Operation Snap: 2,300 dashcam clips sent to police

Dashcam footage sent to police has led to hundreds of motorists being fined and prosecuted in Welsh courts over the last year.

As well as dangerous driving and using a phone behind the wheel, two drivers were caught with dogs on their laps.

Operation Snap was rolled out across Wales to process footage as police try to tackle "bad driving".

More than 2,300 dashcam films were sent in and action was taken in more than 650 cases.

Insp Lee Ford of Gwent Police said the public response had been "exceptional".

"It has been a practical way for various forms of bad driving to be addressed," he added.

Depending on the seriousness of the motoring offence, drivers have been fined, sent on awareness courses or prosecuted in court.

Teresa Ciano, partnership manager at all-Wales road safety partnership, Go Safe, explained the project was set up to gather footage being sent to police forces already and which is now used formally.

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A pilot project in north Wales in 2016 led to 150 motorists being punished.

"Sometimes the footage shows out-and-out dangerous driving but some are a lapse of judgement," said Ms Ciano.

According to GoSafe, a total of 2,353 clips were submitted between November 2017 and October last year.

In a request for further details under the Freedom of Information Act, South Wales Police said it had received 1,000 submissions, with 100 fixed penalty fines issued, 83 court prosecutions and 90 drivers sent on an awareness course.

A further 53 warning letters were sent to drivers advising them about their driving.

North Wales Police confirmed it had received 650 clips over the same time with 81 drivers sent on a "retraining course", along with 25 prosecutions and 24 fixed penalty fines issued.

Gwent Police received 231 submissions between January and October with action taken in all but two cases after the footage highlighted "dangerous driving, using a mobile phone whilst driving and speeding".

Dyfed-Powys Police said it had received 430 video submissions with 120 offences being considered for possible prosecution.

So far, 25 people have been sent on an awareness course with 11 others prosecuted.

In November, the Department for Transport announced it was setting up a unit to analyse video evidence submitted to police in England following the "successful" north Wales pilot.

And police from Hong Kong and Japan have also met with Go Safe staff to learn more about the project.

Near miss: Motorist (top) found guilty of driving without due care and attention after overtaking a car ahead of oncoming vehicle, according to Go Safe