Comparative force of high spec Nextbase v Autoboy app footage as evidence in procuring speeding etc convictions

[J0nathan]

Hi,

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, does anyone know the above please? I've bought a slightly posh (for me) mobile which will in principle produce good footage with GPS and speed data on the Autoboy app, and was wondering if this will support prosecutions in the same way Nextbase high spec cameras are said to. Asking as it could save me £120+ on the former.

Thanks, Jonathan

 

[Nigel]

Neither device has GPS suitable for prosecuting speeding offences, they are simply not accurate enough. Don't know the legal system in your country but I doubt that any country would allow their use as evidence for prosecutions.

They might help with defence against prosecution, but only if the evidence against was not very good.

The video might be more useful after forensic analysis, but a decent analysis would probably be too expensive for a simple speeding offence.

 

[J0nathan]

Neither device has GPS suitable for prosecuting speeding offences, they are simply not accurate enough.

Hi Nigel, thanks for your reply.

That's a shame - such footage would I suspect be capable of meeting the civil standard of proof (rather than the criminal).

I wish they'd introduce a civil penalty for speeding (on top of existing criminal penalties).

Don't know the legal system in your country but I doubt that any country would allow their use as evidence for prosecutions.

I'm in the UK (sorry just changed it from Algeria after got your message...). I assume you mean evidence for prosecutions for solely speeding offences (rather than careless driving etc which it does seem to be used for, e.g. 1,226 last year) https://www.fleetpoint.org/driver-t...tes-lead-to-over-1200-prosecutions-last-year/

 

[Nigel]

Even for a civil issue, you still need proof, and not even police GPS is considered adequate proof.

Careless or dangerous driving is far easier to prosecute, and yes, if you submit a video with your GPS showing the speed limit and someone shoots past you at obviously twice the speed then the police can easily send them either a fixed penalty or a court appearance. They will however need to check your GPS is accurate by analysing the video, but they just need to count the number of white dotted lines you pass in x seconds and that is adequate proof, the GPS figure isn't much use other than to attract the police officer's attention/save them a little time.

I assume that 1,226 was from submissions through Nextbase, most people will submit direct to the local police force websites, so the actual figures will be a lot more than that. You can google "Operation Snap" to see what various police forces are doing with our videos.

 

[jokiin]

here consumer GPS based units are not admissible as evidence as they are not a calibrated device (things like Lidar, speed cameras etc all require regular certified calibration), the ridiculous thing though is police can estimate your speed and the courts will accept that as expert witness, I know which is more accurate and it's not the cop

 

[SawMaster]

Here in the US any calibrated Police equipment will be taken as being accurate unless you can substantially prove otherwise. The accuracy of anything else will be questionable or even inadmissible as primary evidence.

A dashcam GPS costs just a few bucks to make and that low price precludes great accuracy. Coupled with time/distance measurements or used in conjunction with other observations it's good enough to show excessive differences, but that's about all it can be relied on to do.

Phil