Smile, driver: You're on candid camera!
When bike and car collide, what ensues is often a lot of finger-pointing, but the facts are often elusive. So some local bikers are taking matters into their own hands.
Alex Wilson, executive director of community bicycle learning workshop West Town Bikes, who also serves on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Bicycle Advisory Council, says bicyclists have started riding with helmet-mounted cameras from GoPro or mounting small recording devices or iPhones to their handlebars, with the intent of documenting bad behavior by cars.
George Chase, store manager of Kozy's Cyclery on North Milwaukee Avenue, says sales of GoPro cameras (which retail for between $200 and $400, depending on the model) have doubled since Mr. Emanuel announced his plans to bring the Divvy bike-share program and miles of bike lanes to the city. “Half of the GoPros we sell are for people to combat road rage,” Mr. Chase said. A GoPro spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, but the company has previously reported that sales of its bike-camera products have doubled over the past year.
