Motorists' fury after cops urge public to SNITCH on dangerous drivers 

Motorists have hit back after police whipped up members of the public to share footage catching out fellow road users accused of driving dangerously.

Forces across the country have signed up to Operation Snap, which urges cyclists, passengers and pedestrians to report filmed examples of behaviour which could lead to criminal prosecutions.

Yet a campaign group has now condemned officers for going too far in encouraging so-called 'vigilante' action - and asking the public to do the police's jobs for them.

The Alliance of British Drivers told MailOnline that 'deteriorating' standards of driving on Britain's roads should be blamed on reductions in police patrols.

And one of the group's founding members criticised what he called the 'lazy' approach of relying on cameras to capture offences on UK highways.

The backlash came as West Midlands Police shared on YouTube a compilation of snatched footage showing motorists then punished under the 'Op Snap' initiative.

New billboards and adverts are being shared across the region as part of this week's Road Safety Awareness Week, with the backing of the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster.

He welcomed how the number of submissions 'showing careless and reckless driving that puts lives at risk' has soared from 207 in 2017, to 7,145 in 2023 - and more than 11,500 already this year.

The YouTube video produced by the force, titled 'How your videos are helping to make the roads safer', shows a car not stopping as a pedestrian walks across the road at a traffic light.

A caption says the motorist behind the wheel was subsequently banned from driving and fined £2,600.

Also featured are drivers reported to be 'doing balloons on the M6' motorway before being given six points on their licence and told to pay £700 as well as another also given six penalty points, while fined £1,000, for a 'close pass of a cyclist'.

And six points were also awarded to a taxi driver, plus a £400 penalty, for a taxi driver filmed using a mobile phone while sitting at the wheel. 

The crackdown has alarmed motoring groups, who warned this approach to the roads was 'a dangerous path to go down'.

Alliance of British Drivers founding member Hugh Bladon told MailOnline: 'I don't like this vigilante aspect of life - it's a bit like curtain twitchers, so many people reporting on one another.

'On the one hand, if you get involved in some sort of accident, then you can produce the footage on your dashcam - I don't have a problem with that at all.

'But one person's thoughts about dangerous driving may be totally different to somebody else's.

'We've all got an opinion about other people's driving, but it's a bit different to encourage people.'

He pinpointed the main problem as forces having 'taken so many police patrols off the road that people's driving has deteriorated', adding: 'There's no one there to say, this is the way to behave.

'I would prefer police to do the job, rather than asking us to do their job for them.

'We don't have enough police on the roads anymore and that's not a good idea.

'What we do have instead is a lot of cameras all over the place which is a lazy way of looking after how people drive.'

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: 'On a daily basis most motorists will witness what is, at best, anti-social driving behaviour or, at worst, downright recklessness.

'Anything that helps safely draw the attention of the police to the worst offenders should be encouraged.

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'Part of the problem is that those who put the lives of others at risk on the roads think they will get away with it and this might go some way to showing this won't necessarily be the case.'

But he cautioned: 'This approach can never be a substitute for having more officers out on patrol.

'It is also worth remembering that few of us are perfect drivers or riders and before we take exception to our fellow road users and start reporting them we should clean up our own acts before we are the ones being caught on camera and referred to the law.'

Potential offences include not only dangerous driving, but also using a mobile phone while at the wheel, not wearing a seatbelt, failing to stop at red traffic lights, using a trailer in a motorway's lane three of a motorway and crossing solid white lines. 

West Midlands Police have hailed a 80 per cent success rate either in prosecuting drivers caught by footage which has been shared with them, or otherwise sending offenders warning letters or requiring them to attend educational courses. 

And the region's police and crime commissioner Mr Foster has now said: 'Putting an end to dangerous driving is one of my top priorities, and I know it’s something that matters to the people of the West Midlands.

'These dangerous drivers need to be held to account and face the consequences of their actions.

'The public can aid us in doing that, so I’d urge anyone who has recorded footage to share it with the police, help bring perpetrators to justice, and ultimately reduce the number of people tragically and avoidably killed and seriously injured on our roads.'

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Tanya Johnson, in charge of the Operation Snap team, said: 'Road safety is an absolute priority for West Midlands Police and the work of our specialised team is already making a real difference.

'It doesn’t take long a member of the public to file a report and each one makes a real difference to road safety.

'Every dangerous driver who has been filmed and had to pay the price will, and should, be thinking again about the way they drive.'

Reports to the Op Snap team must be submitted within 10 days of the alleged offence and police say footage should include the whole incident.

They also require those making the reports to include details about the date, time and location as well as the registration, make and colour of the vehicle.

Other forces signed up to Operation Snap include Durham Constabulary, which earlier this year encouraged double decker bus passengers to report car drivers using their mobile phones.

Drivers were warned they could be hit with a £200 fine and six points on their licence.

Officers were also being deployed to the top deck of buses in Durham to help spot people texting, calling or scrolling on their phone while driving.

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Last year, police in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, used similar tactics in a road safety operation called Op Deck where officers looked out for illegal mobile phone usage.

This comes after research by the AA found the number of drivers caught using their phones at the wheel almost doubled in a year.

Almost 38,000 motorists were caught using a hand-held device in 2022, compared to 19,600 the previous year.

There were also a record number of drivers clocked speeding, with more than 2.5million motorists issued either a penalty, a driver awareness course or sent to court.

Since 2003 it has been an offence to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving in Britain, but the law was tightened after many motorists had avoided prosecution by arguing they were not using their devices for 'interactive communication'.