In Car Camera's

[Neil]

I'm off to the Aussie Hillclimb Nats in a couple of weeks and as it's a national event I have to abide by most or is that all FIA and all National rules. So I thought I better catch up on the latest camera rules and after searching cams website for ages I came up with nothing, so I rang the lovely technical guru in Melbourne being Simone. Lovely lady and very helpful as always. Seems the reason theres nothing on their website anymore is because cams are trying to draft some real rules for next year.

Here's the email she sent me:-

Hi Neil,

Thank you for your call. As there are no full regulations on cameras in cars please find below an article to be released today to all scrutineers which does offer some guidance. We also recommend you follow any guidelines from the Australian Hillclimb Championship documentation too.

Thank you and all the best!

Simone

Helmet and Car Cameras

Further to the information released earlier this year, this article seeks to remind scrutineers on the use of cameras and some points to consider when deeming their use fit for purpose. CAMS Technical are working on regulations regarding the mounting of cameras but in the meantime here are a few guidelines.

Under no circumstances, aside from the F1 teams which have tiny cameras built into their helmets by the helmet manufacturers, are helmets to be fitted with cameras or even camera mounts. The FIA have advised that helmets are safety devices and should not currently be used for any other purpose. There may also be legal issues in regards to this, particularly for rally competitors on transport sections using open roads.

According to the Drivers Equipment section (Chapter 3, Article 1.3, Modifications) Appendix L of the International Sporting Code, it is forbidden for a camera to be mounted on the helmet. No helmet may be modified from its specification as manufactured, except in compliance with instructions approved by the manufacturer and one of the FIA listed standards organisations which have certified the model concerned. Any other modification will render the helmet unacceptable for the requirements of the present Article 1.

The SFI Foundation follow the same logic with their concern being that the camera and/or mount will act as an anvil against the helmet and cause impact where before there was space, ie contact with the cage, roof, seat, window, co-driver, etc. The SFI believe that the benefits of cameras from a marketing or entertainment point of view do not outweigh the risks associated with having such attachments on a helmet when there are other safer locations for cameras to be installed in a vehicle, such as the roll cage.

There is constant developing of both cameras and helmets however, so in the future we will surely see safe options developed between helmet and camera manufacturers which will pass FIA and/or SFI testing but at this stage please advise competitors against any fitment of any camera equipment or mounts to their helmets. Even mounts without the camera will render a helmet non-compliant.

For cameras mounted in the cockpit of a vehicle suction cups are adequate but the camera shall also be tethered. Use of a cable tie as the tether is adequate. Go Pro® style rigid clamp systems are also acceptable, as are the stick-on mounts, using double sided tape such as the 3M® brand. Externally cameras should be mounted via rigid attachment, again the use of the stick-on mounts is acceptable.

Consideration should be given to the amount of the camera that is beyond the profile of the vehicle and perhaps presenting a further risk to other vehicles or even marshals, or in the case of a rally, spectators. Any externally mounted camera must be secure and therefore the use of a suction cup mount alone is not acceptable, as they shall require an additional tether. If you have any questions please contact CAMS Technical via email at [email protected] or call us on 1300 883 959. Thank you!

Photo by: Luke Pickerill

2012 Helmet Cam Award Winner

Technical | CAMS Technical

Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Ltd

851 Dandenong Road

Malvern East, VIC 3145, Australia

P: 1300 883 959 F: 61 3 9593 7700

E: [email protected]

Cheers

Neil.

[GTR-N1]

Good article Neil!!

Michael Schumacher's cranium was penetrated via a GoPro attached to his helmet; a case in point.

[hrd-hr30]

Camzilla sell good quality, reasonably priced mounting systems for roll cages and quality suction cup mounts. My suction cup mounted camera whacked a plastic pole at Mt Cotton Hillclimb at about 60kph and didn't budge - bent the pole over!

Bunnings sell plastic coated stainless wire that you can use as a tether without risking your paintwork.

Edited October 14, 2014 by hrd-hr30

[Neil]

Yep Harry totally agree,,, I use Ram suction cups on the outside with a stainless steel tether and a clamped mounting on the inside. The reason I asked cams is because the club running the hillclimb nats are very pedantic and their camera paperwork states you can only run cameras inside car so it will be interesting at scruteening.

Cheers

Neil.

[warps]

Good article Neil!!

Michael Schumacher's cranium was penetrated via a GoPro attached to his helmet; a case in point.

Has this been proven? I've seen some people make these claims, but from what I've seen, there's been a lot of speculation and opinion, but I haven't seen the results of any proper investigation.

Also, I'd dare say a motorsport helmet is a bit harder than a skiing helmet (the latter rate about the same as bicycle helmets)

Not suggesting we should be sticking cameras to motorsport helmets, although I know of a lot of people who disagree with this rule. Personally I don't see the need to be sticking anything to a helmet when there are plenty of other places in a car to be mounting cameras.

I know the issue of cameras has opened a big can of worms in many sup regs over the last few years. It seems that there is beginning to be a bit of common sense applied.

[boxheadmr]

Pretty simple rules above, will assist a lot of people going forward and clear up any issues if you can or can not put a camera on your helmet.

I like the tether rule, not only for safety sake but also for the cameras sake as if it falls off on the track it might be an expensive track day

[fatz]

what will the drifters do

[tweety bird]

what will the drifters do

Cry.

[GTR-N1]

Yes, news report about Schumacher's go pro came out a bit over 2 wks ago.

Proof? I'm just the messenger of some document put out by some doctor.

[warps]

Terry, I'd seen a lot of those news reports at the time, but my take on the situation was that a French journalist was told by Michael's son that the camera caused the head trauma. He then went on to make these claims in the media (a journalist sensationalising the news? surely not!). The reports I read were all just journos speculating on this, without any concrete evidence being given. There was an investigation by ENSA suggesting this, but from what I've seen their findings are also inconclusive (extract of a news article below).

Experts from ENSA, the world-renowned ski and climbing academy in the French ski resort of Chamonix, have conducted tests to determine whether the presence of a solid object between a helmet colliding with a rock would weaken the structure.

The helmet smashed but the camera he had attached to it, in order to record him and his son skiing, was undamaged. The footage, audio and visual, has provided police with crucial information about the crash.

"But why did it explode on impact? Here the camera comes into question. The laboratory has been testing to see if the camera weakened the structure."

I haven't been able to find any conclusive results from their investigation.

I wasn't attacking you - just was interested to know if there were any findings to substantiate the rumours. Unfortunately journalists have a habit of running with speculation and sometimes passing it off as fact.