Image: Alan Myles
Cycling UK has renewed its call for Police Scotland and Scottish Government to introduce an online portal for the submission of camera evidence, saying that a failure to do so is putting road users “at risk”.
Cycling UK launched the campaign for a national dashcam portal in October 2020. In March 2021 the campaign received support from a coalition of 33 road user organisations including the AA and the RAC.
A YouGov poll in August of the same year showed that 59% of Scottish adults supported the introduction of an online system that allows the public to upload footage of dangerous driving on Scottish roads, while just 17% opposed it.
In March 2022, the Scottish Government announced that it had allocated £300,000 to develop the National Dashcam Safety Portal. However, by October, Police Scotland said that the portal was ‘under review’ due to budget constraints.
Keir Gallagher, Cycling UK campaigns manager, said: “Responsible drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in Scotland shouldn’t be put at risk because of delays to the National Dashcam Safety Portal.
“The case for its introduction is overwhelming: it will save police time and money, is widely supported by the public and road user groups, is used successfully almost everywhere else in the UK and ultimately will help to deliver road safety and justice consistently across Scotland.
“Police Scotland and the Government must urgently get together and find a solution to get this vital road safety tool up and running as a matter of the highest priority.”
The renewed call from Cycling UK follows a ‘shocking incident’ that saw 36-year-old Alan Myles knocked off his bike by a driver during a hit-and-run incident in November 2021.
Mr Myles submitted his video evidence to the police, which Cycling UK says shows no prior provocation for the collision. In addition, two people who witnessed the collision had their reports taken by the police, but it took police four months to identify the driver.
Despite this ‘clear evidence’, and Mr Myles receiving compensation from the driver’s insurance following the collision, the police took more than a year to investigate and report the case to the Procurator Fiscal.
Due to the time delay, they were unable to prosecute.
Cycling UK believes the investigation could have been concluded in a “timely and cost-effective manner that would have delivered justice and safer roads”, should the portal have been introduced.
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