Cyclist helps stop dangerous driving with helmet camera

Harriet Robinson, Tess de la Mare & Dawn Limbu

BBC News, Bristol

BBC Guy Buckland wearing a high-vis jacket and a white helmet. His helmet has a camera attached to the top of it. He is standing outside on a cloudy winter day.BBC

Guy Buckland captures footage of dangerous driving using a camera attached to his helmet

A cyclist has sent 1,300 pieces of footage to police to help crack down on dangerous driving.

Over the past five years, Guy Buckland, who travels from Winscombe to Bristol for work, has sent Avon and Somerset police footage taken from a camera on his bicycle helmet.

My Buckland said 90% of the dashcam clips were acted on and the drivers were sent warning letters, fixed penalties, and in one case went to court.

In 2024, Avon and Somerset Police received more than 8,595 videos showing incidents on roads in the area. It led to 5,158 warning letters and 2,539 notices saying the drivers will be prosecuted.

Avon and Somerset Police An image taken from a cyclist's camera of a person driving a white car whilst using their mobile phone behind the wheel.Avon and Somerset Police

Some of the footage shows motorists using their mobile phones whilst driving

“People have to realise the impact that bad driving has on peoples’ lives and communities,” said Mr Buckland.

Some of the footage he has sent police include instances where cars has passed within six inches (15cm) of him, although he said these were quite rare.

“More typical are people pulling out without looking, people overtaking in the face of oncoming cars, the sort of general close passes, and occasionally mobile phone use.”

Avon and Somerset Police said they are being sent more dashcam footage taken from cameras attached to cars, bikes and helmets, than ever before.

“I think that’s due to just how more popular certain camera use is, particularly with dashcams in vehicles,” said chief inspector Rob Cheeseman from Avon and Somerset Police.

“So more potential offences are being identified by other road users, which are then being submitted to us.”

Some of the footage sent to police captured incidents including a motorist on their phone and a driver experiencing road rage.

Chief inspector Rob Cheeseman wearing his black police uniform. He stands in front of a screen with the Avon and Somerset Police logo and is looking directly at the camera

‘The ultimate goal is making the roads safer for everyone,’ says chief inspector Cheeseman.

With the number of clips being sent in to police continuing to rise, Avon and Somerset Police said it is focusing on the most urgent cases first.

“It’s certainly something which we’ve had to adapt to. It’s certainly a more relatively new version of reporting crime to the police,” said Mr Cheeseman.

“The community is speaking really loudly that these are dangers on the road.

“The goal is not to be targeting drivers unnecessarily – the ultimate goal is making the roads safer for everyone in Avon and Somerset.”