New dash cam trend on our roads that should spark fear in all of us

We're heading down a dangerous road with the growing trend of vigilante motorists playing cop and handing over dash cam vision of drivers allegedly breaking the law.

It seems Aussie cobbers have become dobbers.

No longer are we prepared to let the police – and their multiple fixed and mobile cameras – do their job when it comes to catching errant motorists.

Dash cam owners are now getting in on the act, forwarding vision of drivers behaving badly in the hope of nabbing a baddie.

We’ve become Alf Stewart on four wheels, taking it upon ourselves to uphold values and standards in our communities.

State and territory governments are actively encouraging road users to "out" bad motorists by uploading footage of drivers flouting the law.

The Dash Cam Owners Australia Facebook group is a pseudo short film festival, with alleged hoons playing the starring role and a million-plus followers acting as critics.

Dare drive a European car and your rating will plummet lower than anything the Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer can conjure up.

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Calling out road dangerous behaviour is admirable

Before we go much further, let's make one thing clear.

We all applaud do-gooders calling out reckless behaviour which endangers lives.

Excessive speeding, mobile phone use, running red lights, driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol et al should be brought to the attention of authorities.

Dash cam vision has also proved handy when sorting out the rights and wrongs in traffic accidents or bringing road ragers before the courts.

The camera doesn't lie and perpetrators should be brought to justice.

But where do we draw the line when dobbing on drivers?

Just the other day I spotted a braindead motorist driving at speed through my suburban street, with his equally IQ-challenged passenger throwing a Hard Solo can out the window as a parting gift.

At that moment, I would have loved some proof of their moronic speed-littering slalom run through a tightly packed street of parked cars.

Would I have uploaded it to the cops?

Yeah, probably.

But I do wonder where we draw the line.

Does not completely coming to a halt at a stop sign grant the amateur Steven Spielberg in the car behind the right to race home (under the speed limit, I trust) to his editing suite to cut up the video and upload it?

How would you feel if you turned left without indicating and found a $200 fine – and the loss of two demerit points - in the post a few days later after one of your fellow citizens thought they'd channel their inner Batman and turn crime fighter?

Don’t laugh. It's on its way.

Vision vigilantes could seize on smallest indiscretion

We already live in some sort of Truman Show where our every move is captured on camera and dissected by amateur sleuths.

Dash cams mean that scrutiny is now on the move and users will bid to out-do each other to claim a bust.

I do worry the hardcore vision vigilantes will seize upon the smallest indiscretion and self-righteously pass it on to Big Brother.

To quote another fictional crime fighter: with great power comes great responsibility.

By all means, get rid of the bad guys from our roads.

Dob away if you've got concrete evidence of dangerous driving.

But let's not change lanes and start calling out minor "gotcha" moments.

That would be enough to drive us all to distraction.

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