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news
NMotD 752Highway Code changes: video submissions made to police rise as cyclists urged to report law-breaking drivers
Submissions to police of video evidence of poor driving have risen since the Highway Code was updated at the end of January according to dashcam manufacturer Nextbase, which also operates the portal many forces use to allow people to upload footage.
Meanwhile, Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Cox of Lincolnshire Police, who is the national lead on fatal collision investigation reporting at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) says that “the police can’t be everywhere all the time, but the public can be” – and is urging cyclists to use cameras on their helmets or handlebars to catch law-breaking drivers.
Our own Near Miss of the Day feature now runs to more than 750 articles. Not all of the videos we have shown in the series have resulted in action being taken against the driver, but many have – including some cases where footage has been re-examined after being highlighted on road.cc.
Speaking to Telegraph.co.uk, DCS Cox – who also raises funds through charity runs and bike rides for the road collision victims’ charity RoadPeace – said: “It’s an individual choice, and it’s a choice to report any footage that they may capture.
“But the feedback I have from cyclists and drivers, who find some of the driving standards unacceptable and are deeply frustrated by it, is that they welcome the opportunity to provide footage for us.”
Bryn Brooker of Nextbase told the newspaper that submissions through its portal had risen since changes to the Highway Code – including a Hierarchy of Road Users aimed at protecting the most vulnerable, and motorists being advised to leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists – were introduced in late January.
He said that whereas drivers who put other road users at risk “just got away with it,” the availability of footage from dashcams in cars or through videos shot by cyclists mean it is now easier to bring law-breakers to justice.
He added that Nextbase is “really aimed at dangerous drivers, not drivers who made a simple mistake.”
Police forces across the country have faced a funding crisis since the Conservative and Lib Dem coalition – which also scrapped targets to reduce road casualties – came to power in 2010.
As a result, many roads policing units throughout the UK are under-resourced, making third party footage captured by motorists and cyclists an essential tool in combatting poor driving that puts others in danger.
Cycling UK policy director Roger Geffen told Telegraph.co.uk: “I wish cyclists didn't feel the need to have helmet cameras. The world would be a better place if they didn't feel the need to do so.
“If we want to normalise cycling, not just for the battle-hardened, Lycra-wearing stereotype of cyclists but as a normal thing that grandparents and grandchildren alike can do as a way of getting from A to B, then we need to take dangerous drivers off the road.
“If dashcam and helmetcam footage is part of the means to do that, in the absence of proper road policing, then so be it,” he added.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- don simon fbpe 1 hour 26 min ago
Poor decision for Eurosport to repeatedly show the crash before knowing the outcome. Not cool.
- Daclu Trelub 1 hour 37 min ago
In a perfect world, we'd have a measure of how easily distracted someone is, as part of their driving test....
- Sredlums 2 hours 4 min ago
These products are nothing but ridiculously expensive and superfluous, and they bring nothing but bragging rights....
- HollisJ 2 hours 6 min ago
As a bystander in all this, it seems to me that the only person trying to win imaginary internet points in this is you....
- Daclu Trelub 2 hours 20 min ago
How does Mr Lucy tell you he's a bit of an arsehole without telling you he's a bit of an arsehole?
- Daclu Trelub 2 hours 24 min ago
Of course they are, and not so different. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09B662CDN?crid=34M42BETAMFT0&th=1 The bugger's got four versions up now!
- squidgy 2 hours 41 min ago
At least the van driver was nowhere near the stationary cyclist.
- OldRidgeback 2 hours 44 min ago
The BMX racers are also no longer being supported. Kye Whyte said he's lost his GT sponsorship. It also looks like GT will no longer make BMX bikes.
- hawkinspeter 3 hours 33 min ago
The people causing traffic jams complaining about the traffic jams
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81 comments
It should be read that ALL road cyclists have a responsibility to bring those rule breakers to account.
By doing so, you could be saving the life of a fellow cyclist.
If we cannot hold motorists to account for the terrible consequences their illegal driving has then we may as well stay on our paddleboards.
Your camera footage could mean the difference:
In a guilty verdict.
A criminal conviction.
The payment of personal injury compensation.
The mindset change of ALL those drivers out there who will have to face the fact their actions will no longer only have consequences for OTHER road users.
It's essential that we help our underfunded road traffic police and put forward evidence to arrest irresponsible driving.
If it's not today. It could be you on that future ride that succumbs to that moment of breathtaking motoring ignorance. It could be you...
Road cyclist. It's not about weight, cost or tedium.
That's why YOU always wear a camera. Front and back!
It'd be better if the onus was on drivers to run dashcams and submit evidence. Car dashcams are cheaper as they don't need a big internal battery, they don't need to be waterproof and weight is much less of an issue.
I do wonder how many drivers submit dashcam footage and what level of driving they submit them for. Forgetting actual collisions, there are several Youtube channels who release weekly videos filled with many examples of bad driving (both from Cammer and subject) and not one indicates whether it was submitted.
However WMP sent me an email on Wednesday asking me for a resubmission over a mistake on my original form and it was above 1850 submissions this year. I can't believe that is all from cyclists. (although 15 of those would be mine).
The thing with the dash cam videos, which despite being so badly telegraphed that you can for the vast majority tell what's going to happen a long time before it happens, it staggers me how many drivers submit footage of their own bad driving as if they are looking for absolution from their peers.
Whenever those videos include a roundabout you can guarantee that it will either be some tool coming thundering onto the roundabout too fast, or being in the right hand lane and suddenly cutting across multiple lanes of traffic to get to an exit, or meandering round the outside lane in the roundabout to go to an exit about 3 or 4 further round.
There was a story about this not so long ago. I think the upshot of it was that the police agreed that an offence was committed more often on the videos submitted by cyclists than videos by motorists.
Driver hits cyclist. Video Evidence is required in court case. Do you (victiim) rely on driver to present evidence to support driver's conviction and your personal injury claim.
Tricky.
This actually happened to me. Police motorcyclist (in private car) knocked me off my motorbike and admitted full liability to the Police (who were called by him) and his insurance. Got a big payout and a nice letter from the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police explaining why he was not being prosecuted. Of course this was 1999 so pre action cam.
Lol. Gtf. Anyone that uses a camera, fair play, you do you.
But I'd rather people learnt how to drive and dangerous drivers kept off the roads then rely on the superpower of a camera keeping me safe.
People learn how to drive, but then they are never tested again and fall into bad habits etc. So yes, tested again every 5 or 10 years would be one thing. I would even state the first retest should be within the first 2 years for newly passed driver as I know that was when I was at my worst.
However the dangerous drivers need to be caught first and preferably not after they have KSI'd someone so if Dash and Bike cams can help with that, I'm all for them.But as I wouldn't push helmet use on anyone else (or tell people they shouldn't wear them), I also wouldn't be stating "every cyclist needs a camera front and back".
Retests I'm all for, at the drivers expense. As a reachtruck driver I get tested every year,( more often then I legally need to be retested), with a health test every 5years. So chuck that in aswell, again at the motorists expense.
Maybe that would help weed out some of the dangerous drivers before they KSI. Unless they use the old, "but I'll lose my job" argument, so let's shut that door aswell.
And we we have that 'Road Safety Expert?' Loophole lawyer twat. Shut him up aswell, stop him setting precedents.
I'd have to agree with hawkinspeter , cars should be required to be use cameras. Possibly linked to a blackbox, so in the event of me being found laid crumpled at the side of the road the authorities can find out who was nearly by at X time and check footage
I don't see why it wouldn't be at the drivers expense being as original lessons and test would have been. However as others have pointed out in the past, it would rely on the government to up the amount of examiners to cope with the demand.
Many modern cars already have a camera built in just behind the rear view mirror that is used to control safety features such as intelligent cruise control. Wouldn't cost the manufacturers much more to set up a record function and use it as a dash cam you would have thought. Even better if it were on a loop and not accessible by the driver so they couldn't wipe any impact recorded.
A Citroën 2 cv dolly wing mirror breaks your right arm in a close pass and continues its journey.
Do you.
A. Tie on a tree branch splint and carry on as normal.
B. Chuck your bike.
C. Regret that camera purchase.
door mirror.
i just hope it's never:
D. Facepalm with my one not broken arm for not charging my cameras last night.
Oh, and you forgot:
E. Wonder why the 2cv driver unscrewed their door mirror and then attached it to the wing? (sorry, couldn't resist trolling you even though I agree with your constant 'cajoling' to run cameras on the road)
Exactly. All it would need is a tamper proof blackbox storing gps and video data. And make fiddling with the box an offence or something.
Hopefully. That's 10 years from now.
I'm talking about today.
It is called an event data recorder and is pretty much standard on new cars (I think it might even be required) - however I'm not sure how long it stores the data for before being overwritten. My car uploads (at least some of) the data, so I can go online and see how my car was driven on a particular journey, get fuel consumption and average speed - it's a bit like Strava for cars, but with an emphasis on fuel economy rather than KOMs
I have a mate who is a product director at JLR (they do have a lot of directors, so not that senior!) who asked the same question and got fobbed off with worries about the legality of recording without the owner's consent, which I would have thought was resolved by putting an option on a menu, or leaving the SD card slot empty!
You get smashed into touch by a motorist.
Do you.
A. Regret sorting a camera
B. Throw your bike in the bin.
C. Take an ice bath and carry on as normal.
Like I say. You do you.
Myself, I can't be arsed to buy and fit cameras to record the occasional close pass or mgif, then obsess over getting clips and sending them through whatever channels, when I can just give a handsignal showing my feelings then move on. Each to their own.
Besides cycling can be an off putting thing to try get into, all the stuff people are told they need to buy/wear. Shit, my local cycling club people won't even let me add them on Strava incase I steal their bikes.. their loss. Why add another obstacle?
I get it. You're a maverick. You don't want or need to work for "the man". You'll do it your way. Respect. Stay safe.
Admittedly, I've never used a paddleboard, but I reckon I'd probably be at more risk trying to take one of those down the road than I would cycling.
Maybe you should try that in Ayr - seems safe enough to row:
https://road.cc/content/news/206693-man-protests-bike-laneby-rowing-it
I dont agree it's my responsibility at all, I didnt sign up to be an extension of the police force on the roads as a cyclist, I just want to ride my bike in peace & quiet and be left alone.
I dont need the extra stress & hassle it creates for me, more so as the local force appear to have down prioritised dealing with cycling camera footage submissions so it all feels a total waste of time anyway, the latest stats for Q1 across Suffolk/Norfolk, 448 submissions resulted in 80 NIPs, and 85 warning letters.
It's barely making the roads safer at all
I agree its by no means a responsibility - its a choice & hectoring people to do so like the OP - is bang out of order imo.
Besides its a perception/expectation thing. Not everyone has to run camera's for those caught by them to become more cautious which is the actual result we want.
I prefer to call it cajole. Your wellbeing is important.
Years in the future I see this footage being incorporated into an educational stream* in an attempt to counter rising aggression on the hyperloops* called "The (ICE) Taxis** - a lesson from history".
Thank you (and other camera users) in advance for your gallant documentation of these crimes. I may even join you some day. Just now I'm more about the top tiers of health and safety but indeed although better it does take longer.
* adjust as appropriate for future tech.
** Or more broadly "The Internal Combustion Engined Vehicle Drivers"
J Walter Weatherman would disagree.
Although I potentially have 5-6 on a 25 mile ride. Still need to review them all to see how they come out but I was obviously invisible today as had 3 people pull out on my as I'm travelling at 20+mph and almost on top of them. Also one phone user but not sure if helmet cam caught that one (in a sporty Audi with "3d" plates natch), one speeder doing at least 30mph in a 20, and one woman who decided last second (as is she had already turned almost into it) that she didn't want to go right at the lights but straight on and almost took out the other car who knew which direction they were going.
Did have a MGIF as well but they did give me plenty of room even if the manouvre was pointless as the lights ahead were red.
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