Whilst not condoning speeding or breaking the law, It's only
fair to hear the other side of the story ...
THINGS THE POLICE WON'T TELL YOU...
In 1999 a government funded research organisation, the Transport Research
Laboratory (TRL) teamed up with the Department of the Environment Traffic and
Regions (DETR) to answer the question "What causes road accidents?"
They undertook a six-month investigation in conjunction with eight
police forces into contributing factors of accidents. The results were
eye-opening and not entirely what the government and local authoroties would
like you to know.
According to the report, excessive speed was only one of many
contributing factors in only 7.3% of accidents over the six month test
period. The study concluded excessive speed was a definite cause of an
accident in only 6% of all accidents they investigated.
Another TRL study (also government funded) reported "it cannot be
assumed that reductions in speed by a particular driver will result in any
accident reductions whatsoever".
The reports establish that there is an association between speed and
accidents, but that also many important variables come into play, such as age,
experience and exposure.
Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 states "You are obliged to
inform the police of who was in charge of the vehicle when it was detected
speeding by a Gatso or other speed measuring device that takes a photograph of
the speeding offence". However, a law was passed on 2nd October which gives
everyone the right to a fair trial. Incriminating yourself by admitting you
were in charge of the vehicle contravenes this new law and also your rights
under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Whilst you still have to tell the police who was using the vehicle at the
time of the offence, you should still be able to challenge any attempt to use
this information in court. If they can't prove who the driver was, they can't
prove their case.
A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) is the letter telling you the
police are going to prosecute you for a motoring offence. The police must give
you this notice of fixed penalty or give you written or verbal confirmation
that you are going to be convicted within 14 days. If they fail to do
this, THEY CANNOT LEGALLY CONVICT YOU. This includes offences by Gatso
or similar.
Always check on the details on the NIP; is the date of the offence correct?
The registration of the vehicle etc? If there is any misspelling or anything
wrong, you should write back to whoever it came from, informing them of the
error and saying you look forward to hearing their thoughts on the matter.
They can't legally send you an amended one and will reply saying it doesn't
matter. Politely tell them this is not the case, or seek a lawyer who will do
so.
Advice from a magistrate (anonymous).
If you get a letter requesting the identity of the driver for a speeding
offence taken by a Gatso camera, write back saying "I am unable to supply the
information." You may get another request; do the same again. However they
threaten you, keep tight lipped and whatever you do, don't lie. They may drop
it. Your defence is you can't supply the details as it may be a confession and
you are not obliged to confess anything. They may charge you with failure to
supply the information, but stand firm and say you are going to appeal. It is
illegal for the police to coerce you into a confession with threats of any
kind.
If you are stopped by the side of the road for speeding, be nice, be
polite. It may save your licence. Once the policeman has finished informing
you of the charges and speed, ask him to produce the Certificate of
Calibration for the laser, radar, Vascar or other device that he has used to
'speed trap' you. If he cannot produce this, you cannot be prosecuted.
We hope the above is of some use to our visitors.
See Also