Dangerous driving videos easily found on social media
BBC Verify has identified numerous social media videos depicting dangerous driving, including high-speed chases and illegal maneuvers. While TikTok prohibits such content, the investigation highlights the prevalence of these videos following a fatal crash in Middlesbrough.
Why it matters
The intersection of social media content and real-world public safety concerns poses significant regulatory and ethical challenges for tech platforms.
At least one of the young people killed in the Middlesbrough crash appears in multiple videos posted on TikTok depicting dangerous driving.
BBC Verify has found dozens of videos on social media showing high-speed car chases, driving on footpaths and on the wrong side of the road.
TikTok's policies prohibit content that "could lead to physical harm", and the company has removed videos identified by BBC Verify.
Cleveland Police say they are launching a wide-scale investigation "into the criminality which took place prior to the fatal crash", and "there is no evidence to indicate that filming of the activities that took place on Friday night and Saturday morning has taken place for the purposes of TikTok".
Video produced by Tom Joyner. Graphics by Sally Nicholls and Mesut Ersoz.
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