So if a picture speaks a thousand words, what about video? Well that can speak volumes. More and more people are now recording their lives and publishing them on popular video sharing sites like YouTube and Google and you can find everything from the mundane to the spectacular.

“Wearable” video cameras are now used to record pretty much everything. I use one myself to record my rides and do so for various reasons. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to show others that nice section of road that I found, or perhaps make a video collection of some of the more scenic memories but they also come in really handy as evidence.

Police officers know that as a rule people make terrible witnesses and usually have no idea what actually happened despite their “I saw the whole thing!” claims. Generally speaking, bystanders notice the affects of an incident but not what led up to it…not the cause. As such there is always a lot of finger pointing resulting with police and insurance companies having to piece together various clues, evidence and statements to get an idea what happened. Not a very efficient system really and if I’m going to be blamed for something I would like there to be more then just someone saying so just to avoid being blamed themselves. What if I’m not able to defend myself due to short-term memory loss?

Sure it’s scary to think about such things but chance favors the prepared mind.

Another good reason to record your ride is for those “Where is a cop when you need one” moments; for when someone runs a red light or when that soccer mom makes an illegal left turn in front of you. Okay okay…people disobey the rules of the road all the time; I’ve broken more than I can remember. Let’s face it; nobody knows them all anyway and for some people, concepts like Right-of-Way are simply beyond them. Well now if somebody makes a violation that actually endangers my life, I can do something about it without committing acts of civil disobedience also (assuming I can resist the urge to lash out irrationally and break their window for having nearly killed me).

Speaking of cops…have you ever been pulled over and thought that you were mistreated in some way? Well now you have some video to look back on or perhaps even use in court. Remember that you are taping yourself too though! If you break the law or cause a situation, you need expect your video to be used as evidence against you.

Like a road, life is also a two-way street, so have fun in the corners but remember that bad things can happen when you cross the line. If it does…you caught it on video!