THEY gave viewers a unique view of life on the open road as one of Scotland's favourite sons toured the world on his motorbike.
But now the camera technology that provided eye-catching images for Ewan McGregor's Long Way Round series is set to help save bikers' lives.
The helmet-mounted cameras are being adopted by police forces across Britain to capture instances of bad r
iding and potential accident black spots on the country's roads.
The technology was developed by Birmingham-based company Sonic Communications especially for the series, which depicted the world-famous Scottish star and his friend, fellow actor Charley Boorman, on their overland trip from London to New York.
A sequel, Long Way Down, was made, also using the same camera system, which followed the pair from John O'Groats to Cape Town in South Africa.
According to the latest Scottish Government statistics, there were almost 60 motorcyclists killed on the country's roads in 2006 and hundreds more injured.
It is hoped that, by using the footage from the helmet cameras, bikers can be educated to ride more safely, and that any problems with road layout can be overcome by analysing the films.
The problem is especially bad in remote areas of Scotland, where unofficial road races have been known to be held, with riders topping speeds of 140mph.
Simon Jones, head of design and marketing for Sonic Communications, said: "The idea is pretty simple but is very sophisticated.
"It involves a helmet-mounted camera which is attached to a helmet by Velcro. This means it can be transferred from helmet to helmet at the end of officers' shifts."
He continued: "By being mounted on the helmet and not on the bike itself, it provides precisely the same view of the road that the rider would see.
"This means when the images are viewed back, they are exactly what the rider saw at the time they were recorded."
The camera sends an image to a small recorder mounted on the rider's waistband, and the images can be easily and quickly downloaded to a laptop at the roadside.
The full article contains 362 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
