Dashcams: Crucial tool in solving crime, aid investigations and get justice
SHAH ALAM - Experts assert that installing dashcams aids in resolving crimes, ensuring justice, and facilitating police investigations into accidents.
Bukit Aman Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department Director Commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri told Sinar Daily that dashcams play a vital role in helping the police on further crash probes.
"Dashcams could point to how a road crash occurred, especially when there are no witnesses.
"They also represent a supplementary but critical device for investigators of a crash case.
"Dashcams are like any other recording device, such as a CCTV system, from which footage can be used as a crucial part of evidence in a court case," he said.
He further said that dashcams could be recognised as a 'documentary evidence' which brings benefits in court proceedings.
"Dashcams can be recognised as documentary evidence under Section 3 of the Evidence Act.
"Hence, their introduction in road crashes would be of great benefit in court proceedings," he said.
However, Azman said that making dashcam compulsory would be a challenge as the authorities would have to plan and decide how to enforce it.
"On top of that, a serious collaboration is needed with all authorities involved in making this happen," he said.
Echoing the same matter, Alliance for a Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said having dashcams could give hidden leads to the police to conduct investigations.
"In case there is an accident or crime being committed, the dashcam play its role to record.
"The recordings certainly be used to give leads to the authorities to solve the probe or crime," he said.
Lee further highlighted the importance of dashcam which could bring a whole new difference in the society.
"For example, having a CCTV in hotspots for crime area could help the record the actions in a public area.
"There are many countries that have fixed a lot of CCTVs, just along the along the street and roads.
"So if anything were to happen there, where a crime is committed, the police can always go back to the footage to view the recording.
"In the same way, dashcam can be used for the same purpose," he said.
However, Lee said that fixing dashcams is costly and making the installation of dashcams 'compulsory' would be slightly difficult.
"To set up and fix dashcams costs money. Also, many people around us always complain every time whenever they spend money.
"So, if you want to pass a law to force to make it compulsory, make it necessary for everyone where everyone has to go and fix up a dashcam," he said.
In 2019, dashcam footage proved to play a crucial role in providing justice for Syed Muhammad Danial Syed Shakir who was killed in a road rage incident that took place at the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban bound North-South Expressway (NSE).
The dashcam footage provided vital evidence for the investigation and court proceedings and helped to reconstruct the events that led to the tragic incident on the North-South Highway, allowing the authorities to piece together the sequence of events and determine the cause of the accident.
The evidence was instrumental in establishing the facts of the case and was used during the trial to support the prosecution's case against the accused individual, ultimately leading to the verdict of culpable homicide.
The use of dashcam footage in this case highlighted the importance of such technology in providing objective and impartial evidence in legal proceedings.
