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Article in today's Daily Telegraph:

Drivers win back speed fines after signs chaos
By Richard Savill
(Filed: 01/03/2005)

About 2,500 convicted motorists will have their speeding fines refunded and penalty points rescinded after a driver successfully challenged a "chaotic" system of restriction signs at roadworks.

The drivers were trapped by a speed camera on the A303 at Folly Bottom, near Amesbury, between September 2003 and January last year.

The Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership, which operated the camera, is writing to 2,467 motorists to say that it intends to refund the £60 fines - at a total cost of £148,020 - and remove the penalty points. It will also consider any claim for compensation.

The move follows a court challenge by Clair Allison, 48, a Sky Television make-up artist, who spent months taking photographs and gathering video evidence after she was caught breaking the temporary 40mph limit.

At Salisbury magistrates' court 10 days ago, Miss Allison and 27 other motorists had speeding cases dismissed after they said that signs were not displayed properly, were not out at all, or were not backed up by necessary documentation.

Miss Allison said: "I drive a very high mileage and I do my very best always to drive safely. The ticket in the post made me so angry because I knew that I had not passed a speed limit sign."

She said she had conducted her battle on behalf of "middle Englanders" and added: "We were not boy racers tearing about a housing estate."

The Crown Prosecution Service decided to offer no evidence after Barry Culshaw, for the drivers, argued that the signing was flawed.

He said yesterday: "The Crown had to concede they could not prove at any given time who put a sign up, who pulled it down and when. The police camera vehicle was doing most of its enforcement from a bridge. The site was chaotic. Sometimes cones were out and sometimes not. Sometimes there were signs and cones and sometimes nothing at all."

He added: "If this can happen at Folly Bottom, is it not happening nationwide? There is an intricate web of regulations and statute, which applies to roadworks signings. If they have not got it right, the motorist has an absolute defence."

A Highways Agency spokesman said that it would be issuing guidance to contractors to ensure that signs were in the right places. In cases where there were roadworks, contractors were being advised to video signs.

The A303 roadworks lasted until last August when a further 3,000 motorists were fined. However, the partnership said it was confident it could rebut a challenge by any of those motorists, as documents were available.

Sgt Nick Blencowe, of the partnership, said that, although the case against the motorists had collapsed, they would have been aware of the extensive roadworks and should have been more cautious.

"At least one was detected not only exceeding the temporary 40mph speed limit but also the national 70mph speed limit."

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Well one actual guilty person out of 2,467 wrongfully convicted isn't too bad, is it?

...and even that should be in doubt considering they were using laser measurement from a potential 'slip angle' error prone location (ie. on a bridge above the height of the approaching vehicles!)

Actually when you think about almost all locations will be prone to potential "slip angle" errors. There's an easy solution the pratnerships can adopt though. Clearly the problem can arise every time the laser is pointed at the traffic at any angle, so they just need to chang it so that traffic is coming at the laser head on. In other words they should set up in the middle of the road. I reckon the M20 is a good place for them to start trying this. Lots of artics, mwahahahahaha.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 331783.stm

U turn over speed camera blunder

Thousands of motorists caught at a speed camera site in Wiltshire are no longer able to challenge their fines.

Originally, people caught speeding at the A303 Folly Bottom roadworks between May 2003 and August 2004 were told they could have fines and points reviewed.

Now, the Wiltshire & Swindon Safety Camera Partnership says only people caught between October 2003 and 13 January 2004 can apply.

The change is down to record keeping, the partnership said.

The original invitation to have convictions reviewed came from the partnership after a woman had her court case for speeding dismissed.

Clair Allison was caught on camera exceeding the temporary limit at the roadworks, but claimed there were no warning signs.

A spokeswoman for the camera partnership told the BBC: "The timeframe [for reviewing cases] only relates to when contractors cannot provide documentary evidence to show the signs were there when we say they were."

The partnership will only be contacting 2,467 drivers caught speeding and fined when the temporary limit was in place between October 2003 and January 2004.

It cannot say how many people were fined between May 2003 and August 2004.

"We have had letters and calls from people caught outside our timeframe. We are taking advice and will respond individually," the spokeswoman added.

Lack of evidence

But a Wiltshire Police statement, issued on behalf of the partnership in July 2004, said more than 5,300 motorists were caught and fined in the first six weeks of the enforcement alone.

A police spokeswoman then said each case could cost up to £250 to review.

Paul Smith, from the Safe Speed Road Safety campaign, which is critical of speed cameras, claims the signs at the roadworks were faulty throughout the whole period.

"The right way forward is for someone with authority to now step in," he said.

Ms Allison's case was dismissed by Salisbury Magistrates' Court on 17 February because of a lack of evidence from the Crown Prosecution Service.

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Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.