A recent report highlights continuing difficulties with some ‘close-pass’ footage submitted through Operation Snap in Wales.
Operation snap is a UK police initiative that allows members of the public to submit videos of moving traffic offences such as careless driving to the police, with the aim of improving road safety. The footage can be used as evidence against the motorist.
Many of the videos received by the police concern ‘close-passes’ between drivers and cyclists.
GoSafe (the Wales Road Casualty Reduction Partnership) previously confirmed that it had temporarily suspended action on ‘close-pass’ cases relying solely upon the measurement of passing speed or distance because its staff did not hold the required forensic accreditation. Indeed, there can be a number of evidential difficulties when the Police attempt to rely on video footage submitted by the public as the main source of evidence in a case, particularly in a world where video editing software and artificial intelligence are freely available.
This does not mean that video evidence submitted by the public is unimportant. Operation Snap continues to consider footage of alleged dangerous or careless driving, mobile-phone use, red-light offences and other road traffic offences. Indeed, we frequently represent motorists whose driving licence is at risk as a result of video footage submitted by members of the public.
If your driving licence is at risk as a result of video footage submitted to Operation Snap, feel free to contact one of our expert motoring lawyers on 0330 33 22 770 for specialist advice on your case.
