smeggy wrote:
Quote:
UK: Speed Camera Evidence Withheld Before Trial
Speed camera operators in the UK are hiding evidence to discourage court challenges.
Several of the partnerships responsible for operating speed cameras in the UK are suppressing evidence of alleged speeding incidents. The move forces motorists to risk expensive court battles even when they are unfairly accused.
"The onus is on the driver of the vehicle to prove their innocence, not on the Partnership to prove guilt," Staffordshire camera partnership spokesman Jeannie Hoddinott told Motorcycle News.
Motorcyclist Bryn Carlyon beat an inaccurate ticket by proving mathematically that the distance he traveled in the pair of speed camera photographs could only have been done at well under the speed limit. Now Staffordshire is withholding the second photo and West Midlands is cropping images to prevent the accused from using pavement markings to perform speed calculations.
Although in the US, camera photos are always issued as a part of automated enforcement tickets, this in not common in the UK. Also, motorists face penalties of up to £2000 ($3900) and six points from UK judges if they challenge a ticket in court.
Source: Speeding: Guilty Until Proven Innocent (Motorcycle News (UK), 12/12/2006)
This is absolutely abhorrent and deserves a PR - if true
“the onus is on you to prove your innocence, but we withhold the means for you to accomplish this”The only consolation is that every time they do something like this, it surely must make a whole new raft of people realise that they are only in it for the money. Why else would they attempt to stop people proving their innocence pre-court? What possible other explanation could there be, except that they're trying to intimidate as many people as possible into coughing up because they don't want to face court (with the threat of extra points and expenditure)? Scumbags of the highest order.
The cameras themselves are bad enough, but the incredibly dishonest and misanthropic way in which they are administered is what really gets my back up.
I'm surprised none of the letter bombs ended up at one of the pratships. And no, I don't condone them, or violence of any kind. And that includes the kind of indirect violence perpetrated by those falsely claiming that cameras are saving lives.
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