Operation Snap develops further to reduce unacceptable behaviour on the roads
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Thanks to a recent road safety initiative for the past year, road users have had the opportunity to use their own digital footage from dashcams and other devices to help keep the roads safer across Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.
Operation Snap is a road safety initiative originally developed in Wales and over the past year this has been rolled out to police forces across the UK with West Mercia Police being one of the first forces to take it on during summer 2018. The initiative gives members of the public the ability to assist the police in taking action against those who put other road users at risk.
As part of the initiative West Mercia Police are now spreading the word by working with the local highways authorities and Highways England to erect temporary roadside posters to publicise the campaign across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Members of the public have always been able to report incidents of dangerous or unlawful driving, but this new initiative uses evidence captured by dashcams and other devices as part of the reporting process. Supported by Brake (the road safety charity), and Cycling UK (the national cycling charity), the secure online platform allows members of the public to submit digital footage showing potential traffic offences direct to West Mercia Police. This can range from driving dangerously or carelessly to overtaking on solid white lines, ignoring traffic lights or dangerous driving around other road users, such as horse riders and cyclists. The secure platform allows motorists to safely and securely upload their video footage directly to the right police force. Such offences will then be reviewed by a police officer and followed up as appropriate. Over the past year since the initiative was launched just under 3,000 reports have been submitted from the general public with approx. 42% of offenders receiving warning letters and a further 43% processed for prosecution.
Commenting on the initiative, Inspector Lloyd Cresswell, Roads Policing said “’Operation Snap’ has been complementing the work already being done by police officers on our road network for over a year now and the natural step forward is to work to ensure the wider general public are aware of the initiative and how to use it. The addition of the roadside posters across West Mercia and the presence of Operation Snap advertising on some of the electronic traffic boards is a way of helping with this”.
Also commenting on the initiative John Campion, the Police & Crime Commissioner for West Mercia added; “54 people died following road traffic collisions last year in West Mercia with a further 463 seriously injured. Operation Snap is a great addition to our operational policing and I am confident that with the help of other road users, this initiative will deter people from making poor choices on the road and help make our roads safer for all. People take risks on the road through fear of not getting caught and a lack of consequence so raising awareness of Operation Snap is a great step forward to getting the message out there that poor driving behaviour will not be tolerated within West Mercia.
To submit footage to West Mercia Police visit http://www.westmercia.police.uk/operationsnap
Issued by VB, Road Safety Team