Dash cam owners can now send footage straight to police to catch out dodgy drivers
A new online portal is linking with UK police forces to let road users instantly share video footage of dangerous driving
DASH cam owners can now send footage straight to the police if they have a run-in with a dangerous driver.
A new online portal has been created to allow motorists to instantly report unlawful driving to the cops along with evidence of the act itself.
Dash cam manufacturer, Nextbase, has launched its , where all road users can easily send video of dodgy behaviour to the relevant police forces via a single online hub.
The portal is available to cyclists, horse riders, motorcyclists and pedestrians, as well as drivers, and is linked to 19 different police forces.
And according to , even if a local force isn't signed up to the platform, the system will generate a witness statement and reference a code which can be taken directly to the relevant police for processing, using the footage securely.
An increasing number of drivers currently use dash cams in their car, but in the past, sharing that footage with police wasn't so simple.
Drivers previously had to send clips via social media, email, or even submit a DVD.
According to Nextbase, this led to clips being ignored and often resulted in evidence being lost.
The new system hopes to create a "gold standard" for evidence reporting using dash cam footage, and help police reduce the number of dangerous drivers on UK roads.
The National Dash Cam Safety Portal follows on from the 2016 "Operation Snap" by North Wales Police, which was designed to give members of the public “the power to assist forces in taking action against those who put other road users at risk”.
Police forces signed up to the National Dash Cam Safety Portal
- West Midlands Police
- Avon and Somerset Constabulary
- Cheshire Constabulary
- Essex Police
- Hampshire Constabulary
- Metropolitan Police Force
- Norfolk Constabulary
- North Yorkshire Police
- Suffolk Constabulary
- Surrey Police
- Sussex Police
- Thames Valley Police
- Dyfed-Powys Police
- Gwent Police
- North Wales Polie
- Wiltshire Police
- South Wales Police
- West Mercia Police
- Warwickshire Police
Richard Browning, Director of Nextbase, said: “The surge in dash cam usage in recent years is beneficial to motorists looking to protect themselves in the event of incidents on the roads, but it has meant an increase in the amount of footage sent to police forces.
"Until now forces have not had the means to process this footage so the National Dash Cam Safety Portal has been developed with this in mind.
"The Portal allows all road users to submit footage captured on devices, such as dash cams, which will enable the police to reduce such offences, ultimately making the roads safe for all users.”
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Heather Yates, from Halfords, which sells the largest range of in car cameras in the UK, said dash cams are proving more popular than ever: “This is a really positive step towards road safety and will encourage safer driving.
"We’ve seen a surge in sales as drivers reach for in-car technology to capture instances of careless and dangerous driving.
“Our recent research shows that 28 per cent of motorists think having a dash cam installed would improve their driving performance and 32 per cent feel much safer on the roads when driving with one."