Caoimhé’s Law would make it a criminal offence to record or share images/videos of victims at the scene of a fatal or critical road traffic collision
Pressure is building for Stormont to introduce legislation making it a criminal offence to record or share images and videos of victims at the scene of a fatal or critical road traffic collision.
Ards and North Down Borough Council is the latest council to join the “Caoimhé’s Law” campaign – which calls for the Northern Ireland Executive to bring in laws aiming to prevent families from seeing footage of their loved ones’ final moments shared online.
Caoimhé’s Law would make it a criminal offence to record or share images/videos of victims at the scene of a fatal or critical road traffic collision without lawful authority or family consent, and would make it an offence to circulate such material before families are officially notified.
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It would also make it illegal to use such content for sensationalist, exploitative, or commercial purposes. It would also be illegal to publish crash scene images without prior approval from the PSNI or relevant authorities, and it would be against the law to obstruct emergency services or interfere with rescue operations through the recording or sharing of such material.
The campaign is named after Caoimhé O’Brien, from Douglas Bridge, near Strabane, Co Tyrone, who died aged 23 in a single vehicle road collision on October 13 2016.
Mid Ulster Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council have already passed a motion calling on the government to act. It states: “(We) express deepest sympathy to the families affected by the unauthorised recording, sharing, and circulation of images and videos taken at the scenes of fatal or critical road traffic collisions.
“(We) condemn the increasing trend of individuals and media outlets capturing and distributing distressing footage of victims without consent, often before families have been formally notified. (We) recognise the serious psychological harm and trauma this causes to bereaved families, and the urgent need for legislative protection, (and we) reaffirm that the right of families to privacy and dignity must always outweigh the voyeuristic or commercial interests of individuals or media outlets.”
The motion “acknowledges the testimony of families, including those from this district, who have been directly impacted by the unauthorised sharing of videos and images of their loved ones in the immediate aftermath of fatal road incidents.”
The motion calls on the Northern Ireland Executive and the Department of Justice to prioritise the drafting and introduction of this legislation “as a matter of urgency.” Similar legislation exists or is being introduced in other jurisdictions, including the Republic of Ireland and England and Wales, recognising the same growing problem of digital voyeurism at accident scenes.
Ards and North Down Borough Council have become the latest public authority to back the call, and at the recent full meeting of the council at Bangor Castle, the chamber unanimously agreed to a proposal by the UUP to join Derry and Strabane and Mid Ulster.
UUP Councillor David Chambers made the proposal at the council meeting, calling on the Stormont Department of Justice to prioritise the introduction of Caoimhé’s Law. He said: “Unfortunately Caoimhé’s family weren’t able to tell all of their close members of her tragic death before her name was all over social media. Sadly you will all know today this isn’t a rare occurrence – more and more people are learning about absolutely devastating news by a social media post, sometimes seeing footage of the accident or indeed the aftermath.
“Personally I think it is absolutely disgusting that there are people out there whose first instinct is to pull out a phone and capture a photograph or a video of a fatal or critical road traffic collision. Victims and their loved ones deserve dignity and privacy, and it should be their right, and not a privilege.”
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