Nuxx:4f4f171d-a755-4936-8308-06e4b7f998af@p25g2000pri.googlegroups.com

Path: number1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!postnews.google.com!p25g2000pri.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail Message-ID: <4f4f171d-a755-4936-8308-06e4b7f998af@p25g2000pri.googlegroups.com> From: Nuxx Bar  Newsgroups: uk.rec.cycling Subject: Over 200,000 could get speed camera refund Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:51:31 -0700 (PDT) Lines: 68 Organization: http://groups.google.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 88.105.204.241 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1256 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: posting.google.com 1207939892 13567 127.0.0.1 (11 Apr 2008 18:51:32 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:51:32 +0000 (UTC) Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: p25g2000pri.googlegroups.com; posting-host=88.105.204.241; posting-account=7_6kYAkAAABD6HrjM0VxehwvZOKMxm4g User-Agent: G2/1.0 X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-GB; rv:1.8.1.13) Gecko/20080311 Firefox/2.0.0.13,gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe) Bytes: 4083 Xref: perfectly-safe.chapmancentral.co.uk uk.rec.cycling:646791

I could make various comments about this, but I'll wait for the trolls to hang themselves first I think. ;-)

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/sunday/2008/03/30/flash-cam-walloped-9848= 7-20367189/

Over 200,000 could get speed camera refund

EXCLUSIVE 200,000 could get refunds of up to =A313MILLION after driver proves UK's most profitable speed camera is illegal due to poorly-lit signs

Exclusive by David Collins 30/03/2008

Drivers caught by Britain's most profitable speed camera are set to win refunds totalling =A313MILLION after one motorist proved he was wrongly fined.

In a landmark case, Simon Grills said he could not see 50mph signs on the M11 in the dark because their lights were not working.

The Crown Prosecution Service dropped their case against Simon just two days before it was due in court after he showed that the lights have been broken since November 18, 2005. That opens the floodgates for an estimated 214,000 drivers flashed at night to get =A360 fines refunded, points taken off their licences or even get their licences back if they were banned.

And the Sunday Mirror can reveal that the lights STILL don't work and other motorists flashed at night are STILL being charged.

Ex-policeman Richard Bentley, an expert in road signs who helped Simon, said: "It's outrageous how the CPS dropped their challenge yet there are still people being prosecuted for the same offence. The lights weren't working, so no one driving at night should be charged."

The hated camera catches 500 motorists and rakes in =A330,000 every day at a spot where the 70mph limit suddenly drops to 50 on the southbound M11 at Woodford, Essex.

Sunday Mirror motoring law expert Judge Tread urged anyone wrongly snared to appeal. Ollie Mishcon said: "This is a chance for thousands caught by Britain's greediest speed camera to get their own back - thanks to one man's fight."

Hugh Bladon, of the Association of British Drivers, added: "People can lose jobs when they get a driving ban, with knock-on effects like divorce and homelessness."

Simon, 40, a dad of one from West London, was caught in September 2006 driving at 77mph in his BMW 3 Series. "When I got flashed I couldn't work out how I'd missed the sign," he said. "Then it clicked - it's simply not visible at night."

Simon, who has devoted 300 hours to his legal battle, added: "I found that the unlit sign broke many laws."

Highways Agency bosses have now pledged that the lights will be fixed "over the next few days".

Britain now has 7,935 speed cameras, far more than most European nations. Germany has 3,108, Italy 1,945 and Holland 1,594.

Lancashire has the most cameras (345). Somerset is 2nd (246), then Essex (221). The road with most is the A6 in Lancs with 31.

Speed cams raised a total of =A3104.4m in England and Wales last year. The Welsh are hardest hit. Fines average =A35.82 per head of population.