RAC calls dashcams ‘a game changer’ in enforcement

Nearly 90 dashcam video recordings of alleged motoring offences were submitted to police forces every day in 2019, according to data analysed by the RAC. A total of 32,370 pieces of footage were received in 2019 by the 24 police forces that accept video evidence of driving offences from members of the public, double the number recorded in 2018 (15,159).

Data from the RAC’s freedom of information request also shows that a quarter of these (8,148) went on to result in prosecutions. The greatest number of potentially prosecutable offences in 2019 were submitted to the Met Police (8,082).

Surrey had the second highest tally with 3,542, followed by West Midlands with 3,242.

The footage submitted to police related to a variety of offences, including: dangerous driving, careless driving/driving without due care and attention, illegal use of a handheld mobile phone, driving too close to cyclists and contravening red traffic lights.

All of Britain’s 44 forces now accept dashcam video – with the vast majority doing so online via their websites.

The RAC says dashcams are a ‘game changer’ in enforcement and is calling on drivers to “always drive as if you are being watched by the police”.

Simon Williams, RAC road safety spokesman, said: “Even before the decline in the number of roads police enforcing traffic offences, law-abiding drivers were often frustrated that there was never an officer there to deal with infringements they witnessed.

“The advent of dashcams, phones with cameras and helmet cameras have been a game changer as drivers can now easily submit footage to almost every police force.

“With more and more people getting dashcams the message for 2021 has to be: always drive as if you’re being watched by the police. If more drivers who are inclined to break the laws of the road were to think this way, the safer the roads would be for all of us.”

Footage supplied by Northamptonshire Police