Dashcam to shop other motorists - Good/Bad?
Discussion
Hi all. I'm new to this forum but ready for the inevitable kicking that some will want to give me for this (my first) post. 
I'm interested to know what forum members opinions are on drivers using dashcams to shop other motorists for traffic offences. I'm not talking about running a red-light by half a second or someone doing 90 on a motorway. I'm meaning shopping other motorists to the police for blatant dangerous driving, running red-lights well after they've turned red, driving on pavements to juke queueing traffic etc.
To give you my perspective on this, 10 years ago when I was driving tour coaches, the management decided to fit multiple cameras around each vehicle to record the full exterior, interior and driver. Most of the drivers were against 'the spy in the cab' with some even talking about leaving to go & work elsewhere (but none did - unsurprisingly!). Over the following 2 years drivers became comfortable with it and most appreciated the cameras being there as an independent witness in the event of any incidents or customer complaints. I found that it also improved the calibre of drivers we got, as the evidence was there to get poorer quality staff out the door quickly.
From that point on I was an advocate of cameras in cars and bought my first dashcam in 2012. It was solely for evidential purposes in the event of an accident and it proved its worth a few months later when I was driving behind someone who drove into the side of my friend's car. In 2019 it proved my innocence in a contested collision & avoided the associated costs that I would have incurred had it gone 50:50. I was never a 'dashcam warrior' and considered people like CyclingMikey as underhand grasses. I think I even commented on one of his videos a number of years ago where I said something along the lines of I hoped to see him getting a punch in the face from one of the motorists he was filming one day (I know! My bad.
)
Anyway, my attitude has done a 180 over the past few years, mainly as a result of what I see as increasingly s
t, selfish & dangerous standards of driving where I live. I was reading a post over the past couple of days with many agreeing... 'Feels Like Roads Are Mental At The Moment'. I still detest the dashcam warriors who refuse to accommodate genuine mistakes made by others & who create content by driving into & dramatizing easily avoidable situations (I'm thinking Premises187 on YouTube), but I admire folk like CyclingMikey who IS actually making a genuine difference to road safety whether people agree with it or not. His attitude has been quite condescending to some motorists in the past, but my take on it now is that if people don't want to be on camera or posted on social-media then it's simple - don't draw attention to yourself by driving like a moron or committing traffic offences such as phone use!
I live in Scotland where the government & police have been promising a dashcam reporting system for years, but despite all the hot-air it hasn't yet materialized. Weird when there's a national dashcam safety portal system (NDSP) for almost all of the rest of the UK that they could easily use but then I suppose there's political reasons as the SNP can't possibly share a UK-wide system. "We need a Scottish solution to a Scottish problem, blah, blah, blah". So unlike the easy process of almost everywhere else, reporting a dangerous driver here involves phoning 101 or completing an online form; having a visit from police officers arranged; police officers attending your house to take a statement & collect evidence. Hopefully a system similar to the rest of the UK comes in soon, and footage submitted by motorists can be viewed by a trained civilian operator to sift out the rubbish before forwarding the genuine & blatant offences to Traffic.
The way I see it now is that driving standards aren't the best amongst the population. Selfishness & a sense of entitlement is apparent amongst many. The police have limited resources to catch offenders and so it's common sense to utilize members of the public and their camera footage to detect & prosecute offences and create safer roads for everyone. I've got family - kids, loads of nephews, elderly parents, friends & neighbours, and unless it's someone who lives in my street (I draw the line at creating conflict with immediate neighbours) then I'll stick them in to the police for any seriously st driving that I've clearly caught on camera (got one going through at the moment which is likely going to court). So yeah, I'm a grass, a clipe, a dibber-dobber, call it what you like. I'm proud of it. I'll happily stand up in court to give evidence against an accused & I'm old enough, big enough & ugly enough to not be intimidated by anyone.
You take?
I'm interested to know what forum members opinions are on drivers using dashcams to shop other motorists for traffic offences. I'm not talking about running a red-light by half a second or someone doing 90 on a motorway. I'm meaning shopping other motorists to the police for blatant dangerous driving, running red-lights well after they've turned red, driving on pavements to juke queueing traffic etc.
To give you my perspective on this, 10 years ago when I was driving tour coaches, the management decided to fit multiple cameras around each vehicle to record the full exterior, interior and driver. Most of the drivers were against 'the spy in the cab' with some even talking about leaving to go & work elsewhere (but none did - unsurprisingly!). Over the following 2 years drivers became comfortable with it and most appreciated the cameras being there as an independent witness in the event of any incidents or customer complaints. I found that it also improved the calibre of drivers we got, as the evidence was there to get poorer quality staff out the door quickly.
From that point on I was an advocate of cameras in cars and bought my first dashcam in 2012. It was solely for evidential purposes in the event of an accident and it proved its worth a few months later when I was driving behind someone who drove into the side of my friend's car. In 2019 it proved my innocence in a contested collision & avoided the associated costs that I would have incurred had it gone 50:50. I was never a 'dashcam warrior' and considered people like CyclingMikey as underhand grasses. I think I even commented on one of his videos a number of years ago where I said something along the lines of I hoped to see him getting a punch in the face from one of the motorists he was filming one day (I know! My bad.
)Anyway, my attitude has done a 180 over the past few years, mainly as a result of what I see as increasingly s
t, selfish & dangerous standards of driving where I live. I was reading a post over the past couple of days with many agreeing... 'Feels Like Roads Are Mental At The Moment'. I still detest the dashcam warriors who refuse to accommodate genuine mistakes made by others & who create content by driving into & dramatizing easily avoidable situations (I'm thinking Premises187 on YouTube), but I admire folk like CyclingMikey who IS actually making a genuine difference to road safety whether people agree with it or not. His attitude has been quite condescending to some motorists in the past, but my take on it now is that if people don't want to be on camera or posted on social-media then it's simple - don't draw attention to yourself by driving like a moron or committing traffic offences such as phone use!I live in Scotland where the government & police have been promising a dashcam reporting system for years, but despite all the hot-air it hasn't yet materialized. Weird when there's a national dashcam safety portal system (NDSP) for almost all of the rest of the UK that they could easily use but then I suppose there's political reasons as the SNP can't possibly share a UK-wide system. "We need a Scottish solution to a Scottish problem, blah, blah, blah". So unlike the easy process of almost everywhere else, reporting a dangerous driver here involves phoning 101 or completing an online form; having a visit from police officers arranged; police officers attending your house to take a statement & collect evidence. Hopefully a system similar to the rest of the UK comes in soon, and footage submitted by motorists can be viewed by a trained civilian operator to sift out the rubbish before forwarding the genuine & blatant offences to Traffic.
The way I see it now is that driving standards aren't the best amongst the population. Selfishness & a sense of entitlement is apparent amongst many. The police have limited resources to catch offenders and so it's common sense to utilize members of the public and their camera footage to detect & prosecute offences and create safer roads for everyone. I've got family - kids, loads of nephews, elderly parents, friends & neighbours, and unless it's someone who lives in my street (I draw the line at creating conflict with immediate neighbours) then I'll stick them in to the police for any seriously s
t driving that I've clearly caught on camera (got one going through at the moment which is likely going to court). So yeah, I'm a grass, a clipe, a dibber-dobber, call it what you like. I'm proud of it. I'll happily stand up in court to give evidence against an accused & I'm old enough, big enough & ugly enough to not be intimidated by anyone. You take?
Have contemplated having a dash cam fitted purely for any insurance incidents but have never got round to it.
The main issue I have with dash cam users sending their videos in is that they never seem to send evidence of themselves doing something wrong. Would you send your footage in if you accidentally did something dangerous?
Most of the really st driving I see is from someone with a dash cam fitted! I feel like they think people cut them up all the time or do odd things around them so they need a dash cam but the reason for that is because they have poor lane discipline, don't signal correctly themselves etc etc.
The main issue I have with dash cam users sending their videos in is that they never seem to send evidence of themselves doing something wrong. Would you send your footage in if you accidentally did something dangerous?
Most of the really s
t driving I see is from someone with a dash cam fitted! I feel like they think people cut them up all the time or do odd things around them so they need a dash cam but the reason for that is because they have poor lane discipline, don't signal correctly themselves etc etc.I've had a dashcams fitted for years, like most people for evidence in the event of a crash.
It paid for itself ages ago when someone undertook Mrs Magnum approaching a roundabout (she was turning right, not lane hogging), swerved hard in front of her and slammed the brakes on - full on cash-for-crash attempt. The other driver claimed 100% Mrs Magnum's fault, lied blatantly, and only admitted to lying when the camera footage was used.
I've never submitted footage to any of the dash camera video muppets, largely 'cause I've got better things to do.
I've come very, very close to submitting footage to police precisely once - a few weeks ago with some appalling behaviour by a couple of truck drivers - I wasn't directly involved, but caught it all on camera.
But, ultimately, I view it as the job of the police to enforce the law. I'm not a police officer, so I'm not responsible for law enforcement.
It paid for itself ages ago when someone undertook Mrs Magnum approaching a roundabout (she was turning right, not lane hogging), swerved hard in front of her and slammed the brakes on - full on cash-for-crash attempt. The other driver claimed 100% Mrs Magnum's fault, lied blatantly, and only admitted to lying when the camera footage was used.
I've never submitted footage to any of the dash camera video muppets, largely 'cause I've got better things to do.
I've come very, very close to submitting footage to police precisely once - a few weeks ago with some appalling behaviour by a couple of truck drivers - I wasn't directly involved, but caught it all on camera.
But, ultimately, I view it as the job of the police to enforce the law. I'm not a police officer, so I'm not responsible for law enforcement.
I have front and rear dashcams fitted to one of my cars and absolutely would upload and send the footage to the police in the event of witnessing truly bad driving. Unfortunately, I don't yet have one fitted to the shed which is used for most local and urban runs, and therefore I don't capture the red-light runners and those who try to do 50 in a built-up 30 zone. Something I definitely need to fix in the future.
Having dashcams though doesn't turn me into a DCW (I'm not sure the W stands for "warrior"
) - if anything it's in the back of my mind that if I was involved in any incident that required the evidence, that my own driving should be as good as possible. The presence of a dash cam isn't what turns someone into a w*nker that doesn't accommodate a single mistake from others and hits the horn rather than the brake - they were a self-righteous w*nker in the first place and it's just that dashcams are now much more prevalent and affordable.
Having dashcams though doesn't turn me into a DCW (I'm not sure the W stands for "warrior"
) - if anything it's in the back of my mind that if I was involved in any incident that required the evidence, that my own driving should be as good as possible. The presence of a dash cam isn't what turns someone into a w*nker that doesn't accommodate a single mistake from others and hits the horn rather than the brake - they were a self-righteous w*nker in the first place and it's just that dashcams are now much more prevalent and affordable.chrisga said:
Would you send your footage in if you accidentally did something dangerous?
I can honestly say that I haven't done anything dangerous on the roads for a long time. If I did then of course I wouldn't shop myself but I do have enough self-awareness that I would reflect & make sure I didn't do it again, and if I was reported on the basis of someone else's dashcam then I'd own it and accept whatever penalty was coming my way.TheConsultant said:
I have front and rear dashcams fitted
I consider a rear camera to be more important than a front most of the time, for the rear end idiots out there. Yesterday a young lad pulled out on me from the left without even looking in my direction. As I know the turning well I expected this to happen as there is a lot to take in for a driver, multiple junctions and parked cars. When I pulled up alongside him he expected me to tear a strip off him and he wound the window down, I just said we all make mistakes and learn from this near miss.
Earlier in the week an OAP drove through a pelican crossing on red doing 40mph and nearly hit some pedestrians and I did report this, and was notified they were taking action.
I have reported lots of terrible driving, you can see an incident building in front of your eyes sometimes, like a 4x4 that overtook a cyclist too closely into oncoming traffic over double white lines. If you are going to break the road laws you have to expect someone to catch it on camera as there are so many out there.
Most Police forces are participating in Operation Snap where you can submit footage and the miscreants often get fines/points if you are that inclined.
I've have dashcams for years and 99% of the stuff I download are funny clips. I have captured 3 incidents, 2 involving motorcycles:
(1) Biker falls over at a junction, driver behind him helps him and is then blamed by the biker. Driver was nowhere near him.
(2) Biker turning right at a junction, motorhome coming the opposing way turning indicating and turning left. Biker wallops the side of the motorhome and is trapped under his bike. When freed he shouts obscenities at the elderly couple who are now shaking with fear. I reassure them that it was the bikers fault Showed the footage to the attending Police who tell him to shut up or be arrested for breach.
(3) Police appeal for a car involved in a violent robbery at a house and appeal for CCTV/Dashcam. I'd driven past the house and along the lane the previous evening. Checked and the offending van and reg was clearly recorded on my dashcam. Not told of any outcome.
I've have dashcams for years and 99% of the stuff I download are funny clips. I have captured 3 incidents, 2 involving motorcycles:
(1) Biker falls over at a junction, driver behind him helps him and is then blamed by the biker. Driver was nowhere near him.
(2) Biker turning right at a junction, motorhome coming the opposing way turning indicating and turning left. Biker wallops the side of the motorhome and is trapped under his bike. When freed he shouts obscenities at the elderly couple who are now shaking with fear. I reassure them that it was the bikers fault Showed the footage to the attending Police who tell him to shut up or be arrested for breach.
(3) Police appeal for a car involved in a violent robbery at a house and appeal for CCTV/Dashcam. I'd driven past the house and along the lane the previous evening. Checked and the offending van and reg was clearly recorded on my dashcam. Not told of any outcome.
I wouldn't voluntarily share footage. It's not the job of the general public to enforce driving standards - that's for the police*.
Same goes for those muppets who sit at 70mph in the lane 3. If another driver wants to break the speed limit that's down to him. Pull over.
*yes, I know we rarely see traffic plod these days but that's not the point
Same goes for those muppets who sit at 70mph in the lane 3. If another driver wants to break the speed limit that's down to him. Pull over.
*yes, I know we rarely see traffic plod these days but that's not the point
Terminator X said:
Anyone shopping anyone to the rozzers with dashcam footage is a wker of the highest order imho.
TX.
I love it when PH'ers say they don't want a dashcam in case they incriminate themselves because that makes me think of a slimeball that doesn't have the integrity or morals to accept the consequences of their own actions.ker of the highest order imho.TX.
CT05 Nose Cone said:
Terminator X said:
Anyone shopping anyone to the rozzers with dashcam footage is a wker of the highest order imho.
TX.
If it's a collision or something dangerous, why?ker of the highest order imho.TX.
If there was an accident I would stop in any regard to give contact details to the party not at fault - if I had a dash cam (I do not) then I would also provide the footage.
Interested to read this thread. I was stopped at a set of working (before anyone makes excuses for the party involved) temporary traffic lights on the outskirts of a rural village in Essex which were red last night with a cyclist in front of me. Lo and behold a blue VW Golf pulled up behind me and then just went around myself and the cyclist and drove through the red lights. I have front and rear dash cams and so the car on video. Been wondering whether I should report it or not, and whether there is any point as would the police do anything anyway?
From his response we all know what Terminator's driving is like don't we, maybe he should move to Belgium!
I have a dash cam and it has supplied evidence in two non-fault accidents. One driver tried the "you had no reason to brake" argument but shut up when I asked if he wanted to see the video of the traffic stopping in front of me. The second is about to go to court as the insurer has not responded at all, my insurer has video of the incident, the other car subsequently stopping on the hard shoulder and the driver as he got out to speak to us.
Have only submitted one clip to the police and that was an idiot who sailed past me when stopped at a red light and immediately went through another red light. Turns out there is some history with the car and the driver and the police are pursuing both the offence and failing to name as they can identify the driver from the video.
I have no concerns about other drivers having dash cams.
I have a dash cam and it has supplied evidence in two non-fault accidents. One driver tried the "you had no reason to brake" argument but shut up when I asked if he wanted to see the video of the traffic stopping in front of me. The second is about to go to court as the insurer has not responded at all, my insurer has video of the incident, the other car subsequently stopping on the hard shoulder and the driver as he got out to speak to us.
Have only submitted one clip to the police and that was an idiot who sailed past me when stopped at a red light and immediately went through another red light. Turns out there is some history with the car and the driver and the police are pursuing both the offence and failing to name as they can identify the driver from the video.
I have no concerns about other drivers having dash cams.
Hmm brutally, won't bother. The police rarely take action despite me in one road rage situation without any prior aggression from my side, someone threatened me, all caught on dashcam with a clear numberplate and view of the suspect, no further action due to ironically, lack of evidence.
And just to underline it I have caught one of Kent's finest driving like a numpty on the M2/A2 tailgating, nearly side swiping me, brake testing and generally just being a menance in a panda car. Sergeant when they did speak to me sounded about as interested in taking action as watching paint dry.
If they cannot control their own, then the public at large are f*cked. My view of the police in recent years has basically been approaching useless, I know some will bring up resources and finances now.But, to be entirely blunt I am of the view now that they are so effective at quote "screening out crime" then I doubt additional resources and finances will change those ingrained habits.
As those that are supposed to enforce law have failed to enforce then general risk taking has increased across the board and it simply does not only apply to driving standards.
And just to underline it I have caught one of Kent's finest driving like a numpty on the M2/A2 tailgating, nearly side swiping me, brake testing and generally just being a menance in a panda car. Sergeant when they did speak to me sounded about as interested in taking action as watching paint dry.
If they cannot control their own, then the public at large are f*cked. My view of the police in recent years has basically been approaching useless, I know some will bring up resources and finances now.But, to be entirely blunt I am of the view now that they are so effective at quote "screening out crime" then I doubt additional resources and finances will change those ingrained habits.
As those that are supposed to enforce law have failed to enforce then general risk taking has increased across the board and it simply does not only apply to driving standards.
Terminator X said:
Anyone shopping anyone to the rozzers with dashcam footage is a wker of the highest order imho.
TX.
It’s an odd attitude isn’t it? We don’t know most people driving cars on the roads. They are strangers to us, we have no connection to them other than the same road…..ker of the highest order imho.TX.
They could be boozed up meth heads, no insurance, no license, running over puppies.
But don’t shop em to the rozzers when you see them doing something illegal. Because it’s us against them.
No, it really isn’t us against them.
If I had a dashcam I would also have no issue in reporting someone for dangerous driving. Far too much of it goes on these days. The only issue I see is where footage is shortened / edited to avoid an earlier indiscretion by the cammer. But presumably the reviewers are savvy to this and require a minimum length of footage prior for incidents involving the cammer.
It tells you all you need to know about folk that get triggered by people like Cycling Mikey. We had all the alpha males on the Dashcam thread with "If I saw him I would deck him", "hope he gets whats coming" and "why isn't he loitering outside pubs looking for drink drivers as well". If your not driving around like a knob, being courteous and respectful and not breaking the law then you have nothing to hide.
It tells you all you need to know about folk that get triggered by people like Cycling Mikey. We had all the alpha males on the Dashcam thread with "If I saw him I would deck him", "hope he gets whats coming" and "why isn't he loitering outside pubs looking for drink drivers as well". If your not driving around like a knob, being courteous and respectful and not breaking the law then you have nothing to hide.
EasternBlocGeek said:
chrisga said:
Would you send your footage in if you accidentally did something dangerous?
I can honestly say that I haven't done anything dangerous on the roads for a long time. If I did then of course I wouldn't shop myself but I do have enough self-awareness that I would reflect & make sure I didn't do it again, and if I was reported on the basis of someone else's dashcam then I'd own it and accept whatever penalty was coming my way.My take, having had dashcams fitted to both of our cars for four years:
1) fit it to protect yourself in the event of an accident
2) on the rare occasion you might be in the vicinity of an incident where Police request footage, send it to them (as long as you don't incriminate yourself)
3) otherwise forget it is fitted and just live your life in peace.
The roads always have nobs driving on them. Unless they are impacting you directly just mind your own business.
FWIW the only time I've even taken the micro SD cards out of ours is just to check they are recording properly, perhaps once every 6 months. I give them a format on the laptop, akin to taking them on a little holiday out of the car! Other than that they just chug away unnoticed.
1) fit it to protect yourself in the event of an accident
2) on the rare occasion you might be in the vicinity of an incident where Police request footage, send it to them (as long as you don't incriminate yourself)
3) otherwise forget it is fitted and just live your life in peace.
The roads always have nobs driving on them. Unless they are impacting you directly just mind your own business.
FWIW the only time I've even taken the micro SD cards out of ours is just to check they are recording properly, perhaps once every 6 months. I give them a format on the laptop, akin to taking them on a little holiday out of the car! Other than that they just chug away unnoticed.
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