How cyclists’ videos can help convict dangerous drivers

The video is just eight seconds long. Viewers first see several vehicles driving past a cyclist – and giving him plenty of space as they do so. Then a white van appears, speeding as it overtakes the cyclist with just inches to spare. The van doesn’t clip the rider but it’s a close call.

Shot 12 months ago with a small bike-mounted camera, the video could mark the start of a significant shift in Irish roads policing. The person who recorded the video is an experienced member of a cycling club based in Munster. Last week he published it on Twitter under his username, @righttobikeit, saying it had just been used by the Garda as evidence in court.

The video had helped to secure a conviction against the van driver: a fine of €250 and one penalty point imposed on him after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving. The case appears to be the first to emerge publicly in which self-recorded video footage of a driver endangering a cyclist by passing too close has resulted in a conviction.

When drivers passed too close, the lycra-clad officer radioed an alert to colleagues waiting in police vehicles nearby

Since it emerged, The Irish Times has become aware of one other case, also in Munster, in which a cyclist’s footage was the sole evidence in securing a conviction, for dangerous driving, against a motorist.

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Garda sources say they are aware of other investigations in the pipeline based solely on video footage recorded by cyclists – on cameras that are now inexpensive and increasingly common – who have lodged formal complaints.

In Britain four years ago, complaints began trickling in to the police based on videos recorded by cyclists. It is now a flood. Some British police forces now actively seek cyclists’ videos of offences, because the footage has proved so effective for grounding prosecutions.

Britain’s West Midlands Police force is regarded as an international leader in launching proactive policing operations to tackle close passing. In the first three months of this year, some 600 prosecutions were secured using self-recorded video evidence, mostly supplied by cyclists but also some by motorcyclists.

Three years ago, the West Midlands Police set up a special operation to tackle close passes of cyclists by drivers.

It began with awareness-raising operations using undercover police officers in full cycling kit on the roads. When drivers passed too close, the lycra-clad officer radioed an alert to colleagues waiting in police vehicles nearby.

The offending drivers were flagged down, informed what they had done wrong and told to allow a 1.5m gap when overtaking a cyclist in future. The force’s novel approach generated significant media coverage locally, nationally and internationally.

Since then West Midlands Police has established an online portal that allows cyclists to submit videos for investigation without the need to visit a police station to report an alleged offence.

The scheme is a success. The publicity from the initial operation raised awareness around close passing; a proliferation of cameras and the online police portal have done the rest.

Close passes

Cyclists can report close passes via video but also other crimes such as drivers using phones behind the wheel, as long as the offence is recorded on camera.

Prosecutions for close-passing have mostly been for dangerous driving rather than a specific offence of passing within a 1.5m range. This means that very precise measurements, which could be argued over in court and which derailed the mooted close-pass legislation in Ireland, are not required.

Instead, the police and the courts make a subjective decision on whether an overtaking move captured in a cyclist’s video is so close that it constitutes an offence.

In Ireland the authorities have been less proactive than in parts of Britain, and slower to exploit the technology. However, a critical mass of cyclists coming forward with video of driving offences could change that.

Close-pass operations have yet to become part of mainstream policing in the Republic. There is no online facility to submit details of an alleged close pass or other motoring offence supported with video.

Earlier this year the Garda Twitter account also told cyclists in Ireland not to post videos and photographs of close passes and parking on cycle lanes.

Insp Pat Dowd of the Garda’s Roads Policing Division said the Garda had used its social media accounts to urge cyclists not to post videos containing allegations of wrongdoing or criminality because social media was not the appropriate forum for reporting or highlighting crimes. Instead, allegations should be reported at a Garda station and they would be pursued.

“Sometimes when people go to a station to report something it can be very busy, and we understand that can be frustrating for them and they may not be able to wait. But we’d say to people, come back again and report it to us and we will pursue it.”

Insp Dowd says hundreds of thousands of motoring offences are processed and prosecuted by the Garda each year and that those reported by cyclists are no different.

He is not surprised that prosecutions based on cyclists’ videos are now coming to light. He says the Garda has always been willing to accept videos as evidence.

However, while vehicles can be traced from registration plates, determining who was driving at the time of an incident may not always be straightforward.

Other Garda members question whether some British police forces accepting close-pass video submissions online puts them ahead of the Garda. They say that after a video is submitted online in the UK, cyclists are still required to give a formal statement of complaint at a station and to attend court to give evidence if required.

Oncoming van

A cyclist in one of the two Irish cases that have now come to light says the gardaí he dealt with were exemplary.

He was out cycling with a friend last May when they looked up and saw an oncoming van travelling towards them at speed on their side of the road. “Believe it or not, the driver was overtaking a van towing another van,” says the cyclist.

The two cyclists involved took their footage on a USB stick to the Garda station in the area where the incident occurred. On viewing the footage the garda they were dealing with was satisfied with the quality of the footage and could clearly see the registration of the van.

One of the cyclists said the gardaí involved needed no convincing the matter was worth pursuing

That allowed them to track down the vehicle and its driver. After submitting the footage to the gardaí, both cyclists also gave statements of complaint.

When the matter reached the courts, the judge had viewed the video. The accused driver claimed that because the video had already been shared on social media, pre-trial publicity arose and was prejudicial to him.

“The judge was having none it; she told him he was lucky he didn’t have two fatalities on his hands,” one of the cyclists tells The Irish Times.

The driver was convicted of careless driving and fined €750 about nine months after the incident. One of the cyclists said the gardaí involved needed no convincing the matter was worth pursuing.

The cyclist who posted news of his video’s success in court last week currently has six similar complaints lodged with the Garda.

He reported his first complaints via TrafficWatch after gardaí were initially reluctant to accept his videos as evidence. TrafficWatch is a road safety hotline that accepts reports of crimes on the roads and refers them to the appropriate superintendent for investigation.

And since then, having had cause to report close passes captured on video to “about five or six different Garda stations” the Munster-based cyclist senses a real willingness within the force to take on cyclists’ video-based cases.

“I record this stuff because if you didn’t have it on video nobody would believe it happened; the driving really can get that crazy out there,” he says.

He has been overwhelmed by the scale of the response he got from other cyclists when he publicised the success of his case this week. And he believes his case gives hope to cyclists that there is a legal route open to them if they have footage of dangerous driving that has put them at risk.

“Because the government didn’t bring in the 1.5 metre law a while back, some cyclists seem to think charges can’t be pressed,” he said. “But they can; it will just be for dangerous driving or another offence.

“And if cyclists get their complaints in quickly and the gardaí can process it in 60 days, it can be treated as a fixed charge notice incident and so there’s no need to go to court.

“Once you have the video, you have options. You don’t have to be bullied because you’re on a bike and they’re in a big car.”