Drivers call for refunds as Britain’s busiest speed camera is found to be faulty
A speed camera that triggered £5 million in fines between 2015 and 2017 has been found to be faulty.
Britain’s busiest speed camera, on Southampton’s Maybray King Way, caught more than 51,000 motorists supposedly breaking the 30mph speed limit. The next-busiest camera caught only 38,000 speeders during the same three-year period.
At its peak, the Southampton camera flagged more than 320 speeders per week, or 70 offences a day – with a minimum fine of £100 for each offence.
Hampshire Police have since admitted that the camera had been recording 'incorrect readings' for vehicles with a 'high flat rear'. Owners of vans, SUVs, motorhomes and other taller vehicles have been hit particularly hard by the camera’s costly quirk.
“It’s worrying to think just how many motorists have wrongly been prosecuted as a result of the issue with this camera,” said RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams.
He added: As well as paying fines they shouldn’t have had to, some drivers will no doubt have suffered very negative consequences from having points added to their licences. Anyone falsely caught should have both their fine and any points revoked.”
The most outraged drivers have even called for refunds on speed awareness courses and compensation to be paid for the time spent completing them.
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Since the news of the faulty camera emerged, motorists have come forward with stories of their erroneous fines.
IT engineer Nathan Thompson received a letter claiming that he’d been driving his motorhome at 50mph on Maybray King Way, before proving from his dash cam footage that he was travelling at 25mph.
The 37-year-old said: “If I was in a hire car or a work car and from outside the area and I didn't have proof of going 25mph I'd have had to pay it, so I wonder how many other people have been in a similar situation with that camera, as it's the most profitable in the country.
“If I didn't have the evidence that I was going 25mph, then it would have ended up with me going to court. I'd have lost my job. That technology shouldn't go wrong. It has the potential to seriously ruin lives.”
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