MORE than 7,000 dangerous drivers have been caught through dash cam footage sent to police, it can be revealed.
Op Snap, run by West Yorkshire Police, allows the public to submit footage of dangerous driving on the roads.
Once the public has uploaded their video recording, police can review the footage to see if an offence has been committed.
Police decide if it will be possible to progress with action against the offender.
Shocking footage shows some of the concerning incidents which took place on roads across West Yorkshire.
Worrying video footage showed a car swerve around traffic that was waiting at red traffic lights, narrowly missing a pedestrian who was crossing Bradford Road in Keighley.
Thanks to the footage being sent in, the driver involved was convicted of dangerous driving and received an eight month prison sentence.
The driver was also disqualified from driving for 30 months.
One clip shows a van getting far too close to a horse in Arthington, between Otley and Harewood.
In another near-miss incident, a driver could be seen overtaking a line of traffic and nearly causing a head-on collision on A635 Greenfield Road near Holmfirth, Kirklees, known locally as the 'Isle of Skye' road.
It comes as submissions have risen by 26 per cent from the year prior.
A whopping 10,486 pieces of footage were sent into the portal in the last year.
Action was taken against drivers in 71 per cent of the submissions - the equivalent of nearly 7,500 drivers.
Paul Jeffrey, police lead for the West Yorkshire Safety Camera Partnership said: “Operation Snap empowers the public to take action when they witness bad driving. Their submissions help support other forms of enforcement activity aimed at preventing crashes and loss of life.
“Last year police officers on patrol in our communities issued 39,310 fixed penalty tickets for traffic offences, and safety cameras detected over 279,000 speed and red-light offences.
“Operation Snap provides a great opportunity for the public to work together with the police to tackle poor driving standards, prevent the human tragedy caused by avoidable crashes and contribute towards achieving Vision Zero.”
Vision Zero is a strategy hoped to reduce the number of people killed or injured on West Yorkshire’s roads to zero by 2040.
One of those campaigning for change is Dr Ian Greenwood from Queensbury. Dr Greenwood’s 12-year-old daughter, Alice, was killed in a horrific car crash on the way back from a family trip.
The other vehicle's 18-year-old driver, who himself died in the crash alongside his 16-year-old passenger, had been part of a convoy of cars racing each other in Derbyshire.
Four teenagers were jailed for causing death by careless driving the following year.
Just days ago, Dr Greenwood was travelling through Shelf, near Tesco, when he witnessed a balaclava-clad group on motorbikes driving erratically.
One member of the group decided to pull a wheelie and drive in the wrong direction.
“That’s not someone doing something accidentally, that’s just stupid,” he told the T&A.
“It’s really easy to avoid the police getting involved - don’t break the law.
“We don’t have a police man or police woman on every corner. We, as responsible residents, have to be part of the solution.”
Dr Greenwood believes the public sending in footage alongside police work like Operation Steerside can make a difference.
“When we’ve got the number of deaths happening across Bradford and West Yorkshire, we have a lot of serious incidents. Police are part of that, as are the public.”
In a message to others, he said: “I’m active on Twitter, you get the ‘I’ve got freedom and I can do exactly what I want’. Driving is a privilege. Driving requires a licence. It’s not your right to do that.
“I try to target normal folk, they’re your neighbour. It’s just to think. It’s really easy to drive safe. The speed limits are there for guidance, the lines on the road are to help you. The rules aren’t unknown secret society rules. They’re really clear. Just think about what you’re doing.
“Dead people are the consequence. People in intensive care are the consequence.”
How to submit dash cam footage to police
People can submit dash cam or video footage through the Op Snap portal on the West Yorkshire Police website.
To ensure the best outcome, submitted footage should include the offending vehicle’s number plate; moving video (photos can’t be used), and the whole incident with one minute prior and one minute after the alleged offence.
The incident should be reported as soon as possible and no later than 10 days after as there are certain time limits in legislation which must be complied with.
Alison Lowe OBE, Chair of the West Yorkshire Vision Zero Partnership and the region’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, said: “Road safety is everyone’s responsibility, and by submitting dashcam footage you can play a crucial role.”
