Using Dash cams/Helmet cams to report bad driving?

[Tango]

I've got a Dash Cam in my work car and a Bike Cam on the bike.......They are mainly for if the worst happens. I see some truly staggeringly bad driving on a daily basis in my work car.....and the thought has crossed my mind to send the footage to the Police on a few occasions of extremely dangerous driving. Anyway, I've not done it for one reason or another.

So, the manufacturer of the Dash Cam has a link to upload footage of dangerous driving direct to the police. This seems to have polarized people's opinions in the comments. Some say yes, this footage should be sent to the police.......and others argue that, why should they be doing the police's work for them, and people that do upload the footage are "snitches".

What's your general opinion? I've included a poll above, but also let us know what you think.

As a side note, I'm not a crazy driver (but, yes, I do drive an Audi!), but I have to say that having the dash cam in the car makes me more careful and less assertive on the road......I still hold my ground, but don't get involved in silly road rage situations......I'd rather the stress was on the other drivers than me.....

[Arwen]

I'm on the fence about it... But I think if I was to get footage of truly awful driving (suspect drug/drink driving, GTA wannabies etc) I probably would not hesitate to sent it to the police.

All I catch on mine is inconsiderate and oblivious drivers Which is annoying and could cause accidents, but at the end of the day, if no-one got hurt then it's not worth my effort to send it in.

[Tiggie]

If someone doesn't yield to my right of way or similar I just call them a kn#b and go about my day. If however I caught something bigger I would send it in. Takes two minutes of my time and it's always useful to have the karma police on my side

[kingmunky]

I record all my journeys, but purely for my own comfort, in case of an accident. I'd only send in footage of really dangerous/bad driving to the police. Can you imagine if every cam warrior send all their clips of red light jumping, mobile phone use etc etc, the Police can barely do their duties now without that additional workload

I've asked the police about sending in footage before, and I know this varies from force to force, but in my area they told me that I would need to capture the vehicle reg and face of the driver for the footage to be used as evidence.

[Fozzie]

General shenanigans no. Like if someone tears by at 100+ on a country road or big A-road, so long as I carry on as normal, I'll just let it go. Or if someone (usually a white van) jumps ahead at merge points and bullies his way in, again I'll just let it go as they always end up being spotted by a rozzer eventually.

Violence, running red lights at speed, overtaking into oncoming traffic that requires evasion of everyone but the offender, and things worse than that and I'd happily hand the footage to the police. Some people would call me a snitch for that online, and those are usually the same people you need to be weary of on the road, as 99% of people never in their lives drive that way.

[MR_W]

I said yes to all assuming that mobile phone tosspots fall under that category. General speeding I wouldn't probably bother as can't prove someone else's speed on a dashcam, but have caught plenty on my bike using phones.

[Muttly]

I would be happy for the Police and PPS to decide if it is the public interest. I think most drivers seem to be a bit careless and dangerous.

[SometimesSansEngine]

So my dirty little secret: I'm one of those cyclists who uses a GoPro, and occasionally do report to the police. My last was just last week.

However, in the main it's there just in case to avoid dispute of liability in an incident. When a car turned across my path and hit me off two weeks ago I was glad I had it when I realised I didn't get any details of witnesses at the scene. The dashcam we have in our car is the same.

Having joked about 'my dirty little secret', I probably report two incidents per year to the police, and that's with doing around 5000 miles by bicycle per year. Not really much at all. Most rides just see the footage binned. I see bad driving a lot, but most I shrug off. It really is reserved for the specials, the ones that truly are going to hurt somebody, and I hope a quite word from the police will at least give them cause to think. The most serious outcome I've had is a charge of careless driving, although that then got changed to failure to notify because the owner didn't respond to the NIP (and the traffic officer advised that was going to be a larger punishment and easier to nail via CPS anyway).

Even with footage dealing with the police can be a struggle, often it's a non-traffic officer who reviews and I've had all manner of initial responses, such as:

- The Highway Code is just general advice

- The police don't the right to "have a word" with a driver

- It's your word against theirs (this is usually when they haven't even bothered to read the report and don't realise you've also uploaded footage)

- Untaxed and uninsured cars are not a police matter

- We all just have to accept that most people's standards drop after they pass their test

A couple of times I've had to push back to actually get anything meaningful done, it really does depend on the police force you report to and then the person that reviews it.

The other issue is the CPS and magistrates, who can be notoriously bad at acting on the work the police do sadly

I don't thin we should inundate the police with footage, but I do also think if you see something truly dangerous the right thing to do is to report it.

I haven't worked out yet where I might mount my GoPro on my motorbike.

edit: having said all of the above, never ever start yelling "I've got a camera" or "smile for the camera". I cringe every time I hear anyone do that

Second edit: I've also never sent in any footage from the dashcam of my car, probably because when you're on two wheels the potential outcome of bad driving around you is much more serious

[Moonraker]

Reminds me - saw this the other day....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-45844175/shocking-dashcam-videos

[SometimesSansEngine]

So, the manufacturer of the Dash Cam has a link to upload footage of dangerous driving direct to the police.

 

Oh, I just remembered one of the things I was going to post.

I presume this is Nextbase?

When they first launched this portal the T&Cs had a line that gave them full rights over your footage for any purpose royalty free. Could have made a tidy mint selling submitted vids to the various 'bad driving' TV shows and tabloids. After a bit of a social media storm they did change it.

[BIKERDAD]

Iv got dash cam in my car front and back .also in have headlight cam on my motor bike and on.my chin of my helmet . I certainly send my footage to the cops of the area im.

in as i look at it !! If i was on my bike now would that dangerous driver hit me off !!! I don't send every bit I recorded only what I see is a completely NO ... That is every one using a mobile phone while driving or at traffic lights .. (I have seen and reported one woman who was on Facebook at the time of driving ) that was the finale straw for me . If not sent any of dangerous over taken. jumping light . It's just phone use so far .

As last week 4 ppl died due to ppl using there phones at the wheel. .

I'm all for a life time ban from driving if caught using phone at the wheel..

If you say no that bit harsh .. well what if it was your son or daughter that was killed just because a someone wanted send a monkey face ...... then tell me.what you think ....

If some one uses a mobile phone while driving and don't know ppl DIE because it then they don't deserve to drive our roads . SAME WITH DRUNKS an DRUGGYS ..

[Tango]

So, the manufacturer of the Dash Cam has a link to upload footage of dangerous driving direct to the police.

 

Oh, I just remembered one of the things I was going to post.

I presume this is Nextbase?

When they first launched this portal the T&Cs had a line that gave them full rights over your footage for any purpose royalty free. Could have made a tidy mint selling submitted vids to the various 'bad driving' TV shows and tabloids. After a bit of a social media storm they did change it.

 

Yes, you're right, it's Nextbase. And it sparked quite a debate, so I thought I'd start the poll to see what the general opinion is on it. Yeah, they were a bit sly with the T&C's.....

[Guest]

Just bear in mind that's it's potentially not just a simple case of providing the footage and forgetting about it. You are a witness, the witness who has obtained the footage, so you had better be willing to give your evidence in court as well. This is usually what puts people off.

Personally unless it's something deliberate and extreme I don't see the point in reporting it. Plenty of people make silly mistakes that could constitute an offence and I'm sure everyone on here has at some point. I certainly have. Hell I bet a fair few have been guilty of some deliberate shenanigans on the bike that other car drivers may disapprove of.

There're a lot of similar reports made but most don't go anywhere because the footage is either of little evidential value or the witness is reluctant to appear in court. It's also worth noting that once reported and recorded action must be taken. Simply giving a warning to the offender doesn't cut it in most forces; in practice discretion only really applies to offences witness directly by an officer.

Somebody else mention drink/drugs driving - to be charged with any related offence there the suspect must be apprehensive at the time so that samples can be taken. It's not possible to charge them with intoxication offences without samples. Of course that doesn't mean their driving won't also come under the careless or dangerous category simply by virtue of their manner of driving.

[Guest]

The police spend their resources on detecting speeding motorists, attending events like football and concerts, riding around in fast cars or helicopters looking like Hawaii Five O, and some other duties like gathering evidence of driving offences and fighting crime.

By far the most important duty is detecting speeding motorists and the least important is fighting crime. The reasons are, the resources needed to trap a motorist are very low, and the resources needed to catch a criminal are very high. There is far more bang for the buck in speeding detection and prosecution. One hour on a radar gun can deliver 100 prosecutions.1 hour attending a break-in, delivers only paper work and no convictions.

If the police have extra help from members of the public in doing their job then this saves them resources which can be used elsewhere. those resources can be diverted to their primary purpose which is to catch speeding motorists.

If in your career you were given extra resources and had to choose where to spend them would you choose to increase your productivity or to create more paperwork.

If you help them then you will create more speeding traps its as simple as that.

The question then boils down to this. Do you want even more speeding traps. If you don't then leave things alone. If you report other drivers by this method and actually help the police you will attend court, but not to give evidence, it will be to face speeding charges.

[SometimesSansEngine]

If you help them then you will create more speeding traps its as simple as that.

The question then boils down to this. Do you want even more speeding traps. If you don't then leave things alone. If you report other drivers by this method and actually help the police you will attend court, but not to give evidence, it will be to face speeding charges.

 

As I report incidents that threaten my life, and one day could prevent me returning home from a journey to my family, then I will continue to report. Speed traps or not.

[Guest]

And that is quite sensible SometimesSansEngine, I know that my survival may be down to your having reported a criminally bad driver who was taken off the road before he had the chance to kill me. Respect to you for that. I have stepped up and helped people its what we do when we are responsible,

The question is where do we draw the line and what level of bad driving is the measure to weigh up whether to report or not.

It sounds like you have it right. Could I live with myself if I don't report insanely bad driving and that driver stays on the road and kills a schoolchild or nails a member of my family innocently waiting at a bus stop.

I am opposed to the wholesale reporting of poor driving but sometimes the right thing to do is to report.

Thank you for that perspective.

[Tango]

That's the reason I put 2 Yes options......now, how you interpret "really bad driving" is down to the individual. But I'm certain that there are a large number of drivers and riders on the road who feel that with the reduced number of police around, there chances of getting caught are pretty small.....so they flaunt the law.....but scream like stuck pigs if they ever get caught.

Camera vans are not a problem if you don't speed.......If you speed and get caught, then you need to be big enough to take it on the chin. I need my license for my job, so I'm pretty careful.....and I use the cruise control quite a bit in the car to make sure that I'm not likely to end up with a ticket.

[Tankbag]

There's a new phenomenon, dashcam warriors baiting others, e.g. driving below the speed limit to encourage an overtake, overreacting to another driver pulling out etc