Watch head-on near-misses and running red lights outside a hospital as Northamptonshire's dodgiest drivers caught on dashcam

Operation Snap gives police thousands of extra eyes on the roads
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Some of the county's dodgiest and most dangerous drivers are starring in the latest Operation Snap video from Northamptonshire Police.

The short film is a compilation of dashcam footage uploaded by other road users which has led to prosecutions.

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It includes two madcap overtaking manoeuvres inches away from head-on collisions, one impatient driver using the hard shoulder to beat queues and one sending pedestrians scurrying out of the way after going through a red light outside Northampton General Hospital.

Pedestrians scurry out of the way as a car shoots through a red light outside NGHPedestrians scurry out of the way as a car shoots through a red light outside NGH
Pedestrians scurry out of the way as a car shoots through a red light outside NGH

Between April and June, the Force were sent 273 Operation Snap video submissions from a total of 210 individual witnesses, resulting in 121 Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) letters being sent to registered vehicle owners.

Those sending in footage can now find out what happened to the drivers caught on camera by clicking a link on their confirmation email.

Matthew O’Connell, Northamptonshire Police Safer Roads operations manager, said: “Working with our partners from the Northamptonshire Safer Roads Alliance, we’re committed to reducing the number of people who are killed or seriously injured by improving road safety.

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“By sharing examples of poor driver behaviour, we hope to raise awareness of the importance to drive responsibly, legally and in accordance with the conditions as well as encourage everyone to use our roads more safely.

“The success of Operation Snap is down to the continued support from the public. Thanks to the thousands of additional eyes helping us to keep our roads safer, we can take action against driving offences we otherwise wouldn’t see, which can only be a good thing.”

Drivers can report offences by uploading video evidence via an easy online portal on the Northamptonshire Police website and completing a form, which automatically creates a witness statement to provide a full account of the incident.

Reports are triaged by trained police staff who check the footage to ensure it falls within the scheme's remit and contains clear views of an offender’s number plate.

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If it matches the Operation Snap criteria, police officers in the Safer Roads Team then examine the footage. If a driving offence is identified, they will then start legal proceedings where required.

The most common reason for a rejected submission is insufficient video evidence to support a prosecution — or if the video us not been submitted within 14 days of the offence being committed.

Mr O'Connell added: “Although this service allows people to share evidence with us quickly and easily, it’s important to remember we only have a small timeframe from when the offence is committed to review and investigate any offences.

“We would encourage members of the public to use the service and provide us the footage as soon as possible following the incident to allow as much time as possible to review and investigate any offences.

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“It's also important to remember we examine footage for evidence of offences by all parties, so please don't break the law in order to report someone else to us, or you could be in trouble as well.”

■ Click HERE for more information about Operation Snap or to submit video footage.