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Camera obscura
Page 38
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Police stand accused of using double standards after they told a haulier he could not use evidence from his tachograph to fight a speeding charge. Guy Sheppard reports.
It was the first time in 37 years of driving trucks that Simon Sayers had been charged with a traffic offence and he was confident that he could prove his innocence.
A speed camera on the A420 in Oxfordshire had recorded him doing 49mph last November but his tachograph chart proved he was actually doing 38-42mph. The prosecution was eventually withdrawn in July, but it left a key question unanswered: can evidence from tachograph discs be used as a defence against evidence from speed cameras?
A letter Sayers received from Thames Valley Police ruled out using tacho readings in this way because "speed cameras are extremely accurate and are calibrated annually".
But Sayers, who runs Falkland Haulage (UK) out of Newbury, Berkshire, argues that tacho discs are regularly used to prosecute drivers. He says the police can't have it both ways — a view supported by magistrate and trade union off icial Jack Crossfield,who has raised the anomaly withTransport Secretary Alistair Darling.
Sayers says: "The whole point of a tacho is to keep us within the law.They either take it as an accurate instrument or they don't take it at all." In fact, tacho readings can be used as a defence against speeding charges. But Gordon Humphries, MD of Foster Tachographs, which specialises in the forensic analysis of tachograph charts, warns that the defendant must be able to prove that the speed shown on the chart was recorded at exactly the same moment as the speed camera photo was taken.
"Simply matching up the times on the camera and the tacho is not enough because the driver may have set the tacho clock at a slightly different time to the one on the camera," he says.
Humphries solves this problem by matching up the tacho speed trace with known geographical leatures,such as roundabouts and junctions and points where the driver may have loaded or unloaded."Using that information it is possible to plot the vehicle back or forward to the location of the camera and thereby determine the vehicle's speed in that area," he says.
In his experience the tacho chart usually confirms that the driver was in fact speeding—but not always. Earlier this year he was able to show that a driver did not exceed 45mph on a dualcarriageway,even though a camera had recorded him doing above 50mph.
Check equipment James Backhouse, director of transport law firm Back house Jones, says that as well as a forensic analysis of the tacho trace, the accuracy of the equipment needs to be checked. As soon as you are aware that there is a speed allegation that you dispute, get the calibration of the device checked."
Although speed cameras use more sophisticated technology than tachos to gauge speed, Backhouse points out that both devices are fallible. "Pieces of electronic equipment will malfunction for whatever reason; the prosecution has to prove that the speed camera is accurate, beyond reasonable doubt."
Precedent Sayers suspects he was not allowed to prove his innocence in court because it would have encouraged others to challenge speed camera readings with evidence from their tachos.
Oxfordshire Crown Prosecution Service says the case was withdrawn simply because a witness who would have confirmed that the camera had been properly loaded and tested was unavailable on the day of the hearing.
But Paul Smith,founder of Safe Speed,which campaigns against speed cameras, says the courts simply do not have the resources to cope with large numbers of 'not guilty' pleas. "A court can only deal with four of them a dayThe system entirely depends on motorists paying a fixed penalty notice without a fight."
There are many ways to challenge fixed penalty notices if drivers are prepared to investigate the case against them in detail. Smith cites one example earlier this year where a motorist was able to prove that signs for a temporary speed limit on the A303 in Wiltshire failed to meet legal requirements.
Defendants should ask to see the photographs of their vehicle crossing calibration marks on the road, says Smith, as these must corroborate the speeds recorded by camera radars, but they are not always checked by the prosecution. Backhouse agrees that if more drivers pleaded not guilty to speeding it would create a serious problem for the courts.
But he warns: "It's had advice to fight fixed penalty fines on this principle because there's a pretty low probability of success and you are likely to end up with a higher fine and prosecution costs if you lose." •