The shocking driving caught on bin lorry dash cams in Cornwall

  • Watch Cornwall Council's dash cam footage of dangerous driving

A number of drivers in Cornwall have been caught mounting pavements and driving the wrong way on roundabouts.

Cornwall Council says it has released the footage from its rubbish and recycling vehicles across the county to highlight the inconsiderate, impatient, and dangerous actions of drivers.

The council says the actions of some drivers are putting hardworking rubbish and recycling collection crews and other road users at risk. 

In one example, multiple vehicles mounted the pavement and sped along a verge, with one almost colliding with another before driving off.

One motorist was in such a hurry they did not even negotiate a roundabout the correct way. 

In another, a car did not pause before mounting the pavement to get past the collection lorry, even with pedestrians clearly visible on the opposite pavement.

The actions of these motorists could have resulted in death or serious injury to these key workers and members of the public. 

One motorist could be seen driving along a narrow pavement. Credit: Cornwall Council

Cornwall Council's portfolio holder for neighbourhoods Carol Mould said: “I could hardly believe what I was seeing.

"For the sake of a few moments delay, people seem to be willing to not only put the lives of waste crews in danger, but also the lives of pedestrians and other road users. We all need to work together to keep our communities safe.

“Please respect our waste crews who were rightly recognised and applauded as ‘hi vis heroes’ for keeping such an essential service running during the pandemic.”  

The collection of waste and recycling is a huge operation with individual vehicles and crews collecting from up to 2,500 properties a day.  

Traffic volume, the time of year, inconsiderate parking and roadworks can all have an impact on where they can safely pull in. 

Biffa delivers the rubbish and recycling collection services on behalf of the council. A spokesperson for the firm said: “We do our best to keep the collection trucks moving as quickly as possible, we are aware that everyone has somewhere they need to be.

"But it is disheartening, and sometimes quite threatening, to see other road users being so impatient. Crews sometimes get verbal abuse too which is upsetting when they are just trying to provide an essential service to every household in Cornwall.”