Young motorists are increasingly "baiting police officers" through dangerous driving stunts filmed and shared on social media platforms like TikTok, officials have warned. The emergence of these videos follows several tragic incidents involving reckless driving.
Many of the clips feature drivers speeding, often in stolen vehicles, while passengers inhale nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas. The videos typically show a speedometer climbing rapidly before the camera pans to the occupants, who are often seen laughing. Some clips have remained online for months despite growing calls for a crackdown on content that appears to glorify criminal activity.
One video, posted between November and the current month, depicts a driver in a BMW X3 being pursued by a police car. The driver shouts, "Straight through the red light, f***ing leave them." Another shows a driver speeding through a residential area, overtaking vehicles and then driving over a pedestrian crossing and onto grass. A third clip captures a motorist on a country road exceeding 80 mph while wearing gloves, with the video captioned "stoley," an apparent reference to a stolen car.
The government has urged social media companies, including TikTok, to remove videos that promote dangerous driving. This call comes after two recent tragedies resulted in 12 deaths. While the videos noted were found on TikTok, similar content is believed to exist on other platforms.
Paul Williams, acting deputy national chairman for the Police Federation of England and Wales, stated that authorities identify numerous examples daily of young people sensationalizing dangerous driving and "baiting police officers." He expressed concern that officers are not only worried about returning home safely but also about being "plastered all over social media." Williams deemed this situation "absolutely unacceptable" and called for action from social media platforms.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham described those who share such videos as "truly reprehensible." Officials have reportedly raised concerns about this content with social media companies.
Two police officers died on Saturday when their vehicle was struck by a car traveling the wrong way on a dual carriageway in Teesside. PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed when a Volkswagen Passat, which had been pursued by police, collided with their marked armed response vehicle shortly after the pursuit was terminated. Five other individuals, identified as 17-year-old Cole Robert Worthy and Theo Rae, 18-year-old Makai Saddington, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak, also died at the scene.
TikTok has since banned the accounts of at least two of the five individuals who died in the Teesside crash. Accounts linked to Jacob Matusiak and Michael Cahill, previously showing videos of reckless driving, are now inaccessible, displaying a "banned" message. Cleveland Police indicated that the individuals involved may have had connections to "serious and organised criminal activity," and 12 other people have been arrested in connection with alleged criminal activities leading up to the collision. Reports suggest that on the morning of the incident, police received multiple reports of two vehicles, a Volvo XC60 and a Volkswagen Passat, being driven dangerously, with the Volvo allegedly involved in ramming properties. Both vehicles were reportedly using cloned number plates but were detected by automated number plate recognition technology.
In a separate incident on August 16, five teenagers died when the car they were in crashed head-on with another vehicle while traveling the wrong way on the M9 in County Kildare, Ireland. The occupants of the other vehicle, a family including three sisters and a young boy, sustained serious injuries.
A Downing Street spokesperson stated that the glorification of dangerous driving is "utterly disgraceful." The UK's communications regulator, Ofcom, noted that under the Online Safety Act, platforms must minimize children's exposure to dangerous content. Ofcom launched an investigation in July into TikTok's compliance with child safety duties.
TikTok has stated that its staff are monitoring content related to the A66 incident and removing videos and accounts that violate its rules, which include prohibitions against content that glorifies violence, promotes crimes, or depicts activities likely to cause significant harm or be imitated.