Bad Drivers and Dashcams

[tom_gr7]

Hi all,

I thought i'd create another thread about bad drivers instead of bumping the roundabout one.

So, I'm sodding sick of terrible drivers. Today I had some chopper in a focus st tailgating me as i pulled off the A19 (dual carriageway), so close i could barely see his grill. I was in the right hand lane, as a roundabout was coming up and i was turning right. Was cruising about 60mph, whilst gradually slowing down. I just ignored the lad and his tacky car. As i was pulling off the roundabout, he sped past me, overtaking and then cut me up as he pulled back in front of me. Oh and nearly killed a cyclist a few hundred meters up the road. He was easily doing 60 in a 30/40.

Edit - thinking about it, wouldn't surprise me if he saw I was driving a Subaru and wanted to race me or something...

Also had a muppet pull out of a junction on me, whilst blatantly on his talking on his phone, not paying any attention, i gave him a long burst of the horn and shouted at him lol, he held his hands up and said sorry. But, my god do you really need to use the phone when driving?


Which brings me to the point, If you have a dashcam, can you pass on the footage to your local police?

 

[XplosiV]

I've visited the police to report a driver with less than dashcam evidence.

Me and that better half have just bought a new car, one condition I had was I was buying a couple of dash cams, one front, one rear. Just waiting to get them fitted and hardwired, hopefully that might happen this weekend.

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

I think you can. I remember seeing a Motorway Cops (or the like) recently a case where a group of scammers were deliberately breaking in front of people on dual carriageway slip roads, then of course the person behind gets the blame. Some fella had had something similar happen before, so paranoia compelled him to fit a dash cam. He used this to both absolve himself, and get them done!

Not sure it could be used for "bad driving" necessarily, but would at least open you up to a whole new avenue of making an extra £250 here and there...(90's references ftw!)

 

[mantadog]

A dash cam is a half decent way of protecting yourself, not sure about reporting it to the police. They would probably get sick of you turning up every 15 minutes, at least if the driving round your way is anywhere near as bad as it is here.

If people tailgate me I just slow right down, more often than not im doing at least the speed limit (+/- 10% right )

Story time...

I had just not long passed my test and was driving home from work and being tailgated by a ford mondeo, it was along country roads and (thankfully) broad daylight. Being a new driver I probably was slowing a bit too much for corners and he was probably angry at life in general. Anyway as I turned a particularly sharp bend I was greeted by a car who had clipped the inside verge, lost a wheel and spun back onto my side of the road. I executed a perfect emergency stop, absolutely textbook it was! I pulled up about a foot short of the passengers door. My next thought was, "im about to get absolutely creamed here by that mondeo". thing was he want in my rear view mirror, I looked right and here he is pulled up level with my window looking a bit shocked to say the least.

He followed my a bit more (nobody was hurt in the car) but surprisingly he kept his distance....

 

[halox]

Which brings me to the point, If you have a dashcam, can you pass on the footage to your local police?

Us loony drivers will not be safe anywhere!

 

[keynes]

If you have a dashcam

A bit excessive?

 

[bigben]

A bit excessive?

Our driver at work bought a dashcam after a lady complained that he had deliberately driven into a puddle to splash her and her baby (which is driving without due care and attention) - he hadn't, he was on the other side of Bristol at the time.
The dashcam had proved to be useful loads of times, surprising how many people see our marked van and complain about the driving (I don't know if they are trying to claim compensation or something...)

 

[D1craig]

Most bad drivers think it's others that are bad drivers lol

When someone is on my arse I always slow down. The safe distance I suppose to be 1 car distance for every 10mph. So slowing down makes it safer

I also don't like the new law of tailgating and hogging lanes. I understand that some people do 50-65 mph in the middle and right lanes but most that want to over take you are doing now than 70. Would make sense to penalise them rather than the safer ones IMO.

 

[Androcles]

The safe distance I suppose to be 1 car distance for every 10mph. So slowing down makes it safer

get a new copy of the highway code, it changed a couple of years back. It's no longer stopping distance, it's stopping time now, if I remember rightly it's a two second time gap between vehicles and double in poor conditions.

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

Last time I checked (and indeed has been since I passed in 2002) it is 2 seconds in good weather, 4 seconds if the surface is wet, and 20 seconds if the surface is icy. Often still find myself counting when a car infront goes passed a sign or junction...don't really know why

 

[D1craig]

I would rather go on my way of doing it lol it's a lot easier to judge distance than it is time. Regardless my point still makes sense.

 

[Androcles]

Last time I checked (and indeed has been since I passed in 2002) it is 2 seconds in good weather, 4 seconds if the surface is wet, and 20 seconds if the surface is icy. Often still find myself counting when a car infront goes passed a sign or junction...don't really know why

Yeah me too.

 

[steaky360]

"Only a fool breaks the four second rule" [say it out loud, takes around 4 seconds]

To answer Tom's question in the OP - yes if you have a dash cam it can be given to the police, part of the reason cyclists wear helmet cams etc. I would say.