We know that riding outside in busy city streets can be dangerous for cyclists, but it seems like no matter how many videos of close calls and brutal crashes caused by drivers come out, many drivers still don’t quite understand just how dangerous their actions are.
Now, one UK-based commuter cyclist is using animated overlays in his videos to help drivers fully grasp how sketchy they often are. CycleGaz—who prefers to stay anonymous—videos his commutes with a handlebar-mounted camera, and then overlays a car dashboard to emulate a driver rather than a cyclist.
Viewers responding differently when video pictures a car versus a bike
The difference in how people respond to the video when it’s a car versus a bike is startling. Even cyclists noticed how different the footage felt with the dashboard versus the standard view. "Having the car interior overlay makes an impression when you see how close some of these incidents are," one commenter wrote.
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“Many people are blind to the issues that cyclists face,” CycleGaz said in an interview with Forbes, “so I’m shifting the perception.” The IT professional saw a few videos from other cyclists with a similar overlaid car dashboard and decided to try it with his commuting videos. And even he was surprised by the change in perception it caused.
He explained that as he uploaded videos of drivers cutting him off on the bike, many people failed to see the problems or dangerous maneuvers, but when he added the overlay, suddenly, even drivers were outraged on his behalf. (Naturally, there are still dozens of ‘road safety experts’ that pop up to comment on his riding skills on nearly every video he posts. They condemn him for riding too fast, or not stopping adequately at stop signs. And in some cases, the dashboard overlay does the job so well that cyclists take umbrage with him for ‘driving in the bike lane.’)
Any innovation that brings more awareness to drivers when it comes to cyclist safety is great in our book—especially after the egregious headlines last week that touted a small-scale UK-based survey that found a high percentage of drivers believe that cyclists are a danger to them.
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Molly writes about cycling, nutrition and training, with an emphasis on women in sport. Her new middle-grade series, Shred Girls, debuts with Rodale Kids/Random House in 2019 with "Lindsay's Joyride." Her other books include "Mud, Snow and Cyclocross," "Saddle, Sore" and "Fuel Your Ride." Her work has been published in magazines like Bicycling, Outside and Nylon. She co-hosts The Consummate Athlete Podcast.
