Safe Speed Forums

FURY OVER ROAD SPEED FINE GAFFE

A WREXHAM motorist who was wrongly fined for speeding feels he was denied a higher paid job because he had penalty points on his driving licence.

Anthony Waters of New Hall Road, Ruabon, was one of more than 1,100 motorists incorrectly fined £60 and ordered to have three points endorsed on their licences last October when travelling on the A483 bypass in Wrexham.
Due to temporary roadworks the maximum speed limit was reduced to 40mph to protect those working on the road.
The signage for this temporary change was found to be unsatisfactory and now more than £68,000 is to be paid back to motorists caught by speed cameras.
This month Mr Waters received a letter from solicitors, acting on behalf of North Wales Police, stating his conviction was indeed illegal and he was to have the points taken off his licence and the £60 fine returned.
Mr Waters said: “This is all well and good but the fact I have had these three points on my licence since October has affected me. I recently applied for a job at a factory that offered the prospect of higher pay.
“One of the questions on the application was do you have a driving licence to which I wrote ‘yes’. The next question said do you have any points on your licence and explain what for. Obviously I put ‘yes’, I have three points for speeding because I hadn’t yet received the letter. Needless to say I didn’t get the job.”
Although Mr Waters cannot be certain the penalty points went against him when applying for the job, he feels they were definitely a factor.
He said: “If it didn’t contribute to their decision on who should get the job then they wouldn’t have asked the question at all. The job would have definitely given me a better standard of living.”
Mr Waters said he is not going to have his fine refunded to him until the end of July.
He said: “I am not on the highest of salaries, it is about a third of my weekly pay. When I received this conviction for speeding I was ordered to pay the fine within 28 days or else I would be returning to court. It seems unfair I have to wait so long for money I shouldn’t have had to pay out at all.”
Officers cannot say whether any drivers were disqualified because of the error but Mr Waters believes many people will have been adversely affected by this blunder.
He said: “I’m sure this will have affected many people and could have cost people their jobs. This is bad enough but I received no apology. I called the solicitors and was told no apology was needed from North Wales Police because at this moment in time they do not know who is to blame for the error. They are investigating this.”
Contractors conducting roadworks on the bypass asked for Arrive Alive mobile cameras to protect workers after a fatal incident in Cheshire when two contractors and a motorist were killed at roadworks.
An Arrive Alive spokesman said a North Wales Casualty Reduction Partnership Officer identified the error in the location of the temporary signs on the A483 northbound roadwork.
She said: “The officer noted the signage at the site had been placed outside the corresponding traffic order guidelines. The partnership immediately effected the cancellation of all 1,136 notices issued at this location during the relevant time period from October 6-28. There is an on-going investigation at the moment into this issue.”

Some thoughts...
Well at least the pratnershit had a nice interest free loan.
I would suggest an on the ball lawyer could have a field day with this
and there goes more goodwill for the police

I'd reckon the avg. solicitor could get 3-5k per case for mental health damages + 15% on insurance.