In a bid to cut down on dangerous driving and road fatalities, police have begun to crack down on offenders by using content posted online as evidence. YouTube is host to thousands of videos of drivers apparently speeding on public roads which has become somewhat of a craze.
Judges have been considering the videos as evidence in the prosecution of drivers who have reportedly broken speed limits or other motoring laws. However, this has been difficult due to the lack of evidence available in most of the videos.
The offenders must be clearly identified with proof they were travelling at an exact speed, on an exact road, in an exact car, something that amateur crime-documentarians often fail to do. Expert motoring lawyers are often able to get offenders off the hook through loopholes due to the minimal evidence often available in these videos.
Australian Police successfully convicted a motorcyclist for speeding using a YouTube video as the sole evidence. Footage he posted showed the speedometer reach nearly 130mph in what was supposedly a 30mph speed limit area. However there has been much dispute over the case as there was no real evidence he was riding the motorcycle, it was his motorcycle or that the speed was even accurate.
18 year old Nathan Campbell was recently charged with speeding and dangerous driving for a video he posted on YouTube which showed him driving at over 140mph down the M65 near Burnley. During the video Campbell raced down the motorway, undertaking cars on the hard shoulder.
The footage, filmed on his mobile phone did not provide enough evidence that Campbell was behind the wheel or that it was even his car but is been Jailed for four months with a 3 year driving ban as a deterrent to other young drivers as copycat cases are putting other road users at risk and encouraging a wave of motoring crime.
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