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SPEED CAMERA DETECTORS
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Further proof that speed cameras have
nothing to do with reducing speed. Motorists caught using
gadgets which detect speed cameras are set to face stiff
fines and penalty points under tough new laws. Tens of
thousands of in-car devices which use laser or radar
technology will be banned to stop speeding drivers
outwitting traffic police with mobile traps. Although the
expensive gadgets are still on sale from scores of
motoring accessory retailers, they will become illegal
within a matter of months.
Satellite navigation systems and other devices which warn
drivers about the location of fixed speed cameras or
mobile speed trap zones will still be legal to use on UK
roads. But any radar or laser detection products which
can alert motorists to exact positions of mobile speed
traps will be outlawed under new legislation. Punishment
for using the gadgets has yet to be decided, but the
Department for Transport today warned that motorists
could face penalty points and fines.
Offending drivers could also risk having the devices,
worth several hundred pounds, confiscated by police, the
DfT said. The gadgets are to be outlawed under provisions
of the Road Safety Act 2006, the same legislation which
recently introduced new penalties for motorists using
mobile phones. The provisions relating to speed camera
detectors are not yet in force but are expected to be
introduced within the next few months, or by early 2008
at the latest.
Paul Smith, founder of road safety campaign group Safe
Speed, said, "There's no evidence that banning these
devices will provide any road safety improvements
whatsoever. It seems to me more spiteful than sensible.
The DfT is creating a nation of motorists who are more
concerned with not breaking the law and watching their
speedometers rather than the road. In doing this they are
not promoting safer driving at all and the policy seems
based on flawed evidence."
A DfT spokesman said, "The penalty is yet to be
decided. There is likely to be a consultation process as
to what the penalty would be. What is being looked at, is
imposing the same penalty on people using detection
devices as if they had been convicted of a speeding
offence. This means that the level of penalties could
vary but the starting point would be the standard
three-point penalty and £60 fine."
Road law expert Nick Cotter, a solicitor partner at
Darbys legal firm in Oxford, said, "I think the
DfT's argument on this is nonsensical. If their ultimate
objective is to slow people down on the roads, then it is
irrelevant whether people know the locations of either
stationary or mobile speed cameras. I suspect the bottom
line is they realise they're losing out on revenue from
mobile cameras when people use detectors and they want to
see some of that money back."
He added, "What I find remarkable is that these
devices are still on sale in many stores and yet it is
not widely known that they will be illegal very soon. I
think it's important that people are aware, before they
go out and spend a lot of money on one of these devices,
that they will be outlawed within a matter of
months." (Source: Daily Mail, Jul/07)
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