West Yorkshire's roads are safer thanks to the public submitting
footage of dangerous drivers through Op Snap.
West Yorkshire police run the operation using an online
submission form which can be accessed on their website. This
allows road users to upload video recordings of bad driving.
The recordings are reviewed by the police to see if an offence
has been committed and whether it will be possible to progress
with action against the offender.
Submissions continue to rise with 10,486 pieces of footage being
sent in over the last year, a 26% increase on the year prior.
Action was taken against drivers in 71% of the submissions
equivalent to nearly 7,500 drivers.
A new compilation video has been released showing some of these
incidents, including a particularly shocking near miss when a
driver runs a red light. A serious collision is only avoided due
to the quick actions of a pedestrian involved - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b21G8Dxn_v4.
Thanks to the footage being sent in, the driver involved was
convicted of dangerous driving and received an 8 month prison
sentence and was disqualified from driving for 30 months.
Paul Jeffrey, police lead for the West Yorkshire Safety
Camera Partnership said: “Operation Snap empowers the
public to take action when they witness bad driving. Their
submissions help support other forms of enforcement activity
aimed at preventing crashes and loss of life.
“Last year police officers on patrol in our communities issued
39,310 fixed penalty tickets for traffic offences, and safety
cameras detected over 279,000 speed and red-light offences.
“Operation Snap provides a great opportunity for the public to
work together with the police to tackle poor driving standards,
prevent the human tragedy caused by avoidable crashes and
contribute towards achieving Vision Zero.”
OBE, Chair of the West
Yorkshire Vision Zero Partnership and the region's Deputy Mayor
for Policing and Crime, said: “First and foremost a huge
thank you to those community spirited members of the public who
send clips in. We are extremely grateful for your support and the
real difference it makes to safety on our roads.
“We recently launched our West Yorkshire Vision Zero
Strategy which seeks to end road death and serious injury in
the county by 2040.
“At its heart is the message that road safety is everyone's
responsibility, and by submitting dashcam footage you can play a
crucial role.”
To ensure the best outcome, footage submitted to Op Snap should
include:
- The offending vehicle's number plate, this must be visible.
- It must be moving video, photos can't be used.
- The incident should be reported as soon as possible and no
later than 10 days after as there are certain time limits in
legislation which must be complied with.
- The footage should include the whole incident and wherever
possible, should include 1 minute prior and 1 minute after the
alleged offence.
Find out more about Op Snap at https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/SaferRoadsSubmissions
