Dashcam use expected to rise as Police begin using footage as evidence

By Matt De Prez

26 November 2018

Two-thirds of drivers could be using dashcams in the coming months, according to a new poll from the AA.

It found that a fifth (20%) of drivers already own one and another half (51%) are thinking about doing so - 16% seriously.

The survey results follow a Government announcement that Police will receive a funding boost to use video evidence as part of a two-year road safety action plan.

In 2016, North Wales Police launched Operation Snap, a dashcam video portal to accept evidence.

Drivers have previously found difficulty in submitting dash-cam evidence of poor or dangerous driving to local police forces.

The North Wales scheme has seen a large number of fixed penalty notices, retraining courses and prosecutions take place as a direct result of this evidence and it has now been extended to cover the whole of Wales.

However, only 2% of drivers say their prime reason for installing a dashcam is to record evidence of bad driving.

The chief reason for dashcam ownership is concern about establishing liability in the event of a crash (60%), or to protect against cash-for-cash fraudsters (25%).

In a recent GoCompare study, a quarter of respondents believed that dashcams should be compulsory.

“Data is king in the event of a collision and dashcam footage provides proper, reliable evidence that can establish fault. What’s more, it can and, based on the Operation Snap evidence does, lead to prosecution of dangerous drivers.

“So government funding to enable police to analyse dashcam evidence submitted by the public, whether from a dash-cams, cyclists’ helmet-cams or smartphone footage is to be welcomed it helps to improve road safety and the North Wales police initiative suggests that it does.

"Similarly, dash-cam evidence submitted to insurance companies can be decisive in ensuring that fault can be properly attributed where otherwise, circumstantial evidence and witness statements may suggest a different outcome,” said Janet Connor, the AA’s director of insurance.