undergraduate student studying this for my dissertation. So this certainly isn't for TV or anything like that!

    If anyone has any more questions about the study or can send me any links/video that they feel would be useful please PM me.

    Thanks :)

    there are a lot of very bright (and helpful) people on here - can I suggest that you state what you are looking to prove/disprove and you may well get some very useful suggestions

    I am studying the perception of risks to cyclists in media and comparing this with the everyday 'realities' of a cycling commute. Overall, what I want to prove is that cycling is a lot safer than the media and academic literature believe it is.

    That the risks are lower than the media portrayal is fairly easily provable, see here https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24636-despite-the-deaths-cycling-in-london-is-getting-safer/

    but since its low numbers in stats you get a fair bit of selective quoting shall we say.
  • I totally understand why some of you have concern about sending videos. However, I am an undergraduate student studying this for my dissertation. So this certainly isn't for TV or anything like that!

    If anyone has any more questions about the study or can send me any links/video that they feel would be useful please PM me.

    Thanks :)

    there are a lot of very bright (and helpful) people on here - can I suggest that you state what you are looking to prove/disprove and you may well get some very useful suggestions

    I am studying the perception of risks to cyclists in media and comparing this with the everyday 'realities' of a cycling commute. Overall, what I want to prove is that cycling is a lot safer than the media and academic literature believe it is.

    That the risks are lower than the media portrayal is fairly easily provable, see here https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24636-despite-the-deaths-cycling-in-london-is-getting-safer/

    but since its low numbers in stats you get a fair bit of selective quoting shall we say.

    as somebody cycles from the 'burbs across central london I agree with this hypothesis
    The causal mechanism for this has not been established, but it is likely that drivers grow more cycle-aware when there are more cyclists on the road,” the CTC says.
  • Hi,

    Just to further my study I have created a questionnaire.

    This is the link https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/W8W5FKZ

    Would be amazing if anyone could answer it. All answers will be anonymised and it is only going to be used for my academic study.

    Thanks!
  • Done.

    But please, don't use the word "anonymised " were not American just yet! ;)
  • On_What
    On_What Posts: 516
    Done