Police receive 32,000 dashcam recordings of dodgy driving in just 12 months

More than 32,000 dashcam video recordings of alleged motoring offences were submitted to police forces in just 12 months, an investigation has found.

Data obtained by the RAC found that 32,370 pieces of footage were received by the 24 forces that accepted video evidence from members of the public in 2019.

This was more than double the total of 15,159 during the previous year.

A quarter (25%) of the 2019 submissions resulted in prosecutions.

Police forces are making it increasingly easy for drivers and other road users to submit footage of unsuspecting alleged rule-breakers.

All of Britain’s 44 forces are now accepting the videos, with most allowing this to be done online.

The Metropolitan Police received the most recordings in 2019 with 8,082.

This was followed by Surrey (3,542), West Midlands (3,242) and Gwent (3,037).

Footage covers alleged offences such as dangerous driving, driving too close to cyclists, contravening red traffic lights and illegal use of a handheld mobile phone.

RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams said: “Even before the decline in the number of roads police enforcing traffic offences, law-abiding drivers were often frustrated that there was never an officer there to deal with infringements they witnessed.

“The advent of dashcams, phones with cameras and helmet cameras have been a game changer as drivers can now easily submit footage to almost every police force.

“As so many drivers and cyclists are now using dashcams and helmet cameras every road user needs to be very conscious that any of their actions that aren’t in accordance with the law could end up with the police.

“Some will inevitably find this out the hard way while others will hopefully become increasingly mindful of it.”