Stop SMIDSY - what's the point?

[Wendy]

I'm not sure I understand what the point of the CTC website stop SMIDSY is?

Stop SMIDSY | Stop SMIDSY

I can't see that it does anything practical, and my impression is that the combination of videos posted to YouTube, Roadsafe (sorry, London only), and reporting company drivers actually does have a strong effect.  If I'm not mistaken, Stop SMIDSY isn't even publicly searchable for number plates.

p.s. I'm not having a dig, it's a genuine question.  For example, I'm a huge fan of the CTC fillthathole website.  That is a fine piece of work, and very useful.

[mAsTa RiDaH]

It's about lobbying the Goverment to promote change from the top which is how it should be. From what I've seen the whole helmet camera thing has not really done anything from what I've watched in the media recently.

It's to upto the Goverment albeit a higher power to dispell ignorance among those drivers that think they own the road and to promote shared usership of the road.

we will build the political will to change how society deals with bad driving.

[Kim]

My understanding is that it's primarily about collecting a substantial mass of anecdata with the eventual aim of being able to wave it at the government as evidence that otherwise unreported bad driving is a serious problem.  As such it seems unlikely to achieve anything much in the short term, but that doesn't make it a bad idea.  This is the sort of thing that leads to more formal studies, from which something useful may eventually result.

And it's probably of cathartic value for recently-SMIDSYed cyclists.   

[Regulator]

I'm not sure I understand what the point of the CTC website stop SMIDSY is?

They've got to spend your membership fees on something... and there's only so many over-budget and behind schedule web-sites any one organisation can have.   

I think someone at National Office thought it would be a good idea without really thinking about the use to which any anecdata might be put.

[Wendy]

LOL!  I don't mind a few fails, especially when they have achieved such a good win with fill that hole.  I was really just checking to see whether I'd misunderstood the apparent pointlessness, and should change my approach to logging things on that site also.  It seems not.