A van driver in Leicester has had a speeding fine quashed after proving he was travelling at 29mph in a 30mph speed limit zone.
According to the gasto speed camera, delivery driver Thomas Baird was travelling at 85mph in his Ford Transit Connect.
However, lawyers were able to prove the motorist was travelling within the speed limit, and the case has brought the reliability of the cameras into question.
Baird received a Notice of Intended Prosecution and contested the speed with the police’s safer team, but was then sent a court order.
“Gatso cameras take two photos which are 0.5 seconds apart. We calculated the true speed of the vehicle by making an application to Staffordshire Police for a copy of the second photograph,” said Bobby Bell from fixedfeelawyer.co.uk, the firm representing the driver.
“Once the police disclosed this we were able to calculate the speed by reference to the physical markings on the carriageway, proving he had been travelling at a maximum of 29.08mph,” Bell added, calling for the police to switch off the camera until they have investigated and fixed the problem that caused the overreading.
“If the suggested reading had not been so high Mr Baird probably would have just paid the fine. There aren’t many people who can spend the time, effort and money fighting something they think the police are likely to win,” Bell said. “This case is a stark reminder that these supposedly infallible devices can produce inaccurate and unreliable evidence.”
The lawyer told What Van? that this problem isn’t just restricted to Gatso fixed cameras, citing a client who was clocked hitting 115mph by an average speed camera “when in reality she was doing far less than that.”