Taylor.m

Can any one tell me what the speed limit is on the A63 Hull. Near where the deep centre is.

There was a camera van on the opposite side of the road and said i was doing 47mph in a 40mph. But the road has 3 lanes on it and i thought it was 50MPH

So obviesly he has heard me coming the opposite way and pointed laser at me.

Taylor.m

I think this is shocking 7mph over the limit
Havnt they got anything better to do

Taylor.m

Some one must know

Taylor.m

BTT

fitzscoob

if they have you over the limit then thats it mate, think there is a certain amount of leeway they can give you. Probably cought the copper having a **** day

Taylor.m

But i thought they only got cars coming towards the van not on the opposite side of the road driving away from the van. Plus there are barriers accross the roads so how could he get a clear reading. Aspecially at the angle of the car to the van

fitzscoob

was it a camera or a hand held jobbie?

Taylor.m

would it be worth writing a letter to say i pritty shore i was doing 40

hugo

Hope they wash their hands!!!

fitzscoob

lol always worry when fellas wave their lil heads at you if your driving

Taylor.m

well it was a van so they have a camera on a tripod set up in the van

Chris L

Have you received the NIP yet? Fight it - don't give in. There are plenty of things you are entitled to see with mobile cameras (in terms of information that the police MUST provide to you). Email me for some advice if you want to try and beat it.

Chris

DEEDEE

Chris, if you try and fight it will it go all the way, and if so are you then in big do do, but would be interested in the information you have. just in case of DEEDEE

Chris L

Not necessarily true - I have successfully fought a similar NIP 48 in 40, just by playing the system and following some good advice from an ex-traffic cop. It took me three letters over a period of about 4 months (and a little bit of nerve to play the system).

Basically, this is about revenue generation. If it was all about road safety, they would pursue every offender. The fact is, they can't. They rely on the fact that 99% of people just pay up. If you make yourself awkward, there is a good chance that they will not pursue it. The administration costs soon add up to more than the £60 fine and then it becomes uneconomical to pursue it, unless they intend to take you to court, which is unlikely for such a minor offence.

In the case of a mobile camera, you are entitled to three things - the photographic evidence, the certificate of calibration and the police officer's statement. In effect, what should happen is that the officer observes you commiting an offence, he then uses his speed camera to collect additional evidence.

The procedure you follow is basically this:

Wait for the NIP - if nothing happens then great!
If NIP arrives (with 14 days...), check all the information to make sure it is absolutely correct. Return the NIP correctly (ie confirming that it is your car, you were driving etc and signed).
When the conditional offer of £60 and 3 points is received, send a letter requesting all the evidence. All letters should be sent via recorded delivery - it shows you are serious and creates an audit trail.
What happens next depends on what reply you get. Normally, they will supply some of the evidence (often the photo), but don't supply the other stuff, saying that it can be produced in court if so required.

- In my case, this is exactly what I got - just the photos, they would not supply the other evidence - all they kept saying was that this evidence could be produced in court (this was the Met Police BTW). This is the bone of contention. If you are preparing to go to court, you are entitled to see all of the evidence against you - otherwise, how can you prepare your case?

I argued this in my second letter, when they didn't supply everything. In actual fact, if you are brave you can accuse them of demanding money with menaces (I did ) - they are using the threat of court action which technically could result in a fine 16 times greater than the fixed penalty to frighten you into paying up.

At this stage, I wrote back a third time and stated that despite previous requests, they had failed to supply the information that I was entitled to see prior to going to court. I stated that if they wanted to pursue this, they should issue a summons. If they did, I would refuse to enter a plea and immeadiately issue an official complaint against the Met Police naming the Chief Constable and the manager of the fines office for failure to provide evidence.

At this point, I have had no reply for over a month (and they are normally pretty quick at replying) and as far as I know they are not pursuing it. Some other mug will pay up without fuss.

The whole point is that they know they are in the wrong. Because you have sent letters by recorded delivery, you have an official audit trail confirming your requests. A magistrate would have no option but to throw the case out. They are relying on peoples ignorance of their rights to pursue these daft speeding tickets

Incidently, all of this came after a conversation with an ex-traffic cop. He is so fed up with the way the system is being abused, that he told me how to fight it. To be honest, I wouldn't have known where to start wihtout his help.

If you want more details, I have actual letters I wrote and contact details for my traffic cop friend

Chris

scooby-si

its 40mph slow down

Elmer Fudpucker

Thats a very interesting and informative post by Chris

I recieved a NIP for speeding over 8 months ago

I returned the NIP,stating that it was my car and that I was the driver..etc.

as my recorded speed was enough to necessitate an automatic court hearing
(first offence in 20 years,btw)I requested the photographic evidence and calibration certificates of the equipment used that day.

Sure enough,a foto was supplied,but not the proof of calibration.They said that would only be supplied 'if' my case went to court.

..Now 8 months on,I'm beginning to think that I've got away with it,purely
because I requested their certs...making it too difficult/costly for them to persue?,perhaps

I'm starting to believe that the Police were situated where they were on that particular day,just as an easy money spinner,ensnaring the unsuspecting motorist who pays up without question

Now if that isn't tempting fate,then I don't know what will

Jon

PompeyP1

I got caught a couple of years back by mobile unit which AFAIK was tucked in a roadside car park of a disused building. Coming through a village in Hampshire (at 30) I got clear of pedestrians, housing etc and accelerated for the 60 sign with about 600 yards to go to the higher limit. Result - 53 in a 30 - £335 and 6 points - wish I had known some of this then. Even my solicitors warned me off making a fuss or appealing the 'sentence'. Why weren't plod concentrating on the traffic coming into the 30 zone still doing 60+??

The real gut-wrencher on this story is a couple of years later I travelled on this road again and they have moved the 60 limit back half a mile closer to the village. A would not have been speeding at the same pint this time

Paul

Chris L

I can well believe it Jon. My ex-traffic cop friend worked for 30 years in Lancashire. According to him, they had so many speeding offences that in many cases, they would take a random 25% from each camera and send out the NIP - there were just too many. Therefore if you make yourself awkward there is even less chance they will pursure it. You shouldn't take this as gospel, but for most minor speeding offences, it is certainly worth a try and it will only cost you 90p to send a letter by recorded delivery. After each letter, they always give you extra time to pay, so if at any time you are not comfortable with pursuing it, you can simply pay the money and accept the points.

The other thing I did was always send the letters as close to the 28 day limit they give you to pay. This stretches things out even more. I was actually snapped by the camera in late Nov 2003!

It has often been said that if only 10% or 20% of people actually queried the NIp and asked for all the evidence and took them to the court, the whole system would probably collapse!

Chris