Some time ago, Kingsley Fiegert was out riding his bicycle when someone in a passing car leaned out and shot him with a slingshot. Kingsley was understandably in shock and in a great deal of pain, and he didn’t have the presence of mind to note the car’s license plate. Kingsley and his business partner, Andrew Hagen, had the idea that perhaps a recording device on the back of a bicycle might remind motorists they need to share the road with bicyclists, much as a red-light camera discourages drivers from running traffic lights. In other words, use their fear of getting caught to make them do the right thing, even if they lack the inherent humanity to behave properly on their own. The Fly6 Cycling Accessory is the world’s first tail-light accessory and recording camera. It attaches to the bike’s seat post, and it has two flashing patterns to make sure your bike is seen. It also has flashing lights surrounding the HD camera (1280 X 720 resolution) to put drivers on notice that they are being recorded. The camera records in AVI format to a microSD card; it loops, so you never have to worry about running out of storage space on a ride. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery can record for five hours, which is important for longer rides. Fly6 is a successfully funded Kickstarter project, collecting nearly 3 times their funding goal in pledges. It’s currently in its manufacturing phase, and they are accepting pre-orders from folks who missed out on the Kickstarter project. You can pre-order up to five Fly6 camera/tail-light accessories at $159.00 US each.
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
I’m sorry, but in my wildest dreams, I would never guess that those tail lights indicate that a camera is recording my actions in a car as well as a license plate.
It’s a technology in search of an educated world.
I agree that I wouldn’t have a clue I was being recorded, and if I was staring at the tail light hard enough to figure out there was a camera in it, then I’d be a danger on the road because I wouldn’t be paying attention to my driving. I’m just fixated on bike safety now because my daughter will be riding a bike on a huge college campus starting in just a few weeks. I was freaked out last week to see one of those roadside memorials with two bicycles in it set up on the edge of her campus. There’s got to be something out there to keep cyclists safe…
Oh look a Came—r-CRASH
Perhaps if people hear about a bike tail light with a built in camera, they may assume that many tail light has a camera.
I could have used a head light with a built in camera a few times in my last 20 years of bike commuting. Lucky for me where I live, most people are aware of cyclists, even those who don’t like them. But on rare occasions I ran into a distracted driver and things got a bit scary. One woman almost ran me over when she pulled in front of me into a parking spot. She said she didn’t see me. It was late in the afternoon and the Sun has just gone down and I had my yellow jacket on, and a head light. I wish I could have shown her a video of the incident.
What concern me the most are people in parked cars. They can open the door, or pull out and you don’t have much time to react. I learned how to keep a good door space from park car when I can, and watch for wheels that turned out as you can’t pull out unless your front wheels turn out.
Main problem I see with this is that it’s set up to catch car’s front license plates – and many states no longer require front license plates. (I also don’t think that people will think about the camera – but the point that you could then use that info to track someone down and report bad driving is valid.)
First, they are shipping now.
Second, in the event of a hit and run or a hit and stay, it can provide a detailed record of what happened…so long as it happened from the rear.
Uuh, not super interested in filming my own death.
I would rather put the budget towards accident *prevention* measures than accident *documentation*.
But it is very indicative of cycling culture that such a product exists. Cycling culture seems to be predicated on impotent rage; i.e. staying continuously frustrated about how unfair things are.
This does nothing but help you be even angrier and even “righter” about the reality of sharing the roads with cars. (In your litigious country I suppose that it would also help you profit from your own injury, which is an interesting financial plan but successful I suppose if properly executed.)
Anyway maybe stop cursing the darkness and light a candle.
Cheers!
There are enough incidents in the US where cyclists are run off the road (intentionally and otherwise) where the drive gets not penalty. Litigious or not, if the only way to get comp’d for a broken collar bone and a trashed bike is video, I’m all for it.