Dashcam recording forces road rage driver to turn himself in

A man filmed carrying out dangerous manoeuvres in a BMW on the E314 on New Year’s Eve has turned himself in to police, amid a debate on the legality of dashcam footage used to identify him.

The 49-year-old man from Sint-Genesius-Rode, just outside of Brussels, was filmed repeatedly braking suddenly as he cut off the driver of a van equipped with a dashboard camera, causing a near-collision more than once. The car belongs to the man’s friend, a doctor from Herk-de-Stad in Limburg.

On being questioned by police, the man placed the blame for the dangerous driving on the driver of the van and claimed the video footage had been manipulated. “Further technical research and witness statements should allow us to obtain more clarity,” a spokesperson for the Leuven prosecutor’s office said.

The sale of dashboard cameras doubled in Belgium in the last month, according to a report by VTM news. In 2012, a total of 4,000 cameras were purchased, many as a result of widespread clips of a meteor on the internet from Russia, where a dashcam is the  norm. In Belgium, those fitting their car with a camera must declare it to the Privacy Commission.

Questions have been raised, however, over the legal value of dashcam footage in any subsequent prosecution. According to the Privacy Commission, the victim who filmed the road rage incident may have breached the privacy of the man who drove so aggressively by publishing the image of the BMW’s licence plate online.

“Whoever makes an image of someone committing a crime or offence ought to take those images to the police,” a commission spokesperson said. “Putting the images online without the person’s consent could lead to sanctions.”

Meanwhile, the victim of another incident of dangerous driving has filed a complaint with police. The incident took place on the E40 motorway near Drongen, East Flanders, and was also recorded by a dashcam. According to an EU study, three in four drivers have been the victim at some point of aggressive driving by other motorists. According to a British study, meanwhile, BMW drivers are the most aggressive, followed by the drivers of Land Rovers and Audis.

Elsewhere, motoring organisation Touring called for more police action against dangerous driving, including the use of unmarked vehicles to find culprits. “Traffic offenders need to be given the idea that they can be caught at any time,” the organisation said. “This small minority of cowboys is ruining the image of the 95% of motorists who stick to the rules.”

www.tinyurl.com/e314dashcam