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Police chiefs were forced to urge drivers not to exploit the
alleged shortcoming by trying to evade the cameras and switch lanes.
The flaw affects the controversial high-tech SPECS cameras only. Unlike
the previously used standard Gatso
cameras which individually flash a car as speeds through its focal area, these
new cameras measure
a driver's average speed between two fixed points in the road- which can be many
miles apart on a long stretch of motorway, for example, during roadworks.
If this average speed between cameras is higher than the speed limit
on the road, the
driver may receive a fine through the post and three points on their licence.
The cameras were obviously designed to catch guilty motorists who simply
choose to slow down in front
of a speed camera, and then simply drive above the speed limit once they
leave it, until they reach the
next speed camera. |
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But, under Home Office rules governing the camera equipment, prosecutions
are only valid if a driver is filmed in the same lane at the start and
finish of each section by a linked pair of cameras.
The Home Office admitted yesterday that the hi-tech SPECS cameras -
produced by Camberley-based Speed Check Services - are only approved to be
used one lane at a time.
That means a three-lane motorway would require three separate sets of
cameras - one for each lane. If drivers leave the speed-camera zone via a
different lane to the one they entered in, they cannot normally be
prosecuted.
The camera's manufacturers - Speed Check Services (SCS) - confirmed that
drivers could escape prosecution by lane-hopping but discouraged it on
'safety' grounds.
Sets of the cameras have been installed at 27 sites around the UK at a
cost of between £180,000 and £1.5 million per site, according to Geoff
Collins, SCS's sales and marketing manager.
Fourteen of the sites are permanent while another 13 are temporary at road
works, where their presence has mushroomed in recent years. Sites that run
for longer distances cost more because they need more cameras.
They include permanent cameras around Nottingham, a 20mph zone around
Tower Bridge in London, the M8 between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and at
roadworks on the M6 in the West Midlands, the M25, the A1(M) and the M1 in
Hertfordshire, the A2 in Kent, and the M56 in Cheshire.
The SPECS cameras work by measuring the time a vehicle takes to pass
between two number plate reading cameras set up to 6.2 miles apart.
A computer works out the time it takes to cover the distance, and then
calculates the average speed.
If this is higher than the speed limit, a colour photograph taken by a
third digital camera is stored for enforcement purposes. Multiple sets of
the cameras are installed on stretches of road to make 'enforcement
zones'.
But under Home Office 'type approval' rules, each individual set cannot be
linked to any of the others. So cars are timed only between sets of number
plate readers 'paired' for the same lane.
Most of the time each number plate reader in a pair will be directed at
the same single lane of traffic and will therefore not detect lane
hoppers, according to Mr Collins. He said:' If it's configured to monitor
one particular lane, then it wouldn't pick up a lane changer.'
Speeding tickets or
speed cameras can give you speeding points or penalty points which could lose
your licence. Let us help you to avoid you losing your licence and getting the
points. Going to court because of a speeding ticket or speeding fine or any
other kind of traffic offence, can mean a driving ban, which you will need to
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serious. Get advice on the court process and how to defend yourself at court and
avoid getting a ban or points on your licence.
He added: 'There are configurations when (a speeding vehicle) would not be
picked up, if it's gone from lane one to lane three between cameras.'
The company's technical director Graeme Southwood said that when the
devices were approved by the Home Office in 1999, they passed strict tests
for use in one lane at a time. But there was not enough time or finances
to extend Home office approval tests to cover the cameras' use over two or
three lanes at a time. This has created the loop-hole.
He still claimed - without spelling out any detail - that this loop-hole
was not actually foolproof and that some of those who attempt to use it
will still face a speeding prosecution.
And Med Hughes, head of roads policing for the Association of Chief Police
Officers, said it would be 'irresponsible' and dangerous for drivers to
change lanes in a bid to avoid detection - adding that motorists would
'not be able to guarantee' they could avoid being penalised if they
changed lanes.
Mr Hughes, Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, said: 'Motorists who
change lanes in average speed detection lanes, such as major road works,
will not be able to guarantee avoiding detection. Multiple enforcement
systems are often used and detection zones will vary depending on the
placement of the equipment.'
'Motorists are strongly advised not to seek to evade detection by
unnecessarily changing lanes as this would generate a greater risk of
collision and may lead to other offences being committed which the police
may prosecute.
'These camera systems are designed to make our roads safer by reducing
speed and casualties. It is irresponsible for motorists to deliberately
seek to evade detection and speed.'
A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: 'The manufacturers applied for the
camera to be type-approved to measure one lane only. It has been
type-approved for this use - this can be either the lane under the camera
or a lane to either side of it.'
'A SPECS camera measures a vehicles speed over distance in one lane.'
Motoring groups say police are putting too much reliance on cash-raising
speed cameras which can fine a driver a few miles above the speed limit -
but are unable to spot a dangerous, drunk, uninsured, or untaxed driver in
an unroadworthy or stolen vehicle who is driving under the speed limit.
This site gives information, advice, help, hints, tips about how to get rid of
points from your driving licence, or how to avoid points on your driving license
or how to stop getting points on your licence/license/lisence. 3 points on your
licence can have a big effect on your life, so we aim to show you the best
way to avoid getting the points, especially those you received as a result
of speed cameras or a roadside speeding ticket from a police officer.
Last year more than 2 million motorists were caught speeding on camera,
raising £120m a year in revenue for so-called 'Safety Camera Partnerships'
comprising police, magistrates councils and road safety groups.
Speed cameras have boomed on British roads from a handful a decade ago to
3,300 fixed sites and 3,400 mobile devices today. At the same time there
has been an 11 per cent cut in police patrols.
Edmund King, director of the RAC Foundation, said: 'I think the danger
might be that you get people playing Russian Roulette and nipping from one
lane to another to lessen their odds of being caught. They won't know
entirely but they might think there's more chance.' |
