Over 90% of dash cam owners feel the device should come as standard safety equipment

A recent report from Go.Compare Car Insurance has found that nearly all dash cam owners believe the device should be installed as standard in new vehicles. Currently, only 18% of motorists have a dash cam fitted in their car.

The insurance comparison site’s poll found that the majority (91%) of dash cam owners believe they should be a standard piece of safety equipment, much like seatbelts and airbags. Meanwhile, 82% of drivers who don’t own a dash cam would be very keen to get one fitted if it reduced their car insurance premiums, despite just 12% having ever used video footage in an insurance claim.

This comes on the back of the news that more drivers are using dash cams to report crimes. Clips of dangerous driving and car-related crime are received by police forces across the UK for investigation via the National Dash Cam Safety Portal (NDSP). There has been a 185% total increase in dash cam uploads to police over the last three years – reflective of the growing popularity of dash cam technology.

Bryn Brooker, Head of Road Safety at Nextbase said: “The dash cam has been the fastest growing consumer technology category over the past three years. In the earlier days, they were mostly bought by men aged 40+, but they benefit all drivers and we are seeing more women and younger drivers realising the benefits of having one.”

On the rapid rise in video uploads, he commented: “The increase in submissions stems from a number of factors, the main ones being, increased dash cam usage, as well as more police forces joining up to accept dash cam footage from the National Dash Cam Safety Portal.

“The National Dash Cam Safety Portal now supports almost every UK police force, however, there are still some gaps. Overall, this has helped create greater awareness of dash cams and how footage can actually help to protect drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.”

Since 2020, at least 55,000 occurrences of dangerous driving have been captured by dash cams and uploaded to the portal. Go.Compare’s latest report found that 14% of dash cam owners uploaded footage to report an incident to the police.

Ryan Fulthorpe, motoring expert at Go.Compare, said: “Dash cams provide brilliant security for drivers, who know that if an incident occurs while they’re on the road, they’ll have evidence of what happened and won’t be blamed if it’s not their fault. So, it’s no surprise that the desire for dash cams is increasing. The footage is particularly helpful in settling insurance claims, making them popular with many providers.”

For the majority of UK regions, dash cam footage uploads have gradually increased between 2020 and 2022. Northumbria Police received over 14,000 dash cam uploads in the last three years, while the West Midlands Police received almost 12,500 submissions. But for some forces, including the Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire Police, the highest number of dash cam uploads were received in 2021.