Speed Camera News Speed Scamera FALSELY cites driver in UK! (Another review "mistake" by operator,,,,,SURE! )
Speed Scamera FALSELY cites driver in UK! (Another review "mistake" by operator,,,,,SURE! More like RUBBER STAMP!!!)
North Wales woman wrongly given speeding ticket
by Kelly Williams, DPW WestMay 1 2012
Kirsty O'Hara from Rhyl holding an apology letter from North Wales Police after she was wrongly given a speeding ticket A WOMAN has had her speeding fine quashed after a blunder when a GoSafe camera snapped the wrong car.
Now Kirsty O’Hara is warning motorists they could literally be paying the price for other people’s illegal driving.
The 23-year-old from Rhyl demanded proof after she was slapped with a fine after claims her car had been photographed going 10mph above the speed limit.
Now road safety organisation GoSafe has admitted it made a blunder and revoked her penalty.
Kirsty’s Vauxhall Vectra passed the speed camera van at the same time as a speeding white van travelling in the opposite direction on Foryd Road in Kinmel Bay.
She was travelling with her boyfriend and was approaching the Asda supermarket when the incident was recorded at 5.20pm on April 10.
Adamant she had not exceeded the speed limit by 10mph, Kirsty refused to pay the £60 ticket and accept three points on her licence – instead insisting on seeing photographic evidence.
Days later, she received a letter from North Wales Police who work in partnership with GoSafe admitting they had made “an error whilst recording the vehicle registration number”.
Kirsty, who has an unblemished driving licence of seven years, said: “When I received a letter telling me I’d been caught doing 40mph in a 30mph zone, I just knew that there was absolutely no chance that was right.
“I wrote back asking them to show me proof and within days they replied telling me they’d made a mistake.
“If the ticket said I’d been going 31 or 32mph, I probably would’ve just paid the fine without question.
“It makes you wonder how many more people have been wrongly given fines like this, I bet there are a lot of people who just pay up no questions asked.”
Jim Moore the manager of GoSafe said: “On April 10, a white van was recorded speeding on the A485 at Kinmel Bay at 40mph in a 30mph limit by the operator of a mobile safety camera. The speeding van was travelling away from the camera.
“Also captured in the image was another vehicle apparently driven by Miss O’Hara which was not speeding.
“The offending white van was partially obscured by Miss O’Hara's vehicle and the person who initially viewed the offence mistakenly identified the wrong vehicle.
“Miss O’Hara wrote to us on April 23, querying the allegation that she was speeding and the mistake was identified.
“The allegation was immediately withdrawn and Miss O’Hara was written to on the April 25 informing her of this decision.
“We apologise to Miss O'Hara for any worry we have caused.
“Mistakes are made occasionally but are very rare.
“We endeavour to learn from them to ensure they do not recur.
“Safety cameras are a vital road safety tool.
“Last year casualties were reduced by 72% at camera sites compared to the 1994 to 98 baseline figure.”
Ban the Cams note: There are a number of problems with the "reduction" claim based on past examples from the UK..
Witness this example from the Association of British Drivers: http://www.abd.org.uk/local/north_wales.htm
Camera Report Generates More Lies
Richard Brunstrom is spouting the success of speed cameras after a government speed camera report claimed speed cameras had reduced accidents by 40%.
- Daily Post — Brunstrom vindicated? http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/tm_objectid=14337314&method=full&siteid=50142&headline=brunstrom-vindicated--name_page.html 2004-04-16
It is claimed that one of the most successful cameras is on the A541 "Wrexham to Cefn-y-Bedd" road, which for the three years before cameras claimed on average four "killed or seriously injured" a year. After speed cameras were put in place, it fell to nil.
However, no such reduction is shown in the DfT report http://www.abd.org.uk/local/TARGET= because accident figures for 2003 have not been published. The camera was only installed in March 2003. So where does this claimed reduction come from?
No precise location of the accidents on the A541, nor their cause, is given.
As usual they intentionally fail to distinguish between those killed, and those 'seriously injured' (a serious injury can be a broken finger).
The Wrexham Mail http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/page.cfm?objectid=12660858&method=full&siteid=50142 stated on Feb 19th 2003 that "On the A541 Mold Road between January 1999 and December 2001 there were five serious injuries and 23 slight injuries". It's not clear exactly what section of the road that includes, but it had no deaths.
The A541 between Wrexham and Cefn-y-Bedd is dual carriageway about 4 miles long. There is only one speed camera — on Mold Road http://www.abd.org.uk/local/north_wales_cameras.htm#moldroad, a urban somewhat traffic-calmed dual carraigeway as you enter Wrexham, the road here has a 30mph limit.
Engineering Improvements
In December 2003, a new set of traffic signals was installed at the A541/A550 junction to reduce accidents. Brunstrom of course, forgot to mention this, prefering to give all the credit for accident reduction to his beloved speed camera — over 3 miles away.
- Flintshire Chronicle — Lights go up at blackspot http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/page.cfm?objectid=13168463&method=full&siteid=50142
- Flintshire County Council — New Traffic Lights http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/corporate/webpress.nsf/0/D98ECAFDBF90093C80256DEF004F2B89?opendocument
Ban the Cams note: Also see.
1. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1359.asp
2. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2913.asp
3. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/31/3198.asp
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