Recording from a car camera. Can it be evidence in court and can it be published?
The car camera can be found in the offer of most supermarkets, as well as electronics stores. Good quality equipment can be purchased for PLN 150 - 200. It can also be obtained in exchange for points in loyalty programs popular at petrol stations.
ADVERTISEMENTRecordings from DVRs conquer the Internet. It is not only a gadget, but also a practical tool to fight road pirates, and in the event of a collision or accident, it is hard evidence in court. However, it will not be considered by the judiciary in every situation.
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When will the video be rejected by the court?
Dash cam footage can be evidence of guilt, but not in all cases. Polish law does not clearly regulate the taking of evidence from amateur video recording. In theory, the judge, after watching the video at the trial, can draw conclusions and decide whether or not he is guilty.
In these situations, however, the footage will be rejected:
1) The record is unclear, which makes it impossible to clearly identify the persons involved in the road accident. Night and black-and-white recordings are also often rejected, where insufficient light and poor quality limit the possibility of effective recognition of the perpetrator or the victim.
2) The recording excludes precise indication of the place of the accident. This situation usually occurs outside the city, where there are no distinctive signs or distinguishing features.
3) The date and time of the accident were not recorded on the recorded video.
4) The media delivered to the court is not genuine. The judge will also reject the evidence if the video has been edited or altered - suspicion of cutting out a fragment of the recording or showing only part of it.
5) Video showing the effects of a collision. The course of the accident is important for the proceedings.
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Elements confirming the authenticity of the recording
Confirmation of the authenticity of the recording is crucial for use in court as evidence. Only the original relay provided by the user will be allowed to be reproduced at the hearing. It is therefore worth investing in a camera that records on external storage media, which will speed up the process and the sentencing.
If the driver submits CD or DVD copies to the court, the judge will call in phonography experts. They will form an opinion on the veracity of the evidence presented.
Another important element is the day and time of the event. Not all devices save the date in the recording file. So it is worth reading the specification or asking the seller what functions the device has built-in. The record is also authenticated by the GPS module recording the route and speed.
The quality of the image also affects the admissibility of evidence. The first devices introduced to the market a few years ago recorded in VGA resolution (640 by 320 pixels). This standard will only work during the day. At night, the recording will turn out to be fuzzy and usually insufficient for the court - it will make it impossible to identify faces and license plates. The above problem is solved by HD recorders (PLN 200-300).
How to prepare for court proceedings?
In addition to the course of the event recorded on the video, a detailed description of the accident should be attached to the court application. Just describe the situation in your own words. The more details, the better. You should also remember to make copies of the recording for the parties to the proceedings - CD, DVD, USB flash drive.
The opposing party, the police, court experts and witnesses may have a different opinion on the circumstances of the collision, so it is worth writing everything down on a piece of paper to prove your case more effectively before the justice system.
See also: How not to be a victim on the road | 20 tips to avoid accidents
Can the recording from the car camera be published?
According to the applicable regulations, the recorder does not have the right to publish the recording on the web. This may be interpreted as a violation of the personal rights of the immortalized persons (the right to image and privacy and to maintain a good name). If the aggrieved party considers it right, he may claim the obligation to pay compensation from the owner of the registered image.
The confirmation is the words of Dr. Wojciech Rafał Wiewiórski contained in the official statement of the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection (GIODO) - "If there is evidence or material on the recording or photo that we took for our own use, which may become evidence of committing an offense or crime , then we not only can, but must provide this type of information to the police or law enforcement authorities. Worse, if we ourselves decide to be sheriffs and put, for example, on the Internet or otherwise propagate photos or videos that we recorded. Then we must realize that even if we originally made them for private needs, and now we are starting to share them, we fall not only into the regime of the Personal Data Protection Act, but above all into the regime of the Civil Code. A person who believes that their personal rights have been infringed by such publication may sue us in court.”
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It is worth referring to the first part of Dr. Wojciech Rafał Wiewiórski's statement. Since mid-2014, the police have been openly encouraging people to record and share videos. For this purpose, uniformed officers launched an e-mail address as part of the "Stop road aggression" campaign - stopagresjidrogowej@ksp.policja.gov.pl.
Recordings from recorders make it easier to catch and punish rebellious drivers. In the first year of the action, about 2/3 of the reported road pirates were fined for a misdemeanor or a lawsuit was filed against them.
