Originally Posted by
Lemond1985
I look at it this way: The homicidal maniac in the beat-up white pickup truck, finally gets up the courage to ram you from behind. He takes another swig, hits the accelerator, strikes you at high speed, you go flying 20 feet in the air, hit the ground, and wake up dead.
OK, but the guy still has to drive away, and that's where a front-facing camera will record the plate, or at least capture a partial vehicle description while the camera is flying through the air. That your relatives can use to file a wrongful death suit against the driver. I think you want the best resolution you can get.
I think your next of kin will find that whether you catch anything useful from a front-facing camera in a case where you get rammed from the rear is going to be a matter of luck. Once the impact has occurred and the bike is airborne and spinning madly, it'll be facing the sky, the dirt, the side of the road, the road itself, and, if you're lucky, you might catch a frame that happens to show the license plate as he drives off. And that's if you're lucky. Or, rather, if your next of kin are lucky, since by this point you personally don't care anymore.
Go to the Cycliq website and look through their gallery of horror show videos, and watch some of the ones taken from a front-facing camera after any kind of accident, be it crash or whatever. A common theme I noticed is that the camera is usually facing into the dirt or grass once the accident has happen and the flying through the air bit is over.
I have not used a rear-facing one, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But what if the guy surprises you and comes after you from the front next time?
I haven't got a rear-facing one yet either. I've just got the front-facing Cycliq installed in the last couple of weeks. I'll eventually fork out for the rear-facing one, just for some kind of closure for my family in the case that I'm run over from behind. Or, on a more positive note, if I'm on a group ride and someone eats it and my bike is in a position to record the moment for posterity, their insurance claim, or whatever other use.