Cyclists have been urged to use helmet-mounted cameras to report dangerous driving to the police by a senior road crime police officer.
Andy Cox, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC)’s national lead on road crime reporting, said he is "hugely supportive" of the practice.
Mr Cox says it can be used as a deterrent as well as a way to gather evidence.
He said: “The way I look at it the police can’t be everywhere all the time, but the public can be."
Andy Cox from the NPCC says he is 'hugely supportive' of cyclists using helmet-mounted cameras.
Jacob King
Recommending that all cyclists equip cameras has not been an official guideline put forward by the police, but they have always called on the public to report crime.
He told The Telegraph: "It’s a choice to report any footage that they may capture. But the feedback I have from cyclists and drivers, who find some of the driving standards unacceptable and are deeply frustrated by it, is that they welcome the opportunity to provide footage for us."
Mr Cox stated there is an average five deaths on the road in Britain a day, and each of those are "preventable".
The January Highway Code updates addressed the safety of cyclists on the roads.
Jacob King
Cyclists must now be given at least 1.5 metres of space by motorists.
Steve Parsons
NextBase representative Bryn Brooker, spoke about how his company, which sells dashboard cameras for cars and hosts a road footage portal that the police use, says there has been a spike in submissions since the Highway Code update in January.
Cyclists must now be given at least 1.5 metres (4ft 9in) of space by motorists, a change he told The Telegraph caused "a lot of confusion".
Before the technology became widely accessible, drivers "got away with" dangerous behaviour on the road, according to Mr Brooker.
But now, footage is sent to relevant authorities, holding them to account.
Despite the NPCC's recommendation that all services set up portals where the public can send footage to the police, camera equipment is yet to be made mandatory by the Government.
The Department for Transport said: “Road users are free to use dash cams and other camera equipment to record incidents on public roads as long as it doesn’t impede the control of their vehicle.”
