Videoing illegal?

[Matthew_T]

A while back, I had an incident with a driver where he attempted an overtake on a blind hill, failed, overtook me into oncoming traffic, stopped in front of me, and tried to door me as I passed him.

I caught the incident on my handlebar camera and decided to report it to the police as it was so dangerous. When the officer came around, I explained what happened and showed her the video.

After the video, she said that the problem was that my camera only showed one perspective. (Fair enough). She then quizzed me about whether the camera was a phone, or if i was holding it in my hand? I explained to her that I have set it up so that I can start recording when I start riding.

She then quizzed me about the video being on YouTube.com. She didnt say it was illegal, but by her saying she wasnt certain that I should be doing it gave the impression that it was.

Can anyone verify that it is legal or illegal to put videos on YouTube of bad drivers? Taking into consideration that there are hundreds of videos of precisely that on there.
Some people get very popular by doing it.

 

[david k]

not sure why it would be, i think anyones photo is legal, you dont own your own rights

 

[Matthew_T]

But as it didnt show his face, arent numberplates public information? they are just bare, allowing everyone to see.

 

[gaz]

She knows nothing about what she is talking about. I've reported hundreds of clips to the police, be them on DVD's or a direct link to youtube where they view it.

I have checked with the information commissioner if there is anything illegal about recording vehicles and potential people whilst on the road and then posting said footage on websites such as youtube. They say it is perfectly legal. Magnatom checked with the information commissioner in Scotland several years ago and they came to the same conclusion.

Everything you record on the road is in a public place and things like VRN's (number plates) can not be used by the general public to identify the owner or where they live (unless you see them parking outside their house).
As an individual what you are doing is not against any laws otherwise you would see every Asian tourist (and tourists from other countries) being arrested for filming people on the street.

The data protection act doesn't apply as you are an individual and not a company.
I have had someone argue over some European rights laws, but that can be countered with some other European rights laws about safety and threatening behaviour ( i need to research more into both of those)

I did a post about this a while back on my blog, and i'm in the process of righting another one which goes into the European laws.
The legality of camera use

Some people get very popular by doing it.

I get recongised when going into some bike shops and people I have never met say hello to me on the commute to work. Oh what a dream

 

[swee'pea99]

Great to see plod so concerned for your safety...

 

[HLaB]

I could be wrong but I think a few folk have been advised in the case of a prosecution not to make the footage public for fear of influencing the case. IIRC Mags took his tanker video down whilst it was being investigated but put it back up when it was unbelievably dropped

 

[Matthew_T]

She knows nothing about what she is talking about. I've reported hundreds of clips to the police, be them on DVD's or a direct link to youtube where they view it.

Its good to know you can always help Gaz. I do enjoy watching your videos and that was the main thing that directed me towards purchasing a camera.

She definately gave the impression that she wasnt certain about it and I thought I was going to get into trouble for it.

 

[Matthew_T]

[quote name='swee'pea99' timestamp='1312410622' post='1783038']
Great to see plod so concerned for your safety...
[/quote]

Precisely. She explained to me that as there was no collision, nothing major could be done. And if she went and had a word with the driver, he could just deny everything.

In other words...she could not be bothered to give a damn.

 

[gaz]

It's also worth noting that if the police try and fob you off and say they can't use it, it's not true. The footage should be supplied to the CPS as evidence and it is up to the Judge if it can be used in court or not.

Her point about it being one sided can easily be counteracted. It can be done if you have the whole video footage of the start of your ride to the end, if you can show that there was no other interaction with the driver then it really isn't one sided. Obviously to do this succesfully you need to have front and rear cameras.

 

[gaz]

Precisely. She explained to me that as there was no collision, nothing major could be done. And if she went and had a word with the driver, he could just deny everything.

In other words...she could not be bothered to give a damn.

Do you know if she was a traffic officer? Or just a general bobby?
Where abouts are you based?

Genreally it's gong to be very hard work on both your part and the polices side to get any form of prosecution or charge against a driver if there was no collision. That's not to say it is impossible.

 

[Matthew_T]

Do you know if she was a traffic officer? Or just a general bobby?
Where abouts are you based?

She was just a general police officer by the sounds of the telephone call I made to the non-emergency number originally.

I am based in North Wales in Prestatyn. The police in this area are extremely unhelpful with regards to pretty much anything. They are never around when you need them, and today I nearly got myself run over and they were behind me and did nothing.

They could do their job a bit better I think.

 

[gaz]

She was just a general police officer by the sounds of the telephone call I made to the non-emergency number originally.

I am based in North Wales in Prestatyn. The police in this area are extremely unhelpful with regards to pretty much anything. They are never around when you need them, and today I nearly got myself run over and they were behind me and did nothing.

They could do their job a bit better I think.

It's genreally a different story if you can get hold of a traffic officer, but they are so few and far between, it's sometimes impossible.

 

[davefb]

Precisely. She explained to me that as there was no collision, nothing major could be done. And if she went and had a word with the driver, he could just deny everything.

In other words...she could not be bothered to give a damn.

blimey, so if a nutter drivers really badly, but i avoid them, then its not an offence ?

its a bit 'zen like'...

surely if she had a word with the driver, she'd take a copy of the video , you know to show him why he was an idiot?


and I can't believe she actually thought there would be privacy issues....

 

[Chris.IOW]

After the video, she said that the problem was that my camera only showed one perspective. (Fair enough).

Don't understand that point at all. Surely CCTV, traffic cameras and even Speed Cameras do the same but are used in prosecutions all the time.

 

[Red Light]

It sounds like he committed at least one prosecutable offence, opening his door so as to endanger you - an offence under Section 105 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986

"Opening of doors

105. No person shall open, or cause or permit to be opened, any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person."

Endangerment does not require any collision or contact.

But this is North Wales where a senior police officer exonerated a driver who had killed four cyclists before the investigation had even started.