Police use dashcam evidence to fine 86 drivers

[TonyM]

The M11 motorway was closed for 25 minutes following an accident last month. 86 impatient drivers decided to turn around and drive the wrong way down the road to avoid the incident.

Dashcam and mobile phone video submitted to Safer Essex Road Partnerships' Extra Eyes campaign has been reviewed by Essex Police. All 86 drivers will receive a £100 fine and 3 penalty points on their licence.

The head of road policing said "People determined to continue to do this must remember there are extra eyes on our roads. Being impatient does not pay."

News article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-46048754

 

[stehanson]

Should me made to re-take their tests too imo!
The standard of driving is dropping each year and impatience is a major cause in accidents!

 

[SawMaster]

At least they are making the effort to resolve the problems instead of ignoring evidence or finding excuses to not do the work, which seems to be the approach generally taken by US Police. Thumbs up to Essex

Phil

 

[Lola]

If you are stopped in a high speed chase going the right way, fines are a Hell of a lot more then $100. But if you turn around and drive against traffic on a major highway at high speed it's a $100 dollar fine!!!! Am I the only one that feels something is really wrong with this logic/action?

 

[SawMaster]

There is much wrong with the system, but getting something done is better than the alternative. IMHO, any major violation should involve a retaking of the knowledge test and anyone half-way or more to losing their license over violations should be made to re-do it all right from the start within a reasonable timeframe. Any violator who doesn't pass those re-tests should lose their license on the spot. When punishments are not sever enough to stop most of the offenders, it's time to punish more harshly until that cessation occurs.

Phil

 

[DashcamDPR]

On the M60 yesterday 266 drivers ignored a red X lane closure and all will receive fines, that made me smile

 

[Nigel]

If you are stopped in a high speed chase going the right way, fines are a Hell of a lot more then $100. But if you turn around and drive against traffic on a major highway at high speed it's a $100 dollar fine!!!! Am I the only one that feels something is really wrong with this logic/action?

I guess a more serious fine would have required a court appearance, which would have cost the tax payers a lot of money, the police a lot of time, and might have been impractical for that number of offenders. As it is, they are able to get the computer to send out all the fines in the post and it costs very little, also less chance of any of them deciding to fight it in court if the fine is not too big. Unlikely they will be doing it again and the publicity will stop some others doing it, so it will have the desired result.

 

[flank]

I'm removing my plates if I ever have to turn around on a closed highway.

 

[tempviewer12]

If you are stopped in a high speed chase going the right way, fines are a Hell of a lot more then $100. But if you turn around and drive against traffic on a major highway at high speed it's a $100 dollar fine!!!! Am I the only one that feels something is really wrong with this logic/action?

I highly doubt they went at high speeds. Traffic would have come to a stop, and these people would have used the emergency lane to drive back.

I completely agree that they should be fined, and also think the fine amount should have been more, but the 3 points seems reasonable. 3 points is a decent penalty regardless of who it is applied to. £100 to some people is loose change, but to others it could be not making rent that month. I assume since they didn't want to bring all of the caught drivers in for an interview and go through trial to decide on an appropriate fine, they probably went of the safe side with £100.

I don't think this is nearly as bad as a "high speed chase" in the right direction, though.

 

[Lola]

3 points is a decent penalty regardless of who it is applied to. £100 to some people is loose change, but to others it could be not making rent that month. I assume since they didn't want to bring all of the caught drivers in for an interview and go through trial to decide on an appropriate fine, they probably went of the safe side with £100.

Try explaining that to me again when one of those good citizens going the wrong way kills your wife, kids, or loved ones in a head on collision which is HIGHLY probable in head on collisions.

If I had been the judge those people would need a 3 year loan for the fine and several weeks in jail with loss of drivers license for at least a year!

I don't give a damn about how poor or whatever they are, they are alive! That fool of a judge has now set a pressident for head on collisions under those conditions that lawyers will use! to let AH's get away with manslaughter. The penality should have been in the extreme to STOP others from doing it again!

 

[Lola]

I guess a more serious fine would have required a court appearance, which would have cost the tax payers a lot of money, the police a lot of time, and might have been impractical for that number of offenders. As it is, they are able to get the computer to send out all the fines in the post and it costs very little, also less chance of any of them deciding to fight it in court if the fine is not too big. Unlikely they will be doing it again and the publicity will stop some others doing it, so it will have the desired result.

Won't do it again! Have to go to court! Impractical ! ...... Is that what it's like in your dream world! They will do it again, they are more then likely laughing their backsides off at the court/judge!

 

[tempviewer12]

I hate to "defend" these people cause what they did was absolutely wrong, but I can't possibly imagine they did more than 10-20mph, driving in a separate lane, past immobile traffic, up until the first turn-off. The worst that would happen in such a situation is the hindering of emergency services, for which people would move out of the way off anyway.

These aren't suicidal, intoxicated maniacs that are nailing it down the wrong side of the road.

 

[Nigel]

I hate to "defend" these people cause what they did was absolutely wrong, but I can't possibly imagine they did more than 10-20mph, driving in a separate lane, past immobile traffic, up until the first turn-off. The worst that would happen in such a situation is the hindering of emergency services, for which people would move out of the way off anyway.

These aren't suicidal, intoxicated maniacs that are nailing it down the wrong side of the road.

How are they going to get out of the way for the emergency services without slowing them down at all? They are blocking the emergency lane and the other lanes are all full, there may be a concrete wall in the other direction. The emergency lane is there for a reason, if it is appropriate for you to use it then the police will tell you to use it.

 

[Nigel]

Won't do it again! Have to go to court! Impractical ! ...... Is that what it's like in your dream world! They will do it again, they are more then likely laughing their backsides off at the court/judge!

If they are that sort of person then their points tally has probably just lost them their license!

 

[TonyM]

OK, so I did a quick search and found a bit more information about this incident. Essex Police Road Police Unit (EP_RPU) tweeted this message on the day, requesting dashcam footage of the drivers who drove the wrong way on the hard shoulder and slip road. They were NOT driving head-on into oncoming traffic.



Essex Police has announced action will be taken against 86 drivers following a crash on the M11 which saw an air ambulance land.
A six-vehicle collision on the busy road near Harlow shut the carriageway at around 1.10pm on Saturday (October 27).

The road was shut for around 25 minutes but, thankfully, no one was seriously injured.
However, a large number of motorists stuck in the queues took matters into their own hands - and police have said they will be fined as a result.
Officers received dozens of video clips from dash cam and mobile phones through the Safer Essex Road Partnerships’ Extra Eyes campaign.
These clips showed motorists turning around and driving the wrong way up the hard shoulder and slip road.

Police have said there is no excuse for this behaviour and will issue each driver with a £100 fine and three points on their driving licence.
Adam Pipe, Essex Police’s head of roads policing, said: “Turning around on a road and driving in the other direction is clearly dangerous, there are no excuses.
“You wouldn’t do it in moving traffic and it’s no different to turning around following a road closure.
“People determined to continue to do this must remember there are extra eyes on our roads. Dash cams are being a common feature in vehicles and passengers can film you using their phones.
“In this instance, the road was closed for less than half an hour. Being impatient does not pay and 86 drivers face a fine of £100 and three points on their driving licence.”

For more information about SERP’s Extra Eyes campaign please visit: https://saferessexroads.org/extraeyes/extra-eyes-what-next/.
https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/harlow-m11-crash-police-fine-2167903

 

[Moon]

Spose this is as good a place as any to ask this question

For AUSTRALIAN members --- Melbourne, Victoria.

I hear that Police sometimes ask for Dash Cam footage from the public in some road incidents. My question is - when you have video of a driver say ... blatantly going through a red traffic light ... are the Police in Victoria, or anywhere in Australia ... interested in video of this to fine or bring charges against these Drivers .... or aren't we in OZ there yet where Dash Cam footage can being legitimately used as evidence for this purpose? Is there a Police Unit setup in any State around the Country for this purpose?

 

[jokiin]

Police request footage regularly when something serious has happened, haven't heard of them taking any interest in random submissions though

 

[kamkar]

I would just try if you have a interesting recording, when i did it i had to bring in media ( TV ) before the cops bothered one bit, but then the cogs started to turn.
BUT ! i have not been told of the outcome, but by my reckoning he did enough in 30 seconds or so to get the 3 marks on his license to loose it.
But i cant shake the feeling that they just contacted me for footage to get me off their back, cuz Danish police are stretched so thin that they have to carry a lot ( and drop a lot of it )

It is not the cops as such, its the people they work for and the idiots that keep voting for them.

 

[Moon]

If drivers could submit their Dashcam footage to the Police to assess whether they will follow it up and charge the offending Drivers, once the word got out ... I wonder how much Driver behaviour would improve? At least it would be a nice little earner. Imagine any Car on the road with a Dashcam can get you a hefty fine, or worse ... if you are an idiot on the road.

 

[Nigel]

If drivers could submit their Dashcam footage to the Police to assess whether they will follow it up and charge the offending Drivers, once the word got out ... I wonder how much Driver behaviour would improve? At least it would be a nice little earner. Imagine any Car on the road with a Dashcam can get you a hefty fine, or worse ... if you are an idiot on the road.

The current aim in the UK is to reduce road fatalities by 40% by using dashcam footage uploaded by the public.

Operation Snap estimates that this will save 650 lives every year if rolled out across the UK.

https://www.egress.com/news/operation-snap