- New research conducted by Nextbase for National Dash Cam Day shows three quarters of UK drivers have had a near-miss accident.
- Motorists see an average of 14 illegal incidents per week.
- Despite this, 75% of drivers have never reported a road traffic incident to police, with 41% saying they lacked evidence or the knowledge of how to do so.
- Using Egress Secure Workspace and Egress Secure Web Form, Nextbase’s National Dash Cam Safety Portal system offers an easy way to submit evidence to police online, already saving 52 years of police time.
- The vast majority (70%) of these reports lead to further action – including fines, warning letters, and court cases.
Nextbase, the UK’s leading Dash Cam brand, is today releasing new research to mark its annual National Dash Cam Day.
Calling for the public to make use of its National Dash Cam Safety Portal reporting system, which is provisioned by Egress and now used by all but three UK police forces, Nextbase’s study of over 2,000 UK drivers found that 72% of motorists have been involved in a “near-miss” accident – where a small change of circumstances could have led to a collision.
Over a third of these near-misses (36%) were potentially life-threatening, with half (49%) believing they would have been the victim if the accident had taken place.
Drivers see many incidents of illegal driving every week, on average 14 separate instances. These are most commonly speeding, which 67% of drivers surveyed said they saw on a weekly basis, followed by failing to indicate (60%), tailgating (52%), and dangerous overtaking (52%).
Evidence of these incidents can all be easily sent to Nextbase’s National Dash Cam Safety Portal (NDSCP). With all but three UK police forces now signed up, the portal has already seen over 57,000 submissions from the public, saving 458,000 hours of police time – or 52 full years, with data coming from Egress, responsible for developing and delivering the NDSCP.
The survey data shows the portal is sorely needed. Three quarters (75%) said they had never reported a traffic incident before. Of the quarter of drivers who have reported incidents to the police via traditional methods, the majority said the process was “complicated”. Fully 41% of drivers said they had neglected to report a serious driver offence because they didn’t know how.
The new data from police forces shows 70% of submissions to the portal** have led to further action – including court cases, awareness courses, fixed penalty notices and warning letters. Just 30 per cent of submissions have resulted in no further action (NFA) demonstrating the success of the platform in identifying the most severe of incidents and linking motorists with police in a bid to crack down on this behaviour.
Bryn Brooker, Head of Road Safety at Nextbase, said, "We created the Portal to make roads safer. Road users can send in video from any device and help to get dangerous drivers off the road. Police aren’t just sitting on these videos – they are using them. Almost every force in the country is now signed up, with the remaining handful intending to do so soon. The system we built four years ago is not only helping police, it is removing dangerous drivers from the road.”
**Data collected from police forces by Nextbase, covers 2019-2022 (partial year).