Alleged offenders identified based on dashcam recordings

A much-discussed and long-awaited change to the Romanian Highway Code has now been published in the Official Gazette, giving police the legal basis to fine drivers using recordings captured by other road users’ dashcams.

The measure was approved through Government Emergency Ordinance no. 84/2024 and published in Official Gazette no. 610 of 29 June 2024. Among other things, it creates the legal framework for sanctions to be issued on the basis of video evidence recorded by other drivers.

In addition to this new rule, the ordinance also allows police to consult the National Register of Driving Licences and Registered Vehicles to verify whether a vehicle has valid RCA insurance and a valid technical inspection, known as ITP.

How dashcam footage can now be used for fines

The possibility for the Romanian Traffic Police to sanction drivers based on dashcam recordings from other traffic participants had been expected for some time and is now regulated by OUG no. 84/2024.

The ordinance amends the Highway Code by introducing two new articles after Article 109¹:

• Article 109², which gives the Romanian Police the legal right to use road traffic monitoring data collected by administrators of county and local public roads through technical devices installed on the roads they manage. In practice, police will be able to fine drivers for violations identified through these recordings.
• Article 109³, which allows the Traffic Police to establish and sanction misdemeanours related to aggressive driving on public roads when examining a complaint filed by a traffic participant who directly and accidentally witnessed one of the manoeuvres listed in Article 54¹(2) and captured the manoeuvre in an audio-video or video recording.

In plain English, Article 109³ means that a driver can now be sanctioned for aggressive behaviour based on footage recorded by another road user’s dashcam, provided the recording shows the traffic violation clearly.

Which behaviours can be penalised using dashcam footage

To understand exactly which violations may lead to a fine on the basis of another road user’s camera footage, it is useful to list the manoeuvres prohibited under Article 54¹(2) of the Highway Code:

• moving repeatedly from one lane to another, or from one row to another, alternating left and right in order to overtake a line of vehicles travelling in the same direction;
• turning the vehicle around by using the handbrake;
• starting the vehicle from rest by causing excessive wheelspin, with the drive wheels spinning freely;
• driving very close to another vehicle, in front of it, behind it or alongside it, or suddenly reducing speed without good reason, in a way that is likely to intimidate the other driver;
• repeated use of sound and/or light signals intended to force the driver ahead to clear the lane without justification;
• riding a moped or motorcycle with only one wheel in contact with the road;
• reversing the vehicle in order to intimidate other road users behind it;
• deliberately causing a controlled skid in order to turn or rotate the vehicle;
• intentionally driving a vehicle by repeatedly revving the engine in a way that disturbs people near the public road.

All of these actions qualify as aggressive driving and may be punished with a fine of up to 8 penalty points, along with suspension of the driving licence for up to 60 days, or even 90 days if the driver repeats the offence within the following six months.

Before this change, police could sanction road users only if they personally observed the offence or if it was captured by approved and metrologically verified technical devices, such as radar systems or toll cameras.

What conditions must be met for dashcam footage to count as evidence

The new Article 109³ introduced into the Highway Code also sets out the conditions under which dashcam footage can be used as evidence for an administrative sanction for aggressive driving.

First, the Traffic Police can examine a violation on the basis of dashcam footage only if there is a complaint filed by another road user, and that complaint must include all of the following:

• the complainant’s identification data: surname, given name and personal numeric code, or, where applicable, unique identification code;
• contact details: phone number and correspondence address;
• a declaration on one’s own responsibility regarding the truthfulness of the observed facts and the audio-video or video recording;
• the date, time and place, or any elements that make it possible to identify the location where the possible offence was observed and recorded;
• the signature of the road user submitting the complaint.

The complaint must also be accompanied by the audio-video or video recording, as applicable, showing the aggressive behaviour described in the complaint.

As for the recording itself, whether audio-video or video only, it must contain the following in order to support a sanction against the driver recorded in violation of the rules:

• a frame extract from the recording showing the aggressive manoeuvres observed by the road user;
• the date and time when the manoeuvres were captured;
• the location, or elements allowing the location to be identified, where the manoeuvres were captured;
• the vehicle involved and its registration or licence number, as applicable;
• the road signage on the public road segment where the aggressive manoeuvres were recorded, where relevant for establishing the offence.

It is also important to note that the complaint accompanied by dashcam footage will not be considered if it is submitted more than 30 days after the aggressive behaviour occurred.

The Traffic Police will also reject the complaint if it finds that the person filing it did not observe the manoeuvres by accident. This happens in two situations:

1. the person has reported, regarding the same vehicle, more than one possible offence within a 24-hour period, or more than three possible offences within a 15-day period;
2. the person has reported, regarding the same location, more than three possible offences within 24 hours or more than seven possible offences within 15 days.

The law therefore also includes safeguards to prevent abuse by people who habitually file complaints or who might try to use the mechanism to settle personal scores.

What still needs to happen for the system to work fully

For this legislative measure to become fully operational, the Romanian Police must make an electronic platform available to drivers, as provided for in the ordinance.

In practice, the General Directorate for Driving Licences and Vehicle Registration (D.R.P.C.I.V.) will need to provide these resources through an online service available on its own website and, where appropriate, through electronic communications services.

Even if it will take some time before these administrative arrangements are completed, the law has already been in force since its publication in the Official Gazette on 29 June 2024, which means it produces legal effects and any complaints filed must be processed.

Most likely, until the electronic application becomes operational, complaints accompanied by dashcam evidence will be submitted to, and resolved by, the Traffic Police in the locality where the road violation occurred.

As noted in the ordinance, OUG no. 84/2024 also contains other provisions that can be addressed separately. The key change, however, is that the Traffic Police can now consult the National Register of Driving Licences and Registered Vehicles.

By consulting this register, the Traffic Police will be able to check in real time the registration status of each vehicle, whether it has a valid ITP, and, most importantly, whether it has valid RCA insurance.

This is an important development for all drivers, who should make sure their periodic technical inspection is always valid. While there were still cases in the past where vehicles were driven without RCA insurance, that becomes much harder under this system.

Even before OUG no. 84/2024, drivers were strongly advised not to circulate without valid RCA insurance. That recommendation remains valid today, and vehicle owners should ensure that their auto RCA policy is up to date whether they drive every day or not.

The online insurance market continues to develop, and drivers can make a car insurance simulation by accessing an online insurance platform with a click HERE or via the banner.

In short, the law now allows drivers to be sanctioned for aggressive driving on the basis of video recordings from dashcams or mobile phones belonging to other road users, as well as video evidence received from road administrators.

Police officers will also be able to fine drivers for any breach of traffic rules based on road traffic monitoring data provided by public road administrators.

According to the authors of the ordinance, the purpose of this measure is to involve civil society in reporting serious traffic offences and to strengthen discipline on the roads.