Sign-up to dashcam portal to improve A9 and A96 safety, Highland MSP urges Scottish Government
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Calls have been made for a dashcam safety initiative to be rolled out to help keep motorists on the A9 and A96 safe.
Highland Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has called on the Scottish Government to give an update on joining the National Dash Cam Safety Portal (NDSP).
She has argued that the initiative could help to keep motorists safe while they wait on long-delayed dualling work to improve the two major trunk roads.
The portal enables the public to upload footage of dangerous/illegal driving which police can then review. It hopes this will help lead to more convictions and also act as a reminder to drivers that their behaviour is being monitored.
And, while she stresses that it's no substitute for the dualling works on the A9 and A96, she believes the government's adoption of the portal could help to reduce risks to motorists in the interim.
Ms Grant was speaking after submitting a written parliamentary question asking for an update on joining the portal and asking when Police Scotland expect to join. The Scottish Government had allocated £300,000 in March last year for Scotland to join the portal but by October 2022 it was under review due to “budget constraints”.
Ms Grant said: “I fully support the A9 and A96 dualling and believe that there are no adequate substitutes for their dualling. However, these roads will not be dualled overnight and they are hazardous and dangerous now.”
“Joining the National Dash Cam Safety Portal could help the police, protect drivers and discourage dangerous driving. That would go some way into improving the safety of these roads while we wait for them to be dualled. Clearly the Scottish Government agree so I’m left wondering why they’re not progressing with this scheme.”
Police Scotland is one of only three police forces in the UK not to have joined the portal. Ms Grant said the portal, operated by Nextbase, had proven to be effective in areas where it had been adopted, with around 70 per cent of uploads leading to further action.
