Safe Speed Forums

Caught doing 103mph? My van struggles to 60mph, says Somerset businesswoman

?A Somerset woman who says her van struggles to do 60mph was given a speeding ticket . . . for 103 mph.
Davina Hardiman has now had the speeding ticket overturned after the Somerset Safety Camera Partnership wrote to her to say it was a mistake.
The Chard businesswoman, 31, was said to have been clocked doing 103mph in a 2004 Citroen Berlingo on the A358 Furnham Road last month.
Ms Hardiman said her van had a fridge and an oven and the highest speed it had ever reached is 60mph.
At first Ms Hardiman, who runs Sunshine Snacks delivering hot and cold food to local businesses, thought it was a joke but now is warning other drivers who have been clocked speeding on Hornsbury Hill.

"I go past the camera every day and I don't remember it flashing"

Speed camera wrongly clocked catering van at 103mph
21 February 2011 Last updated at 11:52
Catering van Davina Hardiman said her van struggled to get to 60mph

A Somerset woman who was wrongly clocked driving at 103mph (166km/h) in a catering van has had her speeding ticket overturned.
Davina Hardiman from Chard said it was impossible for her van to reach speeds that high and that the speed camera on the A358 was wrong.

Somerset Safety Camera Partnership has written to her to say it was a mistake.
"There may be lots of people that have had the same thing and you've got no defence with these things," she said.
"I go past the camera every day and I don't remember it flashing so I was completely bemused at my speeding ticket."
'Excessive amount'
Drivers clocked doing more than 100mph (161km/h) can lose their licence and face a £1,000 fine.

Ms Hardiman said her van, which is fully equipped with an industrial oven and fridge, was not capable of doing more than 60mph (97km/h).
"I don't know why I got a ticket. I don't understand how they can get it so wrong. I've been told that speed cameras just aren't wrong, and it's not a valid excuse to say the speed camera is wrong.
"They claim to always be right and it just shows you can't trust them."
She said she thought her ticket was overturned because it was an "excessive amount".
The Safety Camera Partnership apologised and said it should not have been entered into the system.

...They would have done better to have not sent it out in the first place.

That may well be correct but it would be interesting to see what the full story is and could that vehicle have travelled at 103mph at the time of the offence?

That may well be correct but it would be interesting to see what the full story is and could that vehicle have travelled at 103mph at the time of the offence?

GreenShed wrote:

SafeSpeedv2 wrote:...They would have done better to have not sent it out in the first place.


That may well be correct but it would be interesting to see what the full story is and could that vehicle have travelled at 103mph at the time of the offence?



She was lying. Silverstone is awash with Citroen Berlingo's on track days. I've heard the ones with industrial ovens and fridges in go like f**k, they are seen as a performance mod as the standard Berlingo van only does 99mph. The oven increases performance by about 2% and the fridge about the same. Demon Tweeks are working on adding a coffee peculator to a NA diesel VW Caddy to compliment the Kenwood Chef they have already fitted to increase the performance of the brakes. The coffee percolate cools the brakes and uses the heat to make a nice cup of coffee, this mod shaves 8 meters off the braking distance and keeps the drive properly hydrated and refreshed at the same time.

I did say that it may have been correct of course.
What Greenshed does know is that Greenshed has dealt with a number of vehicles that have been altered after the event to lower their top speed in an attempt to undermine the speed camera reading. It happens.

How many have been converted into a mobile kitchen?

I did say that it may have been correct of course.
What Greenshed does know is that Greenshed has dealt with a number of vehicles that have been altered after the event to lower their top speed in an attempt to undermine the speed camera reading. It happens.

I did say that it may have been correct of course.
What Greenshed does know is that Greenshed has dealt with a number of vehicles that have been altered after the event to lower their top speed in an attempt to undermine the speed camera reading. It happens.

The figure of 98mph and a high court judgement, against the prosecution, comes to mind here

Of course the High Court may have got it wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never heard of it, please enlighten us.

Seems like selective amnesia, ikt made the press and the media