Watch driver narrowly missing mum pushing buggy and motorist perform crazy U-turn on M6
From a driver narrowly missing a mum pushing her baby in a buggy across a zebra crossing to a motorist performing a U-turn on Spaghetti junction. These are some of the downright dangerous driving which have been caught on public dashcams and sent to a special West Midlands Police[1] portal for prosecution. The team has proved a hit with people fed up of atrocious drivers plaguing the road and reviewed more than 6,700 submissions since the start of January.
One driver was caught on a motorist's dashcam driving on the wrong side of Yardley[2] Wood Road in Billesley[3]. As traffic paused at a zebra crossing to let a woman pushing a buggy walk, the driver jumped ahead, narrowly missing her. Another driver caught the incident on camera and sent it in to the team.
The driver was summonsed to court where they admitted dangerous driving. They were jailed for 24 weeks, suspended for a year, banned from driving for a year, fined GBP400 and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work. Police have released footage of the troubling incident together with other examples which have resulted in punishment. One clip shows a driver performing a U-turn on the Aston Expressway and another driver heading down a shared-use route for pedestrians and cyclists and straight into the path of a girl on a skateboard. She's seen throwing her arms up in disbelief as the driver passes her with inches to spare. In August, the team which reviews footage was increased, leading to a rise in positive outcomes from just four per cent in July to 92 per cent in November. The portal is proving a hit with members of the public who have been submitting their clips to help police make the roads safer. One e-mail to the team said: "This behaviour from people driving usually makes me feel so powerless, but you taking action has changed that and made me feel safer." Another said: "The submissions I have made of vehicles around my child's school has led to a massive improvement in parking." Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp[5]. Join our dedicated community to get the latest updates. Another added: "I had stopped submitting after doing a couple in the past, but after the recent publicity I thought would give it another try and it was great to get some feedback now and amazed so quickly. "Really appreciate all you and your colleagues are doing on this, as it's sure to make a big difference and help stop other serious injuries and deaths round here." Sgt Jordan Keen, who leads the team, said: "The team goes from strength to strength, and you can see from the footage we've released this month that some really dangerous and careless drivers have been held to account for their actions on the roads of the West Midlands. "We hope that by showing these clips, drivers will think twice about running a red light, or dangerously overtaking other road users, all for the sake of saving a few seconds. "This is about educating drivers and preventing road users - be they cyclists, pedestrians or motorists - from being killed or seriously injured." To send your footage, visit: https://www.west-midlands.police.uk/your-options/operation-snap-driving...[6]
Dangerous driving caught on dashcam (Image: WMP)References