Motorcyclist fined for wearing GoPro Camera

[Turd Ferguson]

WTF are the police thinking with this ****.

A motorcyclist is upset after he was fined by police for having a portable camera on his helmet.

Matt Smithson said he attached the GoPro to his helmet for his own safety after he was hit by a truck and had no proof it was the truck driver at fault.

Last week the electrician, 28, was pulled over in Camberwell and has since received a fine in the mail for a helmet offence which carries a $289 penalty and loss of demerit points.

Mr Smithson said he would dispute the fine.

"I'll take it to court because there's no clear view on what the rules are with having cameras, it needs to be transparent, it needs to be black and white," he said.

"There are no simple terms saying what you can and can't do."

But State Highway Patrol Inspector David Griffin said all helmets needed to meet the specified safety standards.

"I would suggest if you want to put this stuff on, you need to go to the manufacturer of the helmet to see if it's compliant and see if there are any products on the market that are compliant with the law," he said.

"What we don't want to see is people retro fitting stuff."

Video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=636056846453959&notif_t=video_processed

 

[mr calais 5.0]

See a few bikes with go pros on the tank and front guards hear in the hills.. It's bs that he got fined and I too would appeal it as well

 

[Drawnnite]

the fella has been made an example of.
I would say its more related to the muppets that chop parts out of the helmet to fit them. even though this case was just a stick on unit.

Tis quite old news. Teevs is very behind the times :thumbsup:

but I do agree. it would be good ot have a black and white ruling on what can and what cannot be done with them.
again in this case they would say it would be a pedestrian/rider hazard in a crash and would have targeted him on that way.
rules need to be clear and concise to be fair.

I do know, although this is semi unrelated, in my sport (BMX Racing) some states its not allowed to be used due to a crash hazard and other states don't care.
in this case its clear and if there are any issues they don't instantly ban you they just tell you to take it off if its a hazard.

 

[Trayner]

I remember hearing somewhere that the suction cups #### with the helmets material ? thats why your not aloud to wear them on the helmet .

 

[axemurderer101]

Pretty funny considering undercover police motorbike cops using them to catch texting drivers.
This is in Perth though so i don't know if the different states have different laws

WA camera cops to target texting drivers

Motorists using their mobile phones while driving on Perth roads this Christmas will be targeted by unmarked police motorcycles ridden by officers sporting helmet-cams to record the offence.

Read more: WA camera cops to target texting drivers

 

[Drawnnite]

I remember hearing somewhere that the suction cups #### with the helmets material ? thats why your not aloud to wear them on the helmet .

na.
on the tv article about a week ago it was more to do with muppets that like to "modify" the helmet to make it fit better.
basically drilling into it for mounting or carving out massive chunks.
if the sticky back parts of the mount are playing havoc then it could be down to the materials, but I haven't heard of any or seen any issues when people have them on their bike helmets (full face stuff)

if its on a suction cup there is a small chance it could come off for some reason thus creating a potential road hazard.
ie at 100kph a car colliding with a flying go pro.

if its securely mounted it should not come off.


I will state however.
on helmet warning labels it says not to affix anything or use any chemicals or even put stickers etc on them.
but I have never seen any damage because of that.


and that article bout texting and driving.
I didn't think unless its a 30+ year old car (or unless its a rare exemption) they would have LHD cars in aus
quality first picture

 

[XUV]

That'll learn him for having fun whilst in control of a motor vehicle ................... Victoria, " we are the law " ........

 

[lmoengnr]

A police spokesman stated that the adhesive on the tape could cause problems with the helmets structural integrity....

Someone pointed out that police helmets are covered in adhesive backed decals...

Fine has been dropped...

 

[Grennan]

If a sticky residue is going to cause damage to a helmet then why is this helmet even safe for the market. It would have far more glaring production issues.

"A camera on a helmet could cause extra injury". Theyre on a motorbike. They fall of theyre gonna be hurt regardless of a small camera. its going to be the least of their worries.

I wish people would just use some damn common sense. Coppers are being given certain leeway in interpretation of the law and usually im all for that however if the interpretation is going to be this retarded, take it away from them.

As long as its hooked up via suction cup and not grinded into the helmet, then I dont see an issue. Motorcyclists need all the protection they need when youve got so many dumb ####ing drivers on our roads.

 

[NU13]

And they said that the high ranking Nazi's escaped to south America at the end of WW2. Rubbish, they obviously all escaped to Australia and became police officers.