Extra Eyes - how you can help

You can help us reduce collisions and casualties and make roads across Essex roads even safer by reporting instances of poor and dangerous driving.

Most of the people who use the roads across Essex do so responsibly and with care and consideration for others.

However, some road users occasionally behave irresponsibly or inconsiderately, and a smaller number behave like this regularly. These are the people most likely to cause a collision and present the highest risk of harm to themselves and others.

We want your help to identify these people.

Essex Police has a range of tools at its disposal, but the help you can provide through your ‘Extra Eyes’ on the road will be invaluable in helping us identify and deal with offenders.

The increasing availability of mass market ‘on the go’ cameras means more irresponsible, dangerous and illegal road behaviour is being recorded in video form than ever before. Through ‘Extra Eyes’, this footage can be sent to us for review by an investigator within Road Policing at Essex Police.

In appropriate cases we will have no hesitation in taking positive action against offenders, using the evidence that you supply, providing it meets the criteria.

Where appropriate, offenders will be offered a driver improvement course at their expense in order to educate them and ultimately improve their attitude towards driving. Where the criteria for one of these courses is not met, a fixed penalty notice or escalation to court proceedings may follow.

Before you submit your video

It is important that the points below are followed otherwise the matter cannot be progressed:

• You and any other witness must be willing to attend court to give evidence
• Footage must be unedited, clear and in focus
• Vehicles must be identifiable
• Submissions must be made within 48 hours of the event
• Footage must show instances of driving behaviour which amounts to careless driving or leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position
• Where the alleged driving amounts to an offence and there is no footage, an independent witness, not within your vehicle, is required.
• If the evidence submitted has been posted on any social media sites or YouTube then unfortunately we will be unable to process your submission as it may undermine the possibility of a fair trial if the case goes to court.

Neither the Safer Essex Roads Partnership nor Essex Police will support or encourage anyone to proactively seek out examples of poor driving. It is essential to consider your own driving and conduct before making any submission. Essex Police will review your submission in line with current prosecution policies and the decision on how the matter is dealt with is final. Although Essex Police Staff are not able to discuss the outcome from your submission you can view its progress on the SERP website.

If you wish to provide information on a driving incident anonymously please contact Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or visiting www.crimestoppers-uk.org

Please note that, if you operate a recording device in a public place, you may have obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is in your interest to familiarise yourself, and comply with, any such obligations as apply to you. If you are in any doubt as to your obligations, please obtain independent legal advice to ensure you do not put yourself at risk of prosecution.

PLEASE NOTE: Before making any submission please ensure you have read and understood the information and instructions above. If you submit a video, you acknowledge you have read and understood the above.

If you wish to submit a driving complaint with video footage of dangerous or illegal driving – please click on the link below to the Egress website and follow the instructions.

Check case status

You can check the status of your video submission here – please allow at least 10 days after submitting your video.