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Distance tester
Crazy idea number 2011120801
While recently talking to police, the issue came up about the worthiness of cameras for documenting close passes. A few people have built some fairly elaborate kits that measure the distance between a bike and overtaking vehicles, and they're complicated; they're not cheap; they probably wouldn't hold up as evidence, if challenged in court.
In some jurisdictions, there is a statutory minimum passing clearance. In such areas, one wouldn't need to measure the distance, so much as document whether a vehicle is inside or outside of that distance. The idea is like a battery tester; it doesn't measure voltage, as such, but gives a pass or fail indication. Likewise, this is a distance tester.
Mounted on the bicycle are two lasers of different colors, pointed towards motorized traffic. Living in NZ, the diagram shows them pointing right.
As per this diagram, if a side-pointed camera records a passing vehicle with a green laser dot in front of a red laser dot, the vehicle is farther than the "test distance". OTOH, if a side-pointed camera records a red laser dot in front of a green laser dot, the vehicle is closer than the "test distance".
The "test distance" would be adjustable by positioning the lasers. For evidence from this to be seriously considered by any competent court, I suspect the user would have to confirm that the "test distance" was properly calibrated before and/or after a close-pass incident.
Distance tester
Crazy idea number 2011120801
While recently talking to police, the issue came up about the worthiness of cameras for documenting close passes. A few people have built some fairly elaborate kits that measure the distance between a bike and overtaking vehicles, and they're complicated; they're not cheap; they probably wouldn't hold up as evidence, if challenged in court.
In some jurisdictions, there is a statutory minimum passing clearance. In such areas, one wouldn't need to measure the distance, so much as document whether a vehicle is inside or outside of that distance. The idea is like a battery tester; it doesn't measure voltage, as such, but gives a pass or fail indication. Likewise, this is a distance tester.
Mounted on the bicycle are two lasers of different colors, pointed towards motorized traffic. Living in NZ, the diagram shows them pointing right.
As per this diagram, if a side-pointed camera records a passing vehicle with a green laser dot in front of a red laser dot, the vehicle is farther than the "test distance". OTOH, if a side-pointed camera records a red laser dot in front of a green laser dot, the vehicle is closer than the "test distance".
The "test distance" would be adjustable by positioning the lasers. For evidence from this to be seriously considered by any competent court, I suspect the user would have to confirm that the "test distance" was properly calibrated before and/or after a close-pass incident.