A66 crash: Police Federation demands social media giants act on pursuit videos
A senior police officer has called on social media platforms to stop amplifying dangerous driving footage after two officers died in an A66 collision. Seven people were killed in the Teesside smash.
Police Federation urges social media crackdown after A66 deaths
Paul Williams, Acting Deputy National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, has demanded that social media companies take immediate action to prevent dangerous driving footage from being uploaded and shared online, Daily Express reports. His intervention came days after two police officers and five youths were killed in a devastating head-on collision on the A66 in Teesside.
Writing exclusively for the Express, Williams said: "Every day, videos glorifying dangerous driving attract huge audiences. Every day, police officers are baited, filmed and turned into content for clicks. Criminality, confrontation and reckless behaviour are increasingly packaged as entertainment and rewarded with attention."
Williams, who has 26 years of policing experience, warned that more people will die unless the trend is halted. Posts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Twitter can attract tens of thousands of likes within hours of being published — often featuring real-time high-speed footage of stolen cars being chased by police.
"Social media companies cannot keep pretending they are powerless," Williams wrote. "Their algorithms decide what is promoted, recommended and amplified. Dangerous driving should not be entertainment. Provoking police officers should not be a route to internet fame. If platforms can make this content go viral, they can do far more to stop it."
The A66 collision
PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, were killed when their armed response vehicle was struck head-on by a VW Passat travelling on the wrong side of the A66 dual carriageway in the early hours of Saturday morning. All five occupants of the Passat were also killed instantly: Cole Worthy, Makai Saddington, 18, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Theo Rae, 17, and Michael Cahill, 23. Police previously confirmed they suspected the youths had links to serious and organised criminal activity.
Williams described the crash as a "tragedy that has shone a spotlight on a growing problem that police officers have been warning about for years." He was careful to draw a distinction between the broader social media issue and the specific investigation: "Nobody should speculate about any connection with an ongoing investigation. However, the tragedy has prompted a wider conversation about the content and behaviours being promoted across social media every day."
Gangland feud suspected as catalyst
It has since emerged that the crash may have been triggered by a gangland dispute rather than thrill-seeking alone. According to the Daily Express, at approximately 3am on the Saturday morning — some 40 minutes before the fatal collision — a Volvo XC60 allegedly rammed the Middlesbrough home of Gye Worthy, 39, the father of Cole Worthy. Detectives are investigating claims the vehicle reversed deliberately into the front window of the property twice, causing extensive damage.
Within minutes, the VW Passat carrying Cole Worthy and four companions was driving around the streets of Middlesbrough in what investigators believe was a pursuit of the Volvo. The Passat was spotted and followed by a police patrol, a chase that ended on the A66.
CCTV footage shows the vehicle travelling at between 80 and 100mph along Lime Road in Teesville at 3.36am. Three minutes later it turned onto the wrong side of the A66 dual carriageway, at which point the pursuing police units halted. Ten seconds after that, the Passat struck the armed response car carrying Clough and Blades.
There is no suggestion that Gye Worthy, 39, is involved in any criminal activity.
Arrests rise to 17
Cleveland Police confirmed that five further arrests were made in connection with the incident, following 12 arrests on the previous Monday. Those newly detained included a 16-year-old boy and four men aged 18, 21, 23 and 25, bringing the total number detained to 17. The force confirmed that both the Volvo XC60 and the VW Passat form part of the active inquiry.
Some of the Passat's occupants had previously appeared in online videos taunting police during dangerous driving incidents, though investigators now believe Saturday's events were driven primarily by the desire for retaliation rather than the pursuit of online notoriety.
Platforms 'must act before the next tragedy'
Williams's op-ed reflects a growing frustration within policing about the role that algorithmic amplification plays in encouraging dangerous behaviour. "Long before last weekend, officers were raising concerns about a culture that encourages people to chase online notoriety at any cost," he wrote. "Police pursuits are edited into viral clips. Encounters with officers are stripped of context. Split-second decisions are judged by millions. And who pays the price? Frontline officers, their families and the communities they serve."
He called on platforms to act before another fatal incident forces the issue back into public view. "Before another tragedy shines a spotlight on this issue, they must act," Williams concluded. "Our members already face enough risks protecting the public. They should not also have to worry about being vilified online or finding themselves at the centre of a deliberately manufactured viral clip."
Source: Daily Express