A new smartphone application that will be launched in the UK this May hopes to make it easier for drivers to report traffic offenses to the police. The dashcamUK will be available free of charge, allowing users to submit video evidence of 21 different driving offenses, with a simple tap on the phone’s screen.
As reported by the The Sun, the application will record footage from the road as a regular dashcam, but it will be wiped off every 30 seconds in order to preserve the smartphone’s storage. If users notice something illegal happening on the road ahead, they can tap the home screen in order to automatically save the clip. Then, they will be able to upload it to a police portal, with the entire process taking less than one minute.
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Besides recording video, the dashcamUK app will also be able to calculate another vehicle’s speed. However, all that spying and reporting won’t be limited to speeding, as the application will include a total of 21 driving offenses. This means that users will be able to report other drivers jumping a red light, do not properly use their indicators, or use their phones while driving. Using the app is easy and requires only a single tap on the screen, which the creators claim doesn’t count as smartphone use while driving.
The dashcamUK was created by Ukrainian-born Oleksiy Afonim, who organized meetings with the police during the application’s development in order to make it as useful as possible and ensure that the video evidence would stand in court.
The free application will likely lead to a spike in traffic violation reports since everyone with a smartphone – and a mounting base – will be able to use it. Some hope that if UK drivers feel they might get reported by someone else, they could be more cautious on the roads which in turn could lower the risk of accidents.
