Dashcam Outrage: Police Defend Filming Driver After Dangerous A30 Undertaking Incident
Devon and Cornwall Police have found themselves at the centre of an online storm after releasing dashcam footage of a reckless driving incident on the A30 in Cornwall. The video, submitted through the Operation Snap initiative, captured a motorist dangerously using a slip road to undertake a lorry at high speed, but it was the behaviour of the driver who filmed the footage that sparked widespread public outrage.
The Dangerous Undertaking That Started It All
The original dashcam footage shows multiple vehicles travelling along the A30 when an impatient driver suddenly appears in the frame, careering down the slow lane at excessive speed. The motorist then veers sharply into a slip road specifically to undertake a heavy goods vehicle before speeding off into the distance. Police eventually identified and prosecuted the offending driver, who admitted to careless driving and received a fine along with three penalty points on their licence.
Devon and Cornwall Police originally posted the clip online with a stern warning: "However frustrated you may be at other vehicles travelling slower than you, driving in this manner is completely unacceptable. There are so many things that could have happened here to instantly turn this into a fatal collision scene."
Unexpected Backlash Against the Dashcam Driver
Surprisingly, much of the online reaction focused not on the dangerous undertaking but on the driver who captured the footage. Numerous social media users accused the filming motorist of "hogging the overtaking lane," suggesting they should also face prosecution.
Ash Turner commented: "Did the dashcam submitter get prosecuted for lane hogging too as per rule 264 of the Highway Code?" while Josh Walk added: "The camera car should definitely be prosecuted for lane hogging. There's no reason to be in that lane. You cannot prosecute on one rule and not the other otherwise what is the point in having rules?"
Police Response and Extended Footage
The backlash prompted Devon and Cornwall Police to release an extended version of the dashcam footage to demonstrate that the filming driver was actually driving appropriately. The longer clip clearly shows the camera car was in lane one prior to the incident and only moved into the overtaking lane when the slower-moving HGV came into view, planning to overtake it safely.
A spokesperson for the Devon & Cornwall Police Road Safety Team responded to the criticism: "For all of you who complained about the camera car 'hogging the overtaking lane', please take a look at an extended clip. Also, please get some perspective and think about who was the real bad driver in this situation. Totally ignoring the horrific standard of driving from the car in front."
The spokesperson added: "Hopefully this will reassure the commenters who somehow felt the camera car was in the wrong. In this clip, you can clearly see the camera car was in lane one prior to the incident and moves across to lane two when the slower-moving HGV comes into view."
Support for the Police and Dashcam Driver
Other motorists came to the defence of both the police and the driver who submitted the footage. Richard Warwicker commented: "My take on what I see here, the cam car has seen what's ahead, planned ahead, and moved over when there is a space to do so in advance."
The police emphasised that the dashcam footage was submitted as part of Operation Snap, their initiative that allows members of the public to submit video evidence of dangerous driving. In this particular case, it resulted in successful prosecution of the offending driver.
The incident has highlighted the challenges police face when sharing footage online, where public interpretation can sometimes diverge significantly from the facts of the case. Devon and Cornwall Police concluded their statement with important advice for all motorists: "Please exercise patience when driving. Particularly on dual carriageways, an opportunity to overtake slower moving vehicles will soon present itself if you wait for a few seconds."
