General Public Now To Become Traffic Police
Tuesday, 4. December 2018
A new police unit has been set up to deal with dash cam and helmet cam footage showing drivers committing offences as part of a Government road safety initiative.
The announcement of the creation of this new unit was made by the Department for Transport (DfT) as a 2-year plan to make roads safer. In their announcement, they stated that it is intended, ‘ to combat road rage, encourage greater mutual respect between road users and protect the most vulnerable’.
The task force does not yet have a name but will be a ‘national back office’ serving police forces. An initial investment of £100,000 has been put in to test the waters. No information is yet available as to how the public will get the video footage to this team but according to AutoExpress they feel the new scheme will operate in the same way as Operation Snap that was introduced in Wales.
When piloted it reduced the time taken to review footage from up to 15 hours (really?) to just 15 minutes. There are 7 offences that the public can report using video footage as follows
Dangerous Driving
Driving Without Due Care & Attention
Careless Driving
Using A Mobile Phone
Not Wearing A Seatbelt
Contravening A Red Traffic Light
Contravening Solid White Lines
The DfT says that dash cam footage and video from motorcyclist and cyclist cameras could lead to investigations for ‘other offences where the driver is clearly not in proper control of the vehicle and which could lead to collisions’. By allowing drivers to submit video footage they believe that they will be able to increase detection rates at no extra cost.
The 2-year plan also includes allowing local authorities to issue tickets to drivers parking in cycle lanes with penalties from £70 to £130 in London. Councils will also be encouraged to spend 15% of their local transport budget on cycling and walking infrastructure. Personally, the whole thing concerns me as I can see a rapid increase in road rage. By Graham Hill
