Mobile Camera Speeding Offence "Rolling Footage"

AsaBlade

Hi all.

Any advice is most welcome.

I have today received a Notice of Intended Prosecution for an alleged speeding offence of travelling at 36mph in a 30mph zone.

I have reviewed the photographic evidence provided it suggests that I was doing 29mph at the time of the alleged offence. I also have tracking information on the vehicle which suggests that I was doing 29mph too (and certainly at no point did I exceed 30mph).

I decided to contact the Camera Partnership to confirm the time lapse between the two photos that they provided me with in order to decide whether to challenge the case in court. However, the representative at the Camera Partnership informed me that the evidence wasn't obtained through time lapse shots (as a Gatso camera would at 0.5s or 0.7s intervals), but rather, they said the evidence was of "rolling footage". They went on to say that the rolling footage shows me doing 36mph and then slowing to around 21mph as I passed the speed van.

My questions are:

1. Has anyone had any encounters with these types of speed cameras - that use rolling footage rather than time lapse shots?

2. How do they work to calculate your speed from ONE frame (as was suggested)?

3. Are they reliable?

4. Has anyone successfully appealed a NIP that used this type of camera?

I wouldn't usually go to these lengths to challenge something like this (although this is my 1st alleged speeding offence after 21 years of driving in excess of 40,000 miles a year) but I remember the day as clearly as it were yesterday. I actually had my vehicle on cruise control set at 30mph around 500 yards or so prior to the van being sighted (or the van being able to spot me). I then cancelled the cruise control as I approached the van as traffic was slowing in front of me (hence the speed registering around 21mph as I passed the van).

Now if I was speeding then hands up - I accept my punishment and take it on the chin. However, my recollection of the event, coupled with the tracking data (which shows me doing 42mph in a 40mph zone a few miles prior and highlights this on my print out) and with the photographic evidence they have supplied makes me really want to challenge the NIP but I'm unsure as to how these types of cameras work.

I just don't see how it could have registered 36mph when I was set on CC at 30mph.

NB - The road is dead flat - no chance of vehicle runaway while on CC.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

AD.

AdrianC

There's really only one question that needs to be asked at this stage...

How much time, effort, money and blood pressure are you willing to put into this?

Yes, you can go into technical minutiae and time/date stamp comparisons against your (uncalibrated?) tracking data. You may well find that the case gets dropped as soon as you start to dig your heels in.

But if it doesn't get dropped? Are you willing to go to court, and have expert witnesses available to give evidence backing their reports up?

TonyMMM

They are stills from a video - their only purpose is to identify the vehicle. The time between the two shots is irrelevant to any speed measurement.

The speed is measured (virtually) instantaneously using a laser - they are extremely accurate and difficult to challenge.

You can't appeal against a NIP - it is a notice. You name yourself as the driver and then you will receive an offer of a speed awareness course, if you are in England/Wales and eligible, or a Fixed Penalty Notice of 3pts and £100.

You can choose not to accept either offer and the case will then be heard in court - but you will need a proper defence and the penalties for losing (financially) will be much greater.

Car_54

TonyMMM wrote: »

They are stills from a video - their only purpose is to identify the vehicle. The time between the two shots is irrelevant to any speed measurement.

The speed is measured (virtually) instantaneously using a laser - they are extremely accurate and difficult to challenge.

As said, the purpose of the snaps is to identify the vehicle, and they are provided to you as they may possibly help you to identify the driver. They will not be relied upon in court.

If you challenge the accuracy of the measurement in court, the prosecutor is likely to call expert witnesses. If you lose, you will find yourself paying their costs - thousands rather than hundreds.

AsaBlade

Thanks for the advice people; much appreciated.

Oh, and sorry, I forgot to mention that I also have my dash-cam footage that shows me entering the 30mph zone at 29mph and then slowing to 21mph as I pass the Speed Van.

tho_2

Just make sure you reply to the nip before defending. Not doing so is a separate charge in itself (6 points and up to a £1000)

AsaBlade

tho wrote: »

Just make sure you reply to the nip before defending. Not doing so is a separate charge in itself (6 points and up to a £1000)

Yes, thanks. I intend to do so - I have 21 days from yesterday.

Cheers.

AsaBlade

AsaBlade wrote: »

Yes, thanks. I intend to do so - I have 21 days from yesterday.

Cheers.

Apologies - that's 21 days from yesterday to accept the Awareness Course that is.

AdrianC

If you're being offered an awareness course, then you've already agreed you were driving?

AsaBlade

AdrianC wrote: »

If you're being offered an awareness course, then you've already agreed you were driving?

I have no contention about whether I was driving or not - my contention is that I have multiple forms of evidence to suggest that I wasn't' speeding.

First I received the NIP to which you have to confirm you were the driver of the vehicle or not. Then (yesterday) I received the 'Offer of Driver Retraining Course' letter that I have 21 days to respond to. If I don't respond then the options are to accept the fixed penalty of 3 points or have the case heard in a Magistrates Court.

Warwick_Hunt

Just you you're aware, you are not challenging the camera.

You would be challenging the operator and the accuracy of the laser device used.

They have video evidence of the session on their side.