How you can get a free dashcam in Yorkshire thanks to Government funding

The Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded the office of the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) £65,000 for a road safety project called Operation Journey. It will allow dashcams to be bought for users of key roads, body cams for Community Speed Watch coordinators, and cycle cams for cyclists using the busiest routes.

Up to 350 dashcams are being bought, and the OPCC is working with Nextbase and Chilli Tech to roll out this programme. Motorists who use the area’s key roads will be able to apply for the free dashcams in May – the first round for 150 of the cameras closed a few weeks ago.

The measures aim to improve the effectiveness of existing Operation Snap and local Community Speed Watch schemes. Operation Snap is a secure, online scheme to submit video footage of driving offences.

The application process for the dashcams will ensure a focus on motorists who regularly use the road network. They must also be willing to download dashcam footage to Operation Snap on a consistent basis where they identify inappropriate driving behaviour. People will be required to specify the main roads they use and how many miles they cover. This will also help ensure coverage across the Humber region.

Bryn Brooker, Nextbase’s head of marketing, commented: “We are really happy to be supporting the Operation Snap – journey cams in Humberside – this is a really exciting opportunity to make a real difference in people’s daily drives and improve road safety.”

Paul Bradley, founder and director of Chilli Technology said: “We are proud to be working with Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner and the charity R-evolution in helping make the roads a safer place for cyclists.”

The project is scheduled to run until July 2024. A third-party provider appointed by the DfT will then assess the iniative. The scheme is a collaborative approach with Lincolnshire OPCC, who are holding a similar trial.

“In our region, we sadly lose too many lives on our roads every year with a significant number of life changing injuries,” said Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Evison. “We must change driver behaviour and make our roads safer. This initiative will mean there are more eyes on the road to catch bad driving and hopefully lead to prosecution. One death on our roads is one too many.”