More than 200,000 video submissions of dangerous driving and other incidents on the roads of England and Wales have been made through Operation SNAP's online reporting portal since the start of 2021, new figures have revealed.
Research undertaken by Accident Claims Advice suggests that video reports submitted to police forces of dangerous driving or other alleged offences are up 90 per cent in 2023/24 compared with two years earlier in 2021/22. The research saw data from 30 police forces collected, showing that 201,630 Operation SNAP cases were logged between January 2021 and April 2024.
A combined 44,791 were logged in 2021/22, followed by 66,515 in 2022/23, the number rising again to 85,114 in 2023/24. Of the 30 forces, all saw an increase in the number of reports over the three-year period, while just two (Norfolk and Suffolk's police forces) saw a decrease between 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The huge increase in reports was seen elsewhere, Lancashire Police receiving 4,120 in 2023/24 up 695 per cent from 518 reports in 2021/22.
Topping the table for most reports received were Avon & Somerset Police and West Yorkshire Police whose 2023/24 totals (8,498 and 8,291 respectively) were more than what all but six of the other forces received across the entire three-year period.
In total, Avon & Somerset Police received just shy of 20,000 submissions between 2021 and 2024 (19,949 in total), with 12,154 of those (61 per cent) coming from cyclists. The research also suggested that 4,662 of the total 19,949 led to a Notice of Intended Prosecution being served, with 85 per cent of the reports made by cyclists leading to "some form of action" (in comparison to a quarter of submissions from motorists that were dismissed). Almost a third of the force's reports came from Bristol.
While the topic of third-party reporting is largely dominated in the press and on social media by a small number of camera cyclists, including the road safety campaigner CyclingMikey, West Yorkshire Police's figures show that roughly half of all reports came from vehicle drivers.
The force recommended 10,628 of the 19,729 cases be dealt with via an educational course, while 2,483 resulted in a fixed penalty notice.
Avon & Somerset, West Yorkshire, Essex, Greater Manchester and West Mercia’s police forces all supplied Accident Claims Advice with the offence spotted in the submitted footage.
The general manner of driving was the biggest issue, with a total of 43,742 reports logged by the five under 'Close pass', 'driving without due care', 'careless driving' or 'driving without reasonable consideration to others'. They made up more than half of the total recorded cases.
Last month, we reported that Gloucestershire Police would be joining in the adoption of Operation SNAP, although the force's non-crime unit head attracted criticism by claiming "a close pass isn't an offence and a lot of cyclists don't realise that".
Just this morning, we were contacted by a reader who told us Thames Valley Police had instructed her to stop reporting close passes unless there is evidence of careless driving, creating some confusion about whether the act of close-passing a cyclist itself is not actually sufficient evidence of careless or dangerous driving.
The Metropolitan Police have also, in recent times, issued advice to road users submitting footage, the latest comments suggesting the force is "unable to deal" with motorists driving in bike lanes or the wrong way down one-way streets.
Operation SNAP figures have made headlines before, last year it was revealed that from almost 4,000 submissions of alleged driving offences to Surrey Police, just 10 led to prosecutions.
Likewise, West Midlands Police, it emerged, had prosecuted one driver from 286 close pass reports, the force admitting it needed to review how reports are managed. In February, we reported that the force was now taking action of some kind in 97 per cent of cyclist submissions.
Thames Valley Police recently admitted, too, that there are "very valid concerns" about its dealing with cyclists' reports, the force recruiting to fill a "shortage in resources" and staff that has meant "Notice of Intended Prosecutions are not able to be sent to the offending driver within the legal timeframe of 14 days".
"Road safety is everyone's business"
Following the publication of the latest three-year Operation SNAP figures, Inspector Jason Baxter of Lincolnshire Police told Lincolnshire World "road safety is everyone's business" and added that the force is "thankful" for the public's use of the online reporting portal.
"We view every piece of footage submitted and where offences are identified and the evidence is clear we will take action. Where the prosecution threshold isn't quite met, we will consider sending a warning letter to those drivers, advising them of their poor manner of driving," he said.
"There is no doubt that video footage of offences can be very useful in changing driver behaviour. We often hear that drivers take fewer risks and are more patient and courteous as they fear being caught on dashcam and facing prosecution. In road safety terms, this change of driving behaviour is invaluable in reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads. We believe the increase in submissions is due to drivers becoming more aware of the scheme and having confidence that their footage will be reviewed and where substantive offences are identified action will be taken."