Citizen videoing a stop sign

[Ben Mans]

Jurisdiction

Washington

On an empty road there is a stop sign on the crosswalk often ignored by drivers, with many of which do not come to a complete stop. A fellow citizen was videoing people on his phone not coming to a complete stop and claiming that he would show these videos to authorities. Is he allowed to do this and if so can his tapes be used to ticket drivers drivers even though he is not an officer of the law?

Thank you

 

[zddoodah]

Tapes? Who creates tapes from mobile phone videos?

That aside, the answer to your question is yes. Were you thinking that there might be some prohibition against someone making such videos or the police issuing citations based on such videos? It's no different than someone using his/her phone to take video of a robbery or assault/battery in progress and the police/prosecutor using the video as evidence in the criminal trial.

 

[army judge]

Is he allowed to do this and if so can his tapes be used to ticket drivers drivers even though he is not an officer of the law?

I GUESS a person taking videos or pictures of a stop sign on a public roadway WOULDN'T be prohibited from such activity.

can his tapes be used to ticket drivers drivers even though he is not an officer of the law?

I would think his recordings/photos would be given to law enforcement who MIGHT then engage in a selective enforcement activity.

 

[mightymoose]

The recording described is perfectly legal.

I suspect police would not be interested in the video but would make an effort to increase enforcement.

A video from a phone likely would not clearly identify drivers or license plates on the vehicles that don't stop. People who are concerned about this should simply make the effort to stop.