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Old May 24th 04, 05:11 AM
El Calaverada
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Default Safety Cam Initiative

Bob,
Your plan is great but it will be nearly impossible to do here in FL. I'm
over in the Tampa Bay area. I am not an attorney (if I were I wouldn't admit
it) but I've had to deal with this **** personally and with friends. If you
can prove that a driver of a vehicle intentionally killed someone with that
vehicle it would not be any crime by the use of a deadly weapon, rather
vehicular homicide. What you're describing is vehicular assault, and is very
hard to prove. Why? Because the law is screwed up. The laws that govern
motor vehicles are totally different than the ones that govern other violent
crimes. First, a picture or video of a vehicle, even with the tag, won't cut
it. The registered owner may not be driving it at the time and if you can't
prove who was actually driving it your case is dead. The registered owner
can be held financially responsible but that's a whole different civil
matter. That's the easy part. The real fun starts when you try to prove
intent. The driver can say they were distracted or lost control and the most
they might be charged is wreckless driving. That's not even a felony. A fine
and they might lose their license, temporarily. It's totally screwed up! I'm
not defending these drivers. I agree with you where if you kill someone with
a vehicle it should be the same as if you used a gun, knife, lead pipe, or
any other weapon. But it's not. The "old-school" mentallity of when people
were killed in automobile related accidents it was considered an "act of
God" or "they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time" bull**** still
haunts us today. Driving, by most drivers, is taken for granted. A lot of
them believe it's their right. One thing that should be done is to make
registered owners of a vehicle responsible for it at all times, with the
exception of theft. Here's a big problem. In Florida, insurance companies
insure drivers, not cars. Example - a girl lets her boyfriend, who has no
license or insurance due to a DUI, drive her car and he hits you,
reguardless of intent. The girl's insurance refuses to pay because she
wasn't driving the car. The case ends up in court, possibly for years. Now
all you, the victim, has to deal with is recovering from your injuries, lost
wages, medical bills, legal costs, and the psycological impact. The driver,
boyfriend in this case, gets fined for driving on a suspended license. I'll
put money on he does no jail time. I have a close friend who's dealing with
almost this exact scenario.

Anyway, I wish you the best in your camera quest. Don't let my obsessive
ranting discourage you. If you can pull it off I'll support you all the way.
Peace -

Robert Haston wrote in message
news
I have often heard cyclists say they want a video loop camera to catch
drivers harassing them. After just having a car full of teenagers swerve

at
me (while the passengers gawked) so obviously the driver couldn't merge

down
the road, I thought how easily I could have gotten the driver charged if I
had video. Better yet, when I catch up with these people, they often open
their mouth and basically admit what they just did, by at least saying
something like: "you should be on the sidewalk" (establishing motive).

Good video would obviously meant the difference between this jerk laughing
it up with his friends and having his license revoked and facing assault
with a deadly weapon.

So I mailed the following to Olympus (I've got two of their memory cards
already). I figure aside from making some money, imagine the effect of

just
a few stories of road ragers getting convicted and them rolling the tape

on
TV.

I'm not currently in the LAB, but I figure they could contact the camera
makers for such cameras. I'm emailing them, too. If you think you would
like such a product (it would also work as a conventional digital camera)
let them know too.


MOTORISTS AND CYCLISTS WANT DIGITAL SAFETY CAMS

I am requesting your help here because I own a Stylus 400, and have two Xd
memory chips I would like to put to further use. Aside from a new market
for your products, a "safety cam" that recorded a constant video and sound
loop until you stopped it would be great public relations work.

"Road Raging" motorists regularly perform illegal maneuvers and

endanger
other motorists and cyclists. If we had a dash or handlebar mounted

camera
that recorded a video loop, and stopped recording when we selected, this
would be a powerful tool for road safety. With well publicized use of
these, aggressive drivers would have to consider that their behavior might
be recorded. Given the severe fines for this, this would be a powerful
disincentive.
Cyclists in particular would love this. "Road Ragers" harass cyclists

by
swerving at them, squeezing them against the shoulder or parked cars,
throwing things at them, yelling or honking loudly just as they pass, etc.
Some have deliberately rammed cyclists.
These drivers (who are probably the same self-righteous lot that make
driving so aggravating) think it is fun, but the cyclist who sees a rear
view mirror full of grill doesn't know whether the guy will hit them,
accidentally or not. By the definition of the law, this is assault with a
deadly weapon (though not with intent to kill).

We cyclists have long wanted a digital camera with a handlebar mount
and a video loop mode. It would stop recording when we stop it, or an
accident tips the bike and knocks it loose. The mount should also pivot,

so
as the driver passes, the cyclist can record things such as the driver or
passenger looking back to see the effects of their behavior (an obvious
giveaway compared to the careless driver who just misjudged the cyclist's
speed.
For example, last week a teenager swerved at me while his three
passengers gawked. He was so busy swerving to the right of the road; he
wound up not merging down the road. This would have easily been recorded.
Right now, instead of laughing it up with his friends, he would be facing
certain license suspension, and criminal court knowing the Prosecutor had
video of his driving.
Believe it or not, it is typically easy to get these people to admit it
when you catch up with them. For example (if I even get a word in before
they start) I ask: "What was that all about" Instead of an apology or
ignorance, they say: "You shouldn't be on the road" or "You should be on

the
sidewalk".
Now imagine how such people would behave once news stories of them
endangering motorists, cyclists, or even pedestrians (complete with

footage)
got out?
You would be doing a great service if you modified one of your small,
inexpensive digital cameras for this. I would also like to have a

cheaper,
1 Meg camera for web photos and such, anyway. It would also be good just

to
have running if you saw something interesting.

Thank you


--
Robert Haston
Satellite Beach, FL





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