Big Driver is watching you
Surveillance fears as motorists urged to turn informant and upload dashcam footage of poor driving to new database
DRIVERS in Scotland will be urged to become ‘dashcam spies’ in a radical move aimed at making roads safer.
Motorists – as well as cyclists and pedestrians – will be encouraged to film examples of bad or dangerous driving, and then send their footage to a national database to be examined by police.
Under the one-year pilot, traffic would be filmed on people’s smartphones, cycle helmet cameras or car video cameras.
Many cyclists already wear helmet cameras to protect themselves by recording dangerous driving, and will be able to upload films to the new database.
A similar ‘dashcam scheme’ already operates in England and Wales, where it has led to thousands of prosecutions.
SNP quango Transport Scotland is planning a pilot of the scheme, which it believes could have a ‘significant and positive impact’ on drivers’ behaviour. The plan states: ‘In 2021, we will begin the development of an online reporting system – a one-year pilot scheme to extend the National Dashcam Safety Porist tal scheme to Scotland. This online reporting system, enabling anyone to upload camera footage of dangerous driving, for example, currently operates in police forces in England and Wales.
‘The introduction of this initiative in Scotland has the potential to have a significant and positive impact on driver and road user behaviour and road safety outcomes for communities across Scotland.’
The National Dashcam Safety Portal was launched in 2018 in England, but critics say it is ‘breeding a culture of citizen surveillance and suspicion’.
In one case, the film director Guy Ritchie was recorded texting at the wheel by a cyclist and banned from driving for six months.
Ritchie was in a traffic jam when he was filmed by road safety activimprovement Mike van Erp, 48. Mr van Erp uses a GoPro helmet camera to record drivers, and claims to have reported 360 incidents in a year, following the death of his father in a road incident. Police in England have previously said that people who ‘might be minded to drive illegally, dangerously’ are less likely to do so if they think a member of the public might report them.
However, Big Brother Watch has warned that it could lead to mistrust and friction between fellow citizens.
The charity said: ‘It is true that, in rare cases, dashcam footage can help investigations, but it is questionable whether that merits encouraging motorists to constantly film each other.
‘Whilst everyone wants safe roads, we should be cautious to avoid breeding a culture of citizen surveillance and suspicion.’
Many drivers are unconvinced the scheme has led to safer roads.
Neil Greig, of IAM Roadsmart, said: ‘It has led to thousands of prosecutions in England and Wales. Whether it has actually led to an
‘Breeding a culture of citizen suspicion’ ‘It has led to thousands of prosecutions’
in driving I’m not sure.’
Police Scotland Chief Superintendent Louise Blakelock said: ‘We have already carried out initial scoping of the potential introduction of an online portal for public submission of video footage, similar to that used by forces in England and Wales.
‘We are currently in discussions with partners on how we can progress this within Scotland.’