Legal Questions and Answers by
Jonathan Stones of John Barkers
Question :-
I was shocked and disgusted to receive a glossy brochure through the post from a Surrey firm which sells detector devices which warn car drivers of the presence of speed cameras and police radar traps.
The brochure talks about ‘the oppression of the motorist fast becoming
intolerable’. Well speaking as a friend of someone who had a child badly injured by a speeding driver I can tell them that they do not know the very first thing about oppression.
Half a dozen expensive glossy pages discussing the merits of the ‘new breed’ of detector devices which give ‘full 360% radar and laser coverage’ are enough to turn your stomach.
They claim that MORI research shows that radar detector users are safer drivers and have fewer accidents. Excuse me? My impression was that MORI was an organisation which surveyed public opinion – since when did they branch out and become road safety experts?
Supporting the firm’s claims are testimonials from four ‘company directors’, photographed standing besides their Mercedes and BMWs, who explain how disastrous it would be if they were to lose their licenses, not that they are speed freaks of course but they are just ‘fed up’ with speed cameras springing up all over the place.
Somebody should tell these people that there is absolutely no danger of them losing their licenses if they do not repeatedly break the speed limit.
However the main point of my letter concerns the legality of these detector devices. The firm claims that they are legal. Is this the case and, if so, what on earth is the government thinking about in permitting the continued use of these things?
Answer :-
The use of devices which warn drivers as they approach speed cameras or police radar checks has been allowed since a court ruling in 1998. Before that time drivers were prosecuted for using warning devices and it was possible to be fined up to £5,000.
The new ruling came in a case which was fought all the way through the courts to a judicial review.
Since that time a number of companies have taken advantage of the situation and you will see advertisements for these devices in many magazines and newspaper supplements.
Having seen the brochure to which you refer, I have to agree that it is pretty staggering stuff and there will no doubt be many people who find it distasteful. It is difficult to argue against the proposition that the only people who need to spend the £250-£550 that this firm’s detectors cost are people who speed and who intend to go on speeding.
To suggest that such devices in some way aid road safety is, to say the least, disingenuous.
So far as Government action is concerned, there has not as yet been any attempt to introduce new legislation to close the loophole which now exists. However, given the well-publicised investment which is going into the speed camera programme, it would seem a fair bet that this situation will not be permitted to continue indefinitely.
|
