Extra Eyes court results - June 2022

Thanks to you, twelve drivers receive over £2,600 worth of fines and a total of 44 licence points following your dash cam footage submissions to Extra Eyes.

This month, twelve drivers were sentenced for a variety of driving offences, from tailgating and speeding to driving around bollards to overtake on the wrong side of the road, after other road users uploaded dash cam footage of their concerns.

Extra Eyes is a Safer Essex Roads Partnership and Essex Police initiative to stamp out poor and dangerous driving, helping us reduce deaths and serious injuries on Essex roads.

Mick Green, Extra Eyes Manager, said:

“Most drivers in Essex drive carefully and are considerate to other road users but some drivers or riders deliberately commit traffic offences. Recognising those inconsiderate drivers put the safety of other road users at risk, my team were made aware by the public uploading their dash cam footage that captured that dangerous driving.

“We understand that people can make genuine mistakes when they are driving, but when a driver deliberately ignores road conditions and their driving puts others at risk because of their poor decisions, we want to know about it.”

One of the biggest penalties was for a driver who pleaded guilty to driving the wrong way around a roundabout. Thankfully, no one was hurt and the innocent driver stopped in time to avoid a head-on collision, but the driver was fined £461 and issued 6 penalty points on their licence.

A similar sentence was passed to a driver who initiated a “road rage” incident at the Mardyke Interchange, Grays, last October. When the driver could not change lane because another vehicle was using the lane they wanted to use to overtake an HGV, the driver eventually cut across the driver, gesticulating, and blocked the driver several times from continuing their journey. They were fined £400 and given 6 penalty points.

Further examples of driving offences include:

In October 2021, a driver was captured in South Mayne, Basildon, dangerously overtaking two cars in two separate incidents on the same road. On each occasion, the driver came from behind and cut across a stopped car so that they could take the first exit, narrowly avoiding a collision. The driver was issued a £220 fine and 3 penalty points.

In November 2021 two drivers on the M11 were captured on dash cam footage. Driver 1 was tailgating another vehicle. The driver was fined £220 fine and received and 4 penalty points. A second driver was fined £220 and received 3 penalty points for weaving through traffic at speed, moving between lanes without indicating and overtaking in the wrong lane.

A driver who failed to slow down at a junction and went through a red ATS at Nethermayne, Basildon (Nov 2021) was fined £220 and given 3 penalty points.

A driver in Spa Road, Witham, drove to the right side of a keep left bollard, travelling in the opposite carriageway, received £100 fine and 3 penalty points.

All drivers were ordered to pay costs and victim surcharge fines.

 

If you would like to submit dash cam footage to Extra Eyes, you can do so at any time, but we need you to adhere to the following so that we have the best chance to progress your complaint:

You and any other witness must be willing to attend court to give evidence
Footage must be unedited, clear and in focus
Vehicles must be identifiable
Submissions must be made within 48 hours of the event
Footage must show instances of driving behaviour which amounts to careless driving or leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position
Where the alleged driving amounts to an offence and there is no footage, an independent witness, not within your vehicle, is required.
We do not encourage anyone to proactively seek out examples of poor driving; it should be captured on dash cam as part of your normal journey.

You can provide Extra Eyes with information about illegal or poor driving, or about drivers taking unnecessary risks on our roads by visiting https://saferessexroads.org/extraeyes/extra-eyes-what-next/

Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.