A retired computer engineer from Lymm is one of three drivers at the High Court seeking to overturn his conviction on the basis that the speed camera used to catch him speeding have never received parliamentary approval.

The retired computer engineer was caught doing 52mph in a 40mph zone in Manchester.

He denies that he was speeding and says the recording was wrong. The case went to Manchester Crown Court in 2009 when his appeal was dismissed but now he has taken the case to the High Courtt.

The outcome of the case could have major repercussions with regards to the conviction of thousands of other motorists who have been fined having been caught by similar speeding devices.

As the long running saga of Chris Huhne’s alleged speeding offence in 2003 rumbles on, he has found himself in the position of needing to resign from the cabinet. The Lib Dem former cabinet minister still protests his innocence despite the fact that the Director of Public Prosecutions has decided that there is enough evidence to bring charges of perverting the course of justice. The case will be heard at Westminster Magistartes Court later this month.

The central claim to the charges is that it is alleged that Chris Huhne arranged for someone else to say that they were driving his vehicle at the time of an alleged speeding offence in 2003. Both Mr Huhne and his former wife Vicki Pryce who claimed that she was driving, will be in court in February to face the charges. If found guilty Mr Huhne may well face a spell in jail. If acquitted it is likely thyat he will be invited back into the cabinet.

A fraudster who got hundreds of people illegally off their speeding tickets has been jailed for 7 years. Colin Lowndes set up an operation where people would pass him their Notice of Intended Prosecution and he would complete them with fictitious names and addresses. The fictitious motorists were then fined, but when bailiffs sought to enforce the fines they would find that there was no one living at the address. The scam enabled Lowndes to live a lavish lifestyle including a rented Porsche.

Lowdnes, 41 also kept meticulous records of his transactions. This was bad news for those who had passed him his NIPs. Some 250 people have been arrested and some have been given jail terms or suspended sentences. During the investigation, police officers also discovered that he was involved in an extensive credit card fraud.

Camebridgeshire County Council have adopted an idea from Australi in an effort to cut speeding amongst the county’s young men.

The campaign is called ‘Speeding: no-one thinks big of you’focuses on information, advice and discussion on the road safety team’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.

The campaign features posters depicting young females waving their little fingers, ‘pinkies’, at guys who are speeding or driving dangerously to show off. The message is that young girls are not impressed by young men who speed. The campaign differs from many other campaigns which graphically depict the consequences of speeding and dangerous driving

The Sun newspaper has compiled a list of the top ten earning speed cameras. Top of the list is a temporary speed camera on the A1(M) in Hertordshire. The camera is located on the southbound carriageway between junctions 4 and 3. The camera has captured on average 789 drivers each month. Based on a fixed penalty fine of £60, this would raise in excess of £½ million per year.

The second highest earning speed camera is located at Anglesea Road in Portsmouth (part of the A3), which caught an average of 537 motorists a month, which works out at an estimated £387,000 per year.

The A40 Western Avenue in London was the third highest earner with 499 speeding motorists per month having to pay an estimated £359,000 in speeding fines.

The lowest earning speed trap is on the A348 in Ferndown, Dorset, which caught hasn’t caught a single vehicle speeding in three years. Either this is a badly located camera or it’s doing its job very well at ensuring that motorists adhere to the speed limit.
The most perilous route for avoiding speed fines is a 12 mile stretch of road along the seafront in Brighton which is lined with 11 cameras that caught over 18000 drivers in three years.

How much revenue do UK speed cameras raise?
The UK has approximately 6,000 speed cameras, which generate around £100m a year in speeding tickets.

Ian Brown of the band Stone Roses narrowly escaped a driving ban, being awarded 6 points and a £650 fine.

The singer was clocked at 105mph on the northbound M6 in April 2011. Brown was represented by well known speeding lawyer Nick Freeman who claimed that a driving ban would make it difficult to see his son whoi lived in London and to get to rehearsals for the band’s upcoming tour. He was clocked doing 105 mph by a following police car. Foolishly the singer had declined roadside a “fixed penalty notice” which would have saved him a lot of bother. This is apparently Brown’s second speeding offence, the first some years ago has expired from his licence which was for three penalty points.

Barry Rowland, chief executive of Newcastle City Council, was flashed by a speed camera speeding in 2008 and got a speeding fine as a result.

The conviction has only recently come to light as the council decides to switch on seven dormant cameras in the city. Northumbria Police have operated speed camera trials in different locations and the Newcastle Councillor was caught in one of these trials.

Ipswich Town footballer Paul Chopra, famed for going down easily in the box, faces his own kind of penalty next month. Chopra who lives in Newcastle was caught speeding on the A12 near Colchester in September this year. He was clocked at a massive 106mph in a 70mph zone and is expected to get a driving ban.
Chopra is believed to have admitted the offence and, as he already has 6 points on his licence, he will expect to be banned from driving under the totting up procedure – further details of speeding fines and penalties.

The Government have announced plans to investigate the possibility of raising the speed limit on motorways to 80mph.

The trade off is that some of the more congested sections of motorway will have a 50mph limit and that the number of 20mph zones in towns would be significantly extended. It is felt that the current 70mph limit is oput of touch with the reality of modern motoring, particularly when mile per mile motorways are the safest roads to drive on. The RAC backs the proposals.

Jim Davidson, former host of TV’s Big Break has tried to use the “I don’t know who was driving” loophole without success. The comic has been given a six month driving ban anyway. He claimed that he did not know whther it was he or his bodyguard who was driving at the time and was “afraid to give the wrong information”. Davidson’s Aston Martin was clocked going 39mph in a 30mph zone.
This is one case where a big name celebrity has not got away with it.