Dashcams are becoming a familiar sight on UK roads, with three in ten drivers now using one in their vehicle. New research from The AA’s Accident Assist claims service shows that 30% of drivers have a dashcam, up from 20% in 2018.

The rise means dashcams are increasingly being used as a potential source of evidence when collisions occur, particularly when there is disagreement about what happened.

Although dashcam ownership has increased significantly, most drivers who have one have never needed to use their recordings. Seven in ten dashcam owners, or 71%, said they had never needed to use footage from their camera.

However, 7% of drivers have submitted dashcam footage to support an insurance claim following an accident. With 2.5 million private motor insurance claims made last year, according to the Association of British Insurers, The AA estimates that dashcam evidence could have been available to help with around 175,000 claims.

Footage can potentially help claims handlers understand what happened in the moments leading up to and during a collision. This can be particularly useful when drivers give different accounts of an incident.

Tim Rankin, managing director of AA Accident Assist, said: “The footage is incredibly valuable where there is a disagreement about what happened during the collision.”

He added that while dashcam footage may not determine liability on its own, it can provide claims handlers with useful additional evidence when assessing a claim. Drivers who have relevant footage are therefore encouraged to let their claim handler know when reporting an incident.

Dashcams are not only being used for insurance claims. The AA found that 5% of drivers have submitted footage to the police to highlight examples of poor or dangerous driving.

In England and Wales, drivers can use Operation Snap to submit footage of suspected driving offences. Drivers in Scotland and Northern Ireland can submit evidence through general online reporting services.

A further 3% of drivers have uploaded dashcam footage to social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. Such videos often highlight examples of dangerous driving, near misses and collisions.

Operation Snap allows police forces to review evidence submitted by members of the public and take action where appropriate. Serious offences can result in prosecutions, helping to address dangerous driving and improve road safety.

However, The AA stresses that dashcams and the willingness of members of the public to submit footage should not be regarded as a replacement for traffic officers.

The growing popularity of dashcams suggests that many drivers see value in having an independent record of what happens on the road. For disabled motorists in particular, having clear evidence of an incident can potentially provide useful additional information when dealing with a collision and making an insurance claim.

Of course, having a dashcam does not guarantee that a claim will be decided in the driver's favour. Footage needs to be clear, relevant and considered alongside other evidence. Nevertheless, as more vehicles are equipped with cameras, dashcam recordings are becoming an increasingly important tool for understanding what happened when things go wrong on the road.

Disabled Motoring UK

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