Video from BBC1, 'The Politics Show' on Sunday 4th February http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMiWPcz7CrY
BBC TV news programme "The Politics Show" revealed on Sunday that Gatso speed camera calibration procedures raise an anomaly that casts doubt on the evidence from around half the cameras.
The problem is that when cameras have been sent for routine annual calibration, about half of them had to be repaired before the calibration process was completed. This provides documentary evidence that around half the cameras became faulty at some point during the year before calibration. Since we cannot know when the faults first appeared it does mean that any camera so affected cannot be relied upon to provide accurate legal evidence to the standards required by our courts.
Suppose a camera flashed a motorist in June. When that camera is sent for routine annual calibration in (say) December it is discovered that it needs repairs before it can meet calibration requirements. The problem is that we cannot know if the fault was present before June or not, so the conviction of the motorist flashed in June was 'unsafe'.
If follows that motorists flashed 'some time ago' will want to see the invoice for the NEXT annual calibration of the camera. If the camera needed repairs to pass annual calibration, then their conviction appears to be 'unsafe'.
This came to light when the BBC's Sally Chidzoy obtained camera calibration invoices under the Freedom of Information Act.
Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign(www.safespeed.org.uk) said: "Nothing about the incompetence of speed camera operations surprises me any more, but this particular blunder is certainly of epic proportions."
"Motorists who have received a ticket should use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the annual calibration invoice following their alleged offence. In the case of some recent offences this will not yet be due, but every motorist flashed more than a year ago should check to see if the evidence against them might be flawed."
"Speed cameras haven't improved road safety and should be scrapped."
