Image: Keele University
Researchers at Keele University are working alongside Lincolnshire Police to explore how ‘dash cam’ technology can be used to reduce road offending and improve road safety.
The project, backed by a £150,000 grant from the Road Safety Trust, aims to explore the opportunities, and potential challenges, posed by the increasing use of ‘dash cam’ technologies by the road-using public.
Approximately 6,000 pieces of digital footage are being sent into police forces in England and Wales every month, suggesting a growing public appetite for this approach as a way of making roads safer.
The research will explore this new development from the perspective of the police and of the public, engaging with forces across the UK, as well as a variety of road users (including those who have submitted footage to the police and those who have been dealt with as a result of having featured in dash cam footage).
The project aims to provide guidance as to how this new development can best contribute to road safety and provide guidance on the consistent handling of it.
Dr Helen Wells, senior lecturer in criminology at Keele University, said: “Growth in the use of ‘dash cams’ and similar technologies by the public shows that road users take road safety seriously and that they want the police to be involved in that.
“This important project will help us to understand more about the implications of road users policing each other in this way.”
Detective chief superintendent Andy Cox, head of crime at Lincolnshire Police, said: “Road death is preventable and therefore we do not have to accept this devastation. The police cannot solve this alone and must work collaboratively with partners to reduce road danger.
“Additionally, we need the public’s support and this project seeks to evaluate the impact of enabling the public to report road crime via dash cam, Headcam or a similar method.
“The police cannot be everywhere all of the time but the public can be and therefore I am confident this crucial work will identify the many benefits and further improve our approach in this area.”
The project will be the subject of a presentation at the 2022 National Road Safety Conference. Click here to find out more.
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