Dash cam users report record numbers of fellow drivers to police
The National Dash Cam Safety Portal, run by dash cam manufacturer Nextbase, says nearly 25,000 clips were sent to the police in the first half of the year
In the first half of this year, more than 24,000 video clips were uploaded to the web portal set up by British dash cam firm Nextbase to help users of its products report their fellow motorists for alleged driving offences.
The so-called National Dash Cam Safety Portal was launched five years ago as a means for Nextbase customers and other dash cam users to upload footage of driving they consider below par and report it to police - naturally you can also check out links to purchase Nextbase’s latest models from the portal home page.
The scheme’s popularity among drivers who are sufficiently outraged by others’ actions on the road have led to a total of 135,000 motoring offences being submitted over the last five years, the firm says. Nextbase also predicts that the overall number of videos reported to UK police forces via the portal will increase by 31 per cent this year.
There’s no doubt that the number of dash cams on the roads is growing fast, spurred on by tales of ‘cash for crash’ attacks by criminal drivers looking for insurance payouts and the easy availability of the technology. Some recent estimates suggest around one in six cars on the road are recording their journeys - and the behaviour of other drivers.
Thousands of cyclists too, are wearing cameras in order to be able to send videos of motoring miscreants to the police. According to Nextbase, around 70 per cent of the video submissions to the portal result in some form of further action from the police, which can range from warning letters to awareness courses, fixed penalty points or a court summons.
So far this year, it’s drivers in the West Midlands, West Murcia, Northumberland, Surrey and South Yorkshire that have submitted the most reports about alleged offences. Nextbase says the 18,000 videos uploaded across those five regions this year already, surpasses the number uploaded right across the country just three years ago in 2021.
Some of the other stats circulated by Nextbase include the claim that 70 per cent of drivers say all cars should now be fitted with dash cams, and another that processing uploads online has saved an estimated 25 years of police time. Although that assumes forces would be following up a similar number of individual incidents reported in more traditional ways, which of course is entirely implausible.
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