GREAT NEWS! :-)
=======================West Midlands Police has thanked cyclists and drivers for submitting 640 videos of alleged dangerous or careless driving in September, with "action taken against hundreds of careless and dangerous drivers thanks to your footage".

The force encouraged road users to continue to tackle road danger by submitting evidence, stressing that officers "can't be everywhere all the time" and that third-party reporting will make "motorists think twice about the standard of their driving, and that could well save lives".

In September, the force received 640 submissions through its online reporting portal, with 416 cases (65 per cent) resulting in "action", a broad term stretching from warning letters to court appearances and points and fines.

In total, 55 drivers (nine per cent) were ordered to appear at court in relation to driving seen in submitted footage, while 122 (19 per cent) were handed fixed-penalty notices.

The numbers come at the end of a summer which began with West Midlands Police admitting that it needed to review how reports were managed after reporting by this website, supported by an FOI request by Chris Smith, found that of 286 reports of careless, inconsiderate, or dangerous driving around cyclists considered by West Midlands Police in 2022, only one resulted in a prosecution.

At the time, the force said it needed to adapt to the "50 per cent increase in third-party reporting" it had experienced, with each report taking an average of 60 minutes to be assessed. 213 of the submissions in 2022 resulted in no further action, while 69 were offered a National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) course as an alternative to prosecution.

The FOI request also showed that 5,551 submissions of video evidence relating to potential driving offences were received by West Midlands Police in 2022, over 2,000 more than the number submitted in 2020, and almost 1,800 more than in 2021.

Noting the increase in numbers this year, West Midlands Police said the 640 submissions received in September was a "big rise" on the 557 from August and 325 in July, demand met by the force "increasing the resources in the Traffic Investigations Unit" responsible for processing third-party footage.

The force also released a video containing examples of real-world submissions that warranted action, one clip showing a close pass of cyclists that earned a driver three penalty points and a fine of £100, another captured by a cyclist showing a driver run a red light, an incident treated with the same punishment.

Tanya Johnson, the head of the police-led prosecution team, thanked the public for the "great response to the bolstering of the team" and said "road users who send us footage say they're pleased with the results and the feedback given".

"We've got a vital role to play in keeping the roads safe, but we can't be everywhere all the time," she said. "That's why it’s great that we're getting so many clips in. In more than 140 cases last month, we didn't need to issue points, fines or court action, but offered education and advice to drivers.

"That will make those motorists think twice about the standard of their driving, and that could well save lives. Of the submissions that our team wasn't able to act on, many were because they didn't actually include video evidence, they showed crimes which needed to be investigated separately, or they showed incidents outside the West Midlands Police area. So I want people to have confidence that we will act in every case that we can."

West Midlands Walking and Cycling Commissioner Adam Tranter said it was "reassuring" to see the increase in submissions being met with more police action.

"I'm a big believer that the portal can be a strong force for good in road safety; people are sick of reckless and bad driving in their communities and now there's thousands more eyes and ears supporting our mission to make our roads safer," he said.

After three cyclists and pedestrians lost their lives on Birmingham's roads in May, West Midlands Police announced a "relentless enforcement of the rules of the road" in a crackdown on dangerous driving.

In the aftermath of the fatalities, Tranter urged authorities to "turn the tide on aggressive driving in Birmingham".

https://road.cc/content/news/police-call-more-third-party-submissions-304633

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> GREAT NEWS! :-)

Only for those who can’t add up…see below…

> ========================
> West Midlands Police has thanked cyclists and drivers for submitting 640
> videos of alleged dangerous or careless driving in September, with
> "action taken against hundreds of careless and dangerous drivers thanks to your footage".

> https://road.cc/content/news/police-call-more-third-party-submissions-304633

Judging by your recent ‘60 minus 20 equals 30’ posting, you have trouble
with adding and subtracting.

So I will just point out that from the numbers in the article you posted,
100 minus (9 plus 19) leaves 72 percent of the submitted videos with
essentially NFA as a result.

--
Spike

eburtthebike | 17 min ago
0 likes

"......with each report taking an average of 60 minutes to be assessed."

An hour?! Most of the ones I've seen would take five minutes at most.

Great that they are responding to increased reporting of dangerous drivers by increasing resources and asking for more.

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> eburtthebike | 17 min ago
> 0 likes

> "......with each report taking an average of 60 minutes to be assessed."

> An hour?! Most of the ones I've seen would take five minutes at most.

> Great that they are responding to increased reporting of dangerous
> drivers by increasing resources and asking for more.

The tragedy here is that the 72 percent of the videos which also take 60
minutes to process, end in NFA.

What a waste of police time that is. And they are asking for yet more
police and larger budgets, to squander on this scale.

--
Spike

On Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 3:59:40 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
> eburtthebike | 17 min ago
> 0 likes
>
> "......with each report taking an average of 60 minutes to be assessed."
>
> An hour?! Most of the ones I've seen would take five minutes at most.
>
> Great that they are responding to increased reporting of dangerous drivers by increasing resources and asking for more.

Nice to see you are still active, Burt the urc regular!

On Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 1:39:40 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
> GREAT NEWS! :-)
> ========================
> West Midlands Police has thanked cyclists and drivers for submitting 640 videos of alleged dangerous or careless driving in September, with "action taken against hundreds of careless and dangerous drivers thanks to your footage".
>
> The force encouraged road users to continue to tackle road danger by submitting evidence, stressing that officers "can't be everywhere all the time" and that third-party reporting will make "motorists think twice about the standard of their driving, and that could well save lives".
>
> In September, the force received 640 submissions through its online reporting portal, with 416 cases (65 per cent) resulting in "action", a broad term stretching from warning letters to court appearances and points and fines.
>
> In total, 55 drivers (nine per cent) were ordered to appear at court in relation to driving seen in submitted footage, while 122 (19 per cent) were handed fixed-penalty notices.
>
> The numbers come at the end of a summer which began with West Midlands Police admitting that it needed to review how reports were managed after reporting by this website, supported by an FOI request by Chris Smith, found that of 286 reports of careless, inconsiderate, or dangerous driving around cyclists considered by West Midlands Police in 2022, only one resulted in a prosecution.
>
> At the time, the force said it needed to adapt to the "50 per cent increase in third-party reporting" it had experienced, with each report taking an average of 60 minutes to be assessed. 213 of the submissions in 2022 resulted in no further action, while 69 were offered a National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) course as an alternative to prosecution.
>
> The FOI request also showed that 5,551 submissions of video evidence relating to potential driving offences were received by West Midlands Police in 2022, over 2,000 more than the number submitted in 2020, and almost 1,800 more than in 2021.
>
> Noting the increase in numbers this year, West Midlands Police said the 640 submissions received in September was a "big rise" on the 557 from August and 325 in July, demand met by the force "increasing the resources in the Traffic Investigations Unit" responsible for processing third-party footage.
>
> The force also released a video containing examples of real-world submissions that warranted action, one clip showing a close pass of cyclists that earned a driver three penalty points and a fine of £100, another captured by a cyclist showing a driver run a red light, an incident treated with the same punishment.
>
> Tanya Johnson, the head of the police-led prosecution team, thanked the public for the "great response to the bolstering of the team" and said "road users who send us footage say they're pleased with the results and the feedback given".
>
> "We've got a vital role to play in keeping the roads safe, but we can't be everywhere all the time," she said. "That's why it’s great that we're getting so many clips in. In more than 140 cases last month, we didn't need to issue points, fines or court action, but offered education and advice to drivers.
>
> "That will make those motorists think twice about the standard of their driving, and that could well save lives. Of the submissions that our team wasn't able to act on, many were because they didn't actually include video evidence, they showed crimes which needed to be investigated separately, or they showed incidents outside the West Midlands Police area. So I want people to have confidence that we will act in every case that we can."
>
> West Midlands Walking and Cycling Commissioner Adam Tranter said it was "reassuring" to see the increase in submissions being met with more police action.
>
> "I'm a big believer that the portal can be a strong force for good in road safety; people are sick of reckless and bad driving in their communities and now there's thousands more eyes and ears supporting our mission to make our roads safer," he said.
>
> After three cyclists and pedestrians lost their lives on Birmingham's roads in May, West Midlands Police announced a "relentless enforcement of the rules of the road" in a crackdown on dangerous driving.
>
> In the aftermath of the fatalities, Tranter urged authorities to "turn the tide on aggressive driving in Birmingham".
>
> https://road.cc/content/news/police-call-more-third-party-submissions-304633

Yet if you film the Police you get, unlawfully, arrested for terrorism.