Driving | Speed cameras speeding fines etc | Page 10

American voters get rid of mayor along with speed cameras
Tim Reid in Washington

It was American democracy in its purest form: three towns voting overwhelmingly to get their hated police speed cameras torn down — and to eject from office a mayor who had opposed the move.

Lost in all the analysis of what Republican wins in two gubernatorial elections on Tuesday meant for President Obama were three ballot initiatives — two in Ohio and one in Texas — to introduce a law ridding the towns of their traffic enforcement cameras.

In College Station, Texas, voters succeeded in dumping the cameras despite the manufacturers of the devices spending $60,000 (£36,000) on a campaign to keep them in place.

Voters in Chillicothe, southern Ohio, declared their opposition to the cameras by 72 per cent. The mayor of Heath, Ohio, who had been spotted removing anti-camera campaign posters from an intersection, lost his re-election bid.

The anti-camera crusaders in Ohio call themselves Citizens Against Photo Enforcement, or CAPE. Although most voters backed their campaign because they hate getting speed camera photographs in the post with a fine attached, CAPE based its opposition to the cameras on nothing less than the US Constitution.

They argued that the fines triggered by the speed photographs were a violation of due process because there was no right of appeal against the tickets except for a local hearing.

After Tuesday’s ballots 11 towns have now voted to get rid of the machines. Earlier this year, the Republican Governor of Mississippi abandoned them. In 2005 the Republican Governor of Maryland tried to veto a Bill authorising the cameras because they allowed police to “charge, try and convict an individual solely through use of a photograph”.

The police and road safety groups all argue, citing numerous studies, that speed cameras help to lower the accident and road death rate, but the rage against them by some citizens knows no bounds. In April, a technician servicing a camera in Arizona was shot dead.

Campaigners in Chillicothe also argued that the cameras hurt business, saying that motorists avoided the city to keep away from speed devices.

Before the town’s vote, the police chief, Roger Moore, held a press conference arguing that the wording of the new law, if passed by voters, could mean that his officers would be banned from using any speed-detecting device. The law reads that there is now a ban on “any electronic, photographic, video, radar laser or digital system used to produce evidence of an alleged traffic violation”.

Mr Moore said: “Any, to me, means all the radar and cameras we use. I believe the way it’s worded would prevent my officers from enforcing the law. I think as the position of chief of police, my ultimate responsibility is to keep Chillicothe safe. Anything that affects the citizens negatively or impacts their safety, I have the obligation to speak out.”

Young men feel speeding is ok - if they are driving

YOUNG men commonly feel speeding is okay, but only if they are the one driving, a road safety expert says.

Soames Job, director of the New South Wales Centre for Road Safety, told a Sydney audience the finding was revealed in new research examining the attitudes of NSW drivers towards speeding.

Speaking at the Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference, Mr Job said speed was by far the biggest single behavioural factor in serious crashes on the state's roads.

"(It is) one which we are gradually managing downwards," he said.

"People feel it's okay to speed as long as they are personally in control. It's a common view of young males."

NSW Transport Minister David Campbell, who opened the three-day conference, said the Government remained concerned about a sharp rise in road deaths this year.

"Although the road toll in NSW has been on a downward trend in recent years, a sharp spike in this year's road toll is a major cause of concern," he said.
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"The road toll in NSW this year is running at about 30 per cent higher than the same period last year."

So far this year, 404 people have been killed on the state's roads, 88 more than the same time last year.

The final 2008 toll was 316 - the lowest annual tally since 1944.

In September, the Government promised 48 extra highway patrol police officers to tackle the problem.

Speed cameras challenged thanks to vehicle tracking technology

A driver has successfully challenged a speeding ticket thanks to vehicle tracking technology installed in his van.

Gareth Powell was clocked doing 61mph in a 50mph limit on A4174 near Bristol in November last year, while he was working as an employee of MD Building Services Ltd.

Gareth doubted the alleged offence and contacted Navman Wireless, the UK's largest provider of vehicle tracking*, to discover if the company could clarify the precise speed he'd been driving at when the incident occurred.

Vehicle tracking records proved that his Ford Transit Connect van had in fact been travelling at 48mph.

"I'm an extremely careful driver and was certain I hadn't broken the law," he said.

"It was a great relief when Navman Wireless could confirm that I'd been driving within the speed limit and it gave me the confidence I needed to contest the Notice of Intended Prosecution.

Gareth was clocked by the LTI 20-20 speed gun on November 28, 2008. The case was dismissed by the District Judge at Bath & Wansdyke Magistrates Court on Friday October 30.

"The GPS fix on Gareth's vehicle from the tracking system was excellent when he was clocked by the speed gun," said Navman Wireless IT director Barry Neill, who attended court as an expert witness.

"On this occasion, the Dilution of Precision (DOP) value was one - in other words the eight satellites locating his vehicle were advantageously positioned. Under good conditions, GPS tracking technology is accurate to within three metres."

Gareth added: "Had it not been for the Navman Wireless vehicle tracking, and the company's superb technical support, I would currently have three points on my drivers licence and would have ended up paying a £60 fine. I would have had no way of proving my speed and therefore would have been forced to accept the charge."

Navman Wireless vehicle tracking enables business users to track, message and monitor their fleet from almost any PC at any location, providing vital information about companies' workforces and mobile assets.