Police 'should use bad driver website'

5:40pm Friday 25th April 2008

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THE Oxfordshire man behind a website which logs the number plates of bad drivers, has urged police to use his database to bring dangerous motorists to book.

Andrew McGavin, who lives near Burford, said the principle of his site should be adopted by officers to bring more prosecutions.

Betterdrivingplease.com allows road users to enter the registration number and other details of vehicles they have seen driving badly.

It currently lists more than 11,000 separate incidents and has a legion of regular "spotters", some equipped with hands-free video cameras mounted in their cars to record incidents.

In Oxfordshire, more than 200 cases of bad driving - from tailgating to using a mobile phone at the wheel - have been reported on the site since it went online in 2006.

Mr McGavin, 54, said the police in New Zealand already used a similar system to track repeat motoring offenders.

He said: "It's now the norm to see dangerous driving on every journey you make. The message isn't getting through to drivers and the police aren't catching enough people.

"That's what makes a database like this necessary.

"The more reports there are on the site, the more powerful a weapon it becomes against the small minority of stupid drivers who make it dangerous for the rest of us on the roads.

"The plan is very simple. If the police take it onboard, and they build up a database of numberplates of repeat offenders - as is beginning to happen on the website - then people will realise that they cannot drive with a mobile phone or tailgate and get away with it."

When asked how he deals with people abusing his website, to create false pictures of certain drivers' behaviour, Mr McGavin said: "At this stage, drivers can email saying they should not be on the site and add comments to particular incidents."

He added: "This is not a vigilante site. It was set up to expose a problem and to ask the authorities to do something about it"

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: "We are committed to improving safety on our roads and reducing collisions and casualties.

"We have produced literature advising members of the public on how to report instances of bad driving and what information the police need to take action.

"Betterdrivingplease.com is a national website, which gives people the opportunity to report instances of what they believe to be bad driving.

"However, these reports do not usually contain the evidence necessary to bring a prosecution, and Thames Valley Police do not use the website as a matter of course when investigating incidents of bad or careless driving."