A driver who narrowly missed a woman pushing a buggy over a zebra crossing has become the first to get a suspended prison sentence
thanks to the work of our dashcam review team.
The motorist was filmed driving on the wrong side of the road and over the white lines as the after the woman had already started crossing.
Another motorist caught the near miss, which happened on Yardley Wood Road, Billesley, on camera and sent it in to us.
The driver was summonsed to court, where they admitted dangerous driving. They were jailed for 24 weeks, suspended for a year, and banned from driving for a year.
They were fined £400 and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work. Police have released the footage today, along with a clip of a driver performing a U-turn on the Aston Expressway, and another driver heading down a shared-use route for pedestrians and cyclists and straight into the path of a girl on a skateboard. She’s seen throwing her arms up in disbelief as the driver passes her with inches to spare.
The number of submissions to our portal hit a new high of 854. And 92% of those resulted in a positive outcome, which includes warning letters, education courses, fines or court appearances.
In August, the size of the team which reviews your footage was increased, leading to a rise in positive outcomes from just four per cent in July to 92% in November.
The newly-improved team is proving a hit with members of the public who have been submitting their clips to help police make the roads safer.
In all, the team has reviewed more than 6,700 submissions since the start of January.
One e-mail to our team said: “This behaviour from people driving usually makes me feel so powerless, but you taking action has changed that and made me feel safer.”
Another said: “The submissions I have made of vehicles around my child’s school has led to a massive improvement in parking.”
Another added: “I had stopped submitting after doing a couple in the past, but after the recent publicity I thought would give it another try and it was great to get some feedback now and amazed so quickly.
“Really appreciate all you and your colleagues are doing on this, as it’s sure to make a big difference and help stop other serious injuries and deaths round here.”
Sgt Jordan Keen, who leads the team, said: “The team goes from strength to strength, and you can see from the footage we’ve released this month that some really dangerous and careless drivers have been held to account for their actions on the roads of the West Midlands.
“We hope that by showing these clips, drivers will think twice about running a red light, or dangerously overtaking other road users, all for the sake of saving a few seconds.
“This is about educating drivers and preventing road users – be they cyclists, pedestrians or motorists – from being killed or seriously injured.”