1 week ago
UK Officials Condemn Wrong-Way Driving Videos After Fatal Crashes
Some young drivers in the UK are driving very fast on the wrong side of roads.
They record themselves and share the videos online.
Officials say this is extremely dangerous because other people may be hit.
Two police officers and five passengers died in one crash near Middlesbrough.
Five teenagers died in another crash in Ireland.
One person involved in the UK crash had shared earlier dangerous-driving videos.
Officials say people may post these videos to get attention, views, or money.
They want social media companies to remove the videos and stop promoting them.
A social media trend involves young men driving at high speed on the wrong side of roads and recording the acts.
Andy Burnham urged social media companies to remove posts glorifying dangerous driving and change algorithms that distribute them.
Two police officers and five passengers were killed in a wrong-way crash near Middlesbrough on Saturday.
One passenger, 18-year-old Makai Saddington, had previously posted videos showing dangerous driving at up to 100 mph.
Five teenagers were also killed in a separate wrong-way crash in Ireland in early August.
- Who
- Young drivers, social media companies, Andy Burnham, Irish police chief Justin Kelly, and people killed in the crashes.
- What
- A social media trend encourages or showcases high-speed wrong-way driving, with participants filming and posting the acts.
- Where
- Near Middlesbrough in the UK and in Ireland.
- When
- The Middlesbrough crash occurred on Saturday; a separate Irish crash occurred in early August.
- Why
- Officials say some people post dangerous-driving content to gain views and potentially earn money, while authorities want to prevent further deaths.
Key facts
- Trend
- Drivers film themselves traveling at high speed on the wrong side of the road.
- UK crash deaths
- Two police officers and five passengers were killed near Middlesbrough.
- Passenger identified
- Makai Saddington was 18 years old.
- Previous videos
- Saddington had posted dangerous-driving videos showing speeds of 100 mph, or 160 kph.
- Ireland crash
- Five teenagers were killed in a separate two-vehicle crash in early August.
- Official response
- Andy Burnham called the trend “truly reprehensible” and urged platforms to remove related posts.
- Proposed platform action
- Social media companies were urged to adjust algorithms so the content is not distributed.
Quotes
Justin Kelly
Head of Irish Police commenting on fatal wrong-way driving incidents
“They (social media companies) also know that people post content to get views and the more views you get, sometimes you get money for it, so it’s a financial incentive to post outrageous content that gets more people watching it”
theprint.in
“What makes this reckless behaviour even more appalling is that in some cases it is being done for social media, regardless of the potentially devastating impact it might have on innocent people and themselves”
theprint.in
Andy Burnham
UK Prime Minister who urged social-media companies to restrict dangerous-driving content
“Social media companies could take the content down easily and adjust their algorithms to stop it being distributed”
theprint.in
Sources
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