A WEBSITE designed to shame bad drivers has been accused of promoting vigilantism by police.
But in response, its founder has offered to hand over the service to see if they can do a better job.
Chipping Norton man Andrew McGavin set up
BetterDrivingPlease.com in 2006, allowing people witne
ss to bad drivers to report them online, making their registration plate visible to the world.
Since its inception more than 11,000 reports, including the number plate, what the driver did and where it happened, have been made, with several in the Banbury area but Thames Valley Police have condemned it.
Mr McGavin said: "I don't give any credence to the police suggestion that it leads to vigilantism.
"The website is to my mind designed to embarrass the police, you can drive for hundreds of miles without ever seeing a police car on the roads and they need to address that."
Mr McGavin hopes the website will one day be used by the police to target dangerous drivers but his offer to let them run the service has yet to receive a response.
He said: "We are getting to the point now where different users are reporting the same number plate so if reports were being directed to the police they could approach these drivers and do something about it.
"The police need help and BetterDrivingPlease.com is an excellent tool for them.
"This is a genuine offer to Thames Valley Police to take control of the website for their area, and use it to catch more drivers blatantly breaking the law on our roads."
Mr McGavin added that, despite the police criticism, his scheme has been backed in the House of Lords by former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Condon.
Drivers highlighted by the website are able to email and question it, respond to reports or even give themselves a positive report.
In a statement Thames Valley Police said: "We sympathise with the concerns that people have about poor driving in their local areas.
"But we do not condone this type of website because we are concerned it may lead to vigilantism.
"We would recommend that people contact their neighbourhood policing team about any concerns they may have about poor driving in their area."
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