Speed camera in the wrong - rfds?

[robert_harper_2000]

In my local paper The Argus a Mr Barker refused to pay and contested his speeding ticket, he managed to have the case thrown out due to the camera being inaccurate. Mr Barker goes onto to say that previous tickets plus compensation for increased premiums due to to tickets should be refunded.

My brother got a ticket about 4 years ago and at the time he thought it was abit unreasonable as he was told the car was doing 34 in a 30 limit.

 

What are your thoughts?

[Conniff]

The calibration of cameras can always be challenged and the certificate produced if you wish to check it's accuracy.

[robert_harper_2000]

Well this guy has already done it and won! I just wondered if I can help out my brother. What would you do at this stage?

[crem]

It was 4 years ago!

 

I would say he wouldn't have a cat in hells chance of anyone reconsidering a case that old. Just my opinion though

[Conniff]

A bit difficult unless you can know for sure that any calibration certificate did in fact refer to the camera your brother was clocked in, 4 years is a long time.

Does he still have all the paperwork and does he have the camera serial number so he can ask for that particular certificate?

[robert_harper_2000]

I doubt he has kept anything, it was mainly because at the time he was sure he didn't speed but it said it was only 4mph so he thought well perhaps... and now this guy in the paper has proved it was an inaccurate camera!

Can I use the DPA to get the info?

[david1605red]

I doubt he has kept anything, it was mainly because at the time he was sure he didn't speed but it said it was only 4mph so he thought well perhaps... and now this guy in the paper has proved it was an inaccurate camera!

Can I use the Data Protection Act to get the info?

There was nothing wrong with the calibration certificate in the recent case, and I'm sure the one from 4 years ago will be fine as well.

 

The problem in Pete Barker's case was that the two readings - one from the camera's radar sensor, the other from the photographs/gridlines - differed by more than 10%.

 

The manufacturer's instructions clearly say that if that happens, the film should be disregarded, and no prosecution should ensue. However, due to a lapse in procedure by the police, and sheer incompetence by the CPS in pursuing a case that should never have been started, he found himself in court.

 

Fortunately the Judge had more sense, and threw out the prosecution evidence as inadmissible.

[Conniff]

But having read Mr Barkers case, you will have to go to the same lengths to prove the camera was or could have been inacurate at that time. Because this camera was inacurate doesn't mean all cameras are inacurate.

 

If you wish to take this further, you had better start burning the midnight oil and get clued up on what can go wrong and why.

 

Fines 'unfair' due to problem Gatso (From The Argus)

 

Remember, you can't just claim that is was or could have been faulty, you will have to show the court it was or could have been.

[david1605red]

If you wish to take this further, you had better start burning the midnight oil and get clued up on what can go wrong and why.

"Midnight Oil" doesn't begin to describe how much work went into defending this case. There's a 33-page thread in the members' section on Pepipoo, describing the full story.

 

The Argus report is very much a potted version; there were numerous pre-trial hearings; applications for Abuse of Process; expert's reports from both sides; and involvement in the early stages from RSS, the ACPO "hit squad" who are supposed to help prosecute motorists trying to get off on technicalities - but they shot themselves in both feet by providing an expert's report which established that the evidence from that camera was unreliable.

[Rooster-UK]

My own personal opinion is that after 4 years, you will need a lot of money and a lot of time to contest it, with no guarantee of success. I think you will find it cheaper to chalk it down to experience.

If you do decide to persue it, then you are a braver man than me.

 

Good luck.

[robert_harper_2000]

#What was the thread on Fightback forums called? What about if I used his case (with his permission) to argue my brothers?

[Conniff]

#What was the thread on Fightback forums called? What about if I used his case (with his permission) to argue my brothers?

 

That sounds the same as using the evidence from one murder to convict another. It won't be that easy.

[robert_harper_2000]

lol perhaps but it's just it is the same camera as the one that got my brother - and he was caught doing 34mph it would only have to be abit inaccurate and he wasn't speeding?

[Conniff]

Because it is the same pod don't mean that it is the same camera. Remember not all pods are filled all the time and they move cameras around so no one can tell if they are live or not. They just leave the flash live so speeders think they have been caught.

[lamma]

if your brother doesn't still have the photos he is out of luck I am afraid. and if he has the photos they need to be checked for accuracy. then if they do show greater than a 10 percent error he still has to build a case and win it.

[david1605red]

#What was the thread on Fightback forums called? What about if I used his case (with his permission) to argue my brothers?

edited

 

If your brother paid a fixed penalty, there is no chance of getting that back. If his case was heard before a Magistrates' Court, you would have to apply to the High Court to have the case re-opened, which in my view would almost certainly be refused, I'm afraid.

Edited December 26, 2008 by HSBCrusher
edited link to fee-paying feature of website