Legal Questions and Answers by
Jonathan Stones of John Barkers
Question :-
Having spent the last five years working in Spain, I was home recently in connection with
a court case to recover money due to me. In three weeks of staying with friends, I noticed
the biggest criminal in the UK today is the poor old motorist who is chased, jerked about
and frustrated with speed cameras.
We drove right across Spain and France without seeing one speed camera or speed cop.
Police are there to detect crime and to protect life, limb and property.
On four consecutive days at about 9.20 in the morning my solicitor and I were en route to
Leeds to attend court and were on the A180 driving at 70 mph around Stallingborough
turn-off when a police van passed us in excess of this speed.
We went to the police station to report this matter but the duty inspector didn't want to
know and when we asked for the name and number of the offending officer he refused to give
the information.
What double standards. They will park their transit van equipped with all sorts of kit to
capture motorists and turn a blind eye to their own personnel breaking the law daily. What
next?
Answer :-
I think you would have considerable difficulty in proving that the driver of the police
vehicle was committing an offence . . . even if it was the same individual on each
occasion and even if he or she was not responding to emergency calls at the time.
You would have to prove that the speedometer on your vehicle was accurate on the day. Even
if it was accurate, you would not be able to say what speed the police vehicle was
travelling beyond a vague 'more than seventy miles an hour'. Any defence lawyer would
shred your evidence.
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