Car Insurance
Speed camera convictions 'unsafe'
Tue, 07 Mar 2006
A motoring magazine claims that the majority of speeding convictions secured by speed cameras are 'unsafe'.
By not giving defendants evidence at least seven days before trial, Motor Cycle News (MCN) claims that the evidence is not admissible in court.
If photographs and the time intervals are not provided by the deadline, the report argues that such evidence cannot be used.
Tony Carter, news editor at the magazine, said: "The problem for most people accused of speeding is they will not realise that this fact of law… can render the evidence inadmissible in court."
However, Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership says that this is a dangerous view. It announced plans last month to make photographs available online to those accused of speeding.
Spokesman Jeremy Forsberg is quoted in the Sunderland Echo as saying: "The Motorcycle News article is incorrect and misleading.
"If requests are made to see photographic evidence by someone caught by a safety camera, Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership will provide them with that evidence."
The MCN report suggests that the best course of action is not to ask for a photograph so as to argue in court that evidence was not provided.
It says that the three biggest camera partnerships - London, Thames Valley and Mid and South Wales – told it that evidence was not automatically submitted to defendants, meaning it was potentially inadmissible.
Paying out for speed camera fines can certainly hit drivers in the pocket, but to alleviate this try shopping around for cheap car insurance.
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