Is the public finally coming around to accepting third-party reporting of dangerous or careless drivers, or are people concerned of acting as vigilantes by submitting evidence to the police?

Last year, Mr Loophole made some comments about cyclists running cameras and submitting footage of drivers using mobile phones, calling it dangerous but also at the same time saying that he does not "want to live in a snitch society" and called camera cyclists "a danger", arguing that reporting footage to the police has become "an industry".

From social media comments under many cyclists' posts, such as CyclingMikey, the Dutch cyclist in London who's so far reported 17,000 drivers to the police, opinion always seem to be split. But has the public started coming around to realising the dangers of doing so and the benefits of third-party reporting?

Let's go Channel 5 News' latest report from yesterday evening, where they seemed to ask three people in random the same question.

"So many things happen on the road now everyday, you'd be reporting something every five minutes," one driver said. Another person felt that sometimes they'd wish to do it, but at the same time they feared acting like a vigilante, while another driver outright denied that they'd report other drivers.. "It's the police's job, isn't it?" he said.

However, West Mercia Police's PC Jim Roberts claimed that the police is rather keen on more people doing so. "By the general public submitting dashcam footage to us and then those drivers being dealt with, it's sending a message and it is making our roads safer," he said.

Figures shared with Channel 5 showed that over 33,000 videos were submitted to police in England and Wales last year, up by 21 per cent on 2022, and an increase by almost 300 per cent over 2020. 70 per cent of these reports have led to police action, the broadcast said.

The National Police Chiefs' Council also told Channel 5 that they welcome that technology can help them, with one in every five drivers running a dashcam and an even higher estimate for cyclists, the news broadcaster said.

And of course, how can a segment about third-party reporting conclude without CyclingMikey and a debate about his actions.

"Somebody's got to step up and do it, and there are some of those in society at least who do it," said the cyclist Mike van Erp, better known as CyclingMikey in these corners of the internet.

However, the host echoed the lawyer extraordinaire the thoughts of Nick Freeman, better known as Mr Loophole in these corners of the internet, when he asked reporter Tessa Chapman: "There are some people who might be watching that who feel like being involved in that, you might be a snitch..."

Cyclists on social media, however, seemed to disagree.

"Anyone calling someone else a snitch for reporting illegal and dangerous driving to the police needs to promise not to tell the police if they get mugged or burgled," wrote one person, while another applauded Channel 5 for the "great piece", adding: "Those of us who use dash and cycle cams to report road danger incidents are helping to protect everyone from road danger. And showing us just how dangerous some drivers and their attitudes are. I have no empathy with bad drivers whatsoever."

So what is it, is reporting dangerous drivers the straw which breaks the camel's back and brings upon us a "snitch society", or is it just people doing their bit to make roads safer for everyone else?

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-25-january-2024-306373#live-blog-item-54239

On 25/01/2024 01:02 pm, Simon Mason wrote:

> Is the public finally coming around to accepting third-party reporting of dangerous or careless drivers, or are people concerned of acting as vigilantes by submitting evidence to the police?
>
> Last year, Mr Loophole made some comments about cyclists running cameras and submitting footage of drivers using mobile phones, calling it dangerous but also at the same time saying that he does not "want to live in a snitch society" and called camera cyclists "a danger", arguing that reporting footage to the police has become "an industry".
>
> From social media comments under many cyclists' posts, such as CyclingMickeyTake, the Dutch cyclist in London who's so far reported 17,000 drivers to the police, opinion always seem to be split. But has the public started coming around to realising the dangers of doing so and the benefits of third-party reporting?
>
> Let's go Channel 5 News' latest report from yesterday evening, where they seemed to ask three people in random the same question.
>
> "So many things happen on the road now everyday, you'd be reporting something every five minutes," one driver said. Another person felt that sometimes they'd wish to do it, but at the same time they feared acting like a vigilante, while another driver outright denied that they'd report other drivers. "It's the police's job, isn't it?" he said.
>
> However, West Mercia Police's PC Jim Roberts claimed that the police is rather keen on more people doing so. "By the general public submitting dashcam footage to us and then those drivers being dealt with, it's sending a message and it is making our roads safer," he said.
>
> Figures shared with Channel 5 showed that over 33,000 videos were submitted to police in England and Wales last year, up by 21 per cent on 2022, and an increase by almost 300 per cent over 2020. 70 per cent of these reports have led to police action, the broadcast said.
>
> The National Police Chiefs' Council also told Channel 5 that they welcome that technology can help them, with one in every five drivers running a dashcam and an even higher estimate for cyclists, the news broadcaster said.
>
> And of course, how can a segment about third-party reporting conclude without CyclingMickeyTake and a debate about his actions.
>
> "Somebody's got to step up and do it, and there are some of those in society at least who do it," said the cyclist Mike Van Twerp, better known as CyclingMickeyTake in these corners of the internet.
>
> However, the host echoed the lawyer extraordinaire the thoughts of Nick Freeman, better known as Mr Loophole in these corners of the internet, when he asked reporter Tessa Chapman: "There are some people who might be watching that who feel like being involved in that, you might be a snitch..."
>
> Cyclists on social media, however, seemed to disagree.
>
> "Anyone calling someone else a snitch for reporting illegal and dangerous driving to the police needs to promise not to tell the police if they get mugged or burgled," wrote one person, while another applauded Channel 5 for the "great piece", adding: "Those of us who use dash and cycle cams to report road danger incidents are helping to protect everyone from road danger. And showing us just how dangerous some drivers and their attitudes are. I have no empathy with bad drivers whatsoever."
>
> So what is it, is reporting dangerous drivers the straw which breaks the camel's back and brings upon us a "snitch society", or is it just people doing their bit to make roads safer for everyone else?
>
> https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-25-january-2024-306373#live-blog-item-54239

FIFY.

No charge.

We all know how crucially important that is for chav-cyclists such as
your good self.

mitsky | 4 hours ago
7 likes

Anyone who dislikes third party reporting (ie from cyclists/motorists) of dangerous driving is condoning it and accepting:

1) the needless injuries and deaths of people, including potentially themselves and their loved ones
2) that they themselves and everyone else will pay increased insurance premiums due to the costs of dangerous driving - as found by courts prosecuting dangerous drivers, applying points to their licences and insurance renewals going up (but nowhere near enough to cover damage caused by the driver's actions)

What about doorbell cameras?
People use them to protect their properties and would happily provide any relevant footage to the police.
And if the doorbell camera catches criminals on the pavement/road doing something but not to their own property, would they "snitch" or let the crime rates in their area increase...?