Speed camera error could see thousands of convictions scrapped
Thousands of speeding convictions could be overturned after the National Highways Agency expanded its investigation into a technical fault affecting variable speed limit cameras.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that the state-owned company will now review cases dating back to 2019, the year an “upgrade” to its camera system began.
This expands on an earlier DfT statement regarding 2,650 “erroneous camera activations” detected since 2021.
The flaw involves a delay between cameras and electronic speed limit signs, leading to drivers being mistakenly detected as speeding after the limit has already been lowered.
Last month the DfT confirmed that affected drivers would be “contacted directly by the relevant police force”, provided with “refunds” and “points will be removed from their licenses where relevant”.
Speed awareness courses for tens of thousands of people were canceled by police teams due to the problem.
Earlier this week Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced that DfT non-executive director Tracey Westall would be the “lead reviewer” of an independent review into what happened.
Drivers who accidentally speeded can claim the money back if they can prove they suffered losses such as higher insurance premiums, transport minister Lord Hendy said on Wednesday.
Speed camera malfunction – how to check and request
Because the speed camera malfunction affects devices on certain A-roads and motorways, only drivers who have received speeding tickets based on camera evidence on such roads may be affected.
The bug revealed that variable speed cameras were incorrectly interacting with signs on some of these roads.
This meant there was a delay of around ten seconds between the cameras and the associated variable speed signs; This meant that some drivers were mistakenly flagged as speeding even though they were within the increased limit.
This may give drivers who have been fined in recent years a clue as to whether the penalty was erroneous.
However, motorists have been informed that anyone affected by the speed camera fault will be contacted by the “relevant police force”.
