back to article Top telematics: Black box helps driver swerve speeding fine

Motoring campaigner Neil Herron has beaten a mobile police speed trap rap by using the threat of revealing his own GPS-based telematics data in court. The incident took place in January 2014, when Herron was stopped by a police patrol who were using a Tele-traffic LTI 20:20 Ultralyte 1000 infrared laser gun. (PDF datasheet) …

  1. Whitter
    Alert

    Info from the police makes stone-blood look easy

    Time to sue for wrongful prosecution and get the reason for dropping the case in the discovery phase?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Info from the police makes stone-blood look easy

      Pain... I love it... Have you ever tried to challenge "UK government machinery"? Unless you have the budget to retain a lawyer who is doing it for you, you are not going to get anywhere as you will not get any work done yourselves. It is a classic case of "That level of justice is for 'peers' only".

      As far as the laser - depends where they had it pointed. Could be worse - getting a ticket for 100mph in a 30mph zone. Out of 4 cameras within 2 miles from me 3 are in the flight path towards the local small airport. They regularly flash people and make them panic, hit breaks or otherwise behave erratically because they are triggered by the return from what is flying above them (fairly low at that point) instead of what is driving in front of them.

      1. Mutton Jeff

        Re: Info from the police makes stone-blood look easy

        funniest thing I saw was a pensioner on their mobility scooter get flashed.

      2. Chris Parsons
        Headmaster

        Re: Info from the police makes stone-blood look easy

        Brakes!!!!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I know of 3 separate instances

    where challenging the police to produce "the evidence" resulted in cases being dropped. In each case, the police were obviously sour grapes over it, as they didn't contact the person to let them know.

    Every single case hinged on what a policeman had "seen" on CCTV footage.

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: I know of 3 separate instances

      Standard CCTV footage is inadmissible in court in 99% of the cases. It is all digital nowdays so there is no legally acceptable guarantee that it has not been tampered with.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I know of 3 separate instances

        "Standard CCTV footage is inadmissible in court in 99% of the cases"

        Citation?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I know of 3 separate instances

      "I know of 3 separate instances where challenging the police to produce "the evidence" resulted in cases being dropped"

      "Every single case hinged on what a policeman had "seen" on CCTV footage"

      Geez, what sort of company do you keep?

      1. TheProf

        Re: I know of 3 separate instances

        "Geez, what sort of company do you keep?"

        Innocent company by the sound of it.

  3. JetSetJim
    Alert

    Interesting

    I suspect all that's happened is that the CPS/police found that they hadn't dotted i's and crossed t's in the establishment, placement and calibration of the speed camera prior to use.

    I won't dispute that the guy was probably not speeding, based on his GPS stuff, but one has to wonder how tamper-proof the GPS traces produced by such devices are. It's not that difficult to knock them up, after all. Before allowing them, surely the court will have to consider this.

    Also, would plod be allowed to have the entire set of trace data contained on the device? If so, you'd need to ensure you don't speed ever (not that I condone it!), as you'll need to keep at least 2 weeks of data on it to ensure you have coverage of any inbound ticket that gets delayed by Royal Mail.

    1. Tom Chiverton 1

      Re: Interesting

      You'd rather go to jail for perjury than take a few quid fine (or a free better driver course) ? Really ?

      1. David Nash Silver badge

        Re: Interesting

        The "better driver" aka Speed Awareness courses are not free. In many cases they cost more than the fine, although may be preferred due to not invoking points on the licence.

        No, I haven't had one (fine or course) but I know people who have.

      2. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

        Re: Interesting

        You'd rather go to jail for perjury than take a few quid fine (or a free better driver course) ? Really ?

        Funny you should ask. Even Federal Court justices sometimes do.

      3. caradoc

        Re: Interesting

        "or a free better driver course" Free? They usually end up costing more than the fine and are used to blackmail acceptance of guilt so you don't get the points.

    2. LucreLout

      Re: Interesting

      @JetSetJim

      I suspect all that's happened is that the CPS/police found that they hadn't dotted i's and crossed t's in the establishment, placement and calibration of the speed camera prior to use.

      The LTI20.20 is well known in motoring circles at "The dodgy scope", not least because a barrister was able to show in court that the wall opposite the judge was travelling at circa 15mph.

      Further, Steve Callaghan is equally well known, and seems to delight in making his own reputation.

      The whole edifice of automated speed detection is crumbling before their eyes, and telematics boxes will be the last but one nail in the coffin. Under the DPA, the insurer would have no choice but to grant you access to your data.

      Also, would plod be allowed to have the entire set of trace data contained on the device? If so, you'd need to ensure you don't speed ever (not that I condone it!), as you'll need to keep at least 2 weeks of data on it to ensure you have coverage of any inbound ticket that gets delayed by Royal Mail.

      Prosecution for speeding requires that an officer form the opinion that a vehicle is speeding and verifies it with their equipment, or the equipment be certified for unattended use. So while you could use the telematics to defend an accusation of law breaking, it would not meet the evidenciary standard required to trigger a prosecution.

      As telematics becomes more common, devices like the LTI20.20, which are considered genuinely suspect by drivers up and down the land, will either have to be made to function correctly or prosecutions will have to be dropped. Once the trickle of dropped prosecutions becomes a flood, the SCPs will have to explain why that is. Big hint here: The only thing which works 20/20 is hindsight.

      1. Ol' Grumpy

        Re: Interesting

        Upvote simply for:

        " ...not least because a barrister was able to show in court that the wall opposite the judge was travelling at circa 15mph."

        Brilliant.

  4. Mystic Megabyte
    Holmes

    Didn't work for me :(

    I was forced to overtake a police car when he deliberately braked. I was accused of overtaking him over double white lines around a bend, this was BS!

    I took an enlarged a map of the bend to court and got the officer to answer six questions. The stupid bastard did not realise that he could only answer any five of them with a yes. One of the questions was agreeing on my speed (50mph). I then showed that I would have had to be driving at 100mph to overtake him in the agreed distance. I was found guilty but got off at an appeal when I had discovered that the arsehole had emigrated* and so there was no evidence offered. Ha ha!

    *I felt sorry for the Aussies

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Didn't work for me :(

      "I was forced to overtake a police car when he deliberately braked. I was accused of overtaking him over double white lines around a bend, this was BS!"

      1) Don't nearly all drivers "deliberately brake" all the time?

      2) Why was he trying to force you to overtake?

      1. Pookietoo

        Re: Don't nearly all drivers "deliberately brake" all the time?

        I deliberately don't brake a lot of the time, instead controlling my speed with the volume pedal and gearstick. Those drivers who dab the brakes at every bend in the road are nearly as bad as the ones who don't believe in braking distance or blindly follow overtakers into oncoming traffic.

        1. Mark 65

          Re: Don't nearly all drivers "deliberately brake" all the time?

          I deliberately don't brake a lot of the time, instead controlling my speed with the volume pedal and gearstick. Those drivers who dab the brakes at every bend in the road are nearly as bad as the ones who don't believe in braking distance or blindly follow overtakers into oncoming traffic.

          Although I agree that people that ride the brakes are one of life's great pains in the arse (motorways have more than their share of drivers that can only operate a car by stamping on the accelerator or the brakes) there are caveats to engine braking. That is that it's normally considered to be somewhat useful to change your speed by dabbing the brakes as it illuminates those little light things at the back that tell the driver of the 44T lorry behind you that you're slowing down. I believe that brake lights are considered signals much like indicators are so an arsey copper could well pull you over for failing to adequately signal.

    2. DaveyDaveDave

      Re: Didn't work for me :(

      "I was forced to overtake a police car when he deliberately braked"

      I'm struggling to visualise how this forced you to overtake, unless you were driving too fast for the conditions and/or tailgating the police car...

      1. jabuzz

        Re: Didn't work for me :(

        Golden rule of driving is to be able to stop in the distance you see to be clear ahead. So unless the Police car overtook you or pulled out from a side road into your clear space and then broke you where in the wrong if you needed to overtake him for any reason. In effect you got off on a technicality and the initial conviction was correct.

        Note this golden rule of driving might mean that you need to slow down to go round a bend, not because your car is unable to make the bend at the speed, but because the bend reduces the visible road ahead that you can see to be clear.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Didn't work for me :(

      Drive an Audi by any chance?

    4. Stevie

      Re: Cop Braked to Provoke Incident

      Yep, happened to me on Kenpass Highway in Coventry some years ago. Cop in outside lane doing 40. Me on inside lane doing 40. He brakes and stops me for "overtaking on the left".

      Why did he feel moved to do this? A) it was 3 am and in 1983 driving the deserted streets at that hour was " suspicious". 2) he was paired with the sourest-faced WPC I've ever personally encountered. Something had put her back up that night and she was not in a forgiving mood.

      I had my vengeance. I told him I wasn't carrying my paperwork (it was in the boot) so he had to write a dsk appearace ticket for me. I let him fill it out and when he said "Broad Street okay for you?" I said " No. Kingston-upon-Thames".

      I was working a contract there and would be there from 8 am the next day for a week. He had to get on the radio and wake someone up so they could find a cop-shop for him to write in the ticket. I like to think everyone involved gave him hell for a bullshirt stop.

      Why was I out at that time? I drove a TR6 and felt like a run with no other drivers clogging up the view.

      1. Gotno iShit Wantno iShit

        Re: Cop Braked to Provoke Incident

        Have an upvote for a) driving a TR6 and b) _using_ it as opposed to just taking it out on fine days to park in a field like some kind of self propelled ornament.

      2. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

        Re: Cop Braked to Provoke Incident

        "overtaking on the left"

        Is this still illegal in the UK today?

        1. JetSetJim

          Re: Cop Braked to Provoke Incident

          It's naughty apart from in queueing traffic

        2. Sir Runcible Spoon

          Re: Cop Braked to Provoke Incident

          " "overtaking on the left"

          Is this still illegal in the UK today?"

          I believe that if you are traveling on an inside lane when someone is going slowly in an outside lane and the road in front of you is clear then it isn't an undertake - you are simply making progress in your lane.

          However, if you are behind the car in the outside lane, move to an inside lane to get past them and then return to the outside lane then that is in undertake.

          Otherwise everyone stuck in a traffic jam would technically be undertaking when the inside lane starts to flow faster than the outer,

        3. ScottAS2

          Re: Cop Braked to Provoke Incident

          " "overtaking on the left"

          Is this still illegal in the UK today?"

          Not explicitly. Rule 163 of the Highway Code says "You should...only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so", which lacks the MUST/MUST NOT that the Highway Code uses to identify legal requirements.

          Of course, the fact that you had failed to obey any rule in the Highway Code could be used as evidence in a prosecution for a crime such as careless or dangerous driving, or to establish liability in a civil case.

      3. Chris Parsons

        TR6

        I had one as well. Everything that could go wrong with a car did go wrong with it, including one of the wheels falling off. Petrol cooled engine, 20 mpg if you were lucky. Still wish I hadn't sold it!

        1. Stevie

          Re: TR6

          Only one?

          I had both front lower wishbone mounts tear away from the chassis on separate cornering occasions.

          I had the driver side trunion sieze solid so in order to turn I had to pull hard enough on the wheel to deform the suspension.

          I had the coupling on the metering unit shatter at 70 mph on the M1 as I was leaving Newport Pagnel services.

          I had the roof tear wawy from the rear anchor at 110mph just west of Havant and give me and the two ladies inside a damn good thrashing (it was still attached at the windscreen).

          I had the throttle linkage disconnect as I pulled into heavy works traffic in Ayelsbury. On that model the throttle failed by opening to "maximum wellie".

          I had the fuel pump overheat to the point that the petrol started vaporizing in the part with the cogs in it.

          I had a wheel bearing fail so spectaculaly the mechanic actually tore the studs through the flange when the puller exceeded 90 tons force.

          I did manage to fix the grounding problem that made the engine stall if you switched on too much stuff at once. (Which is the real reason TR6 owners flash their headlights at each other - a smug demonstration of mad electrician skillz).

          All that and more and I'd have kept the car if I could. Broke my heart to have to sell it.

          1. caradoc

            Re: TR6

            How come you were doing 70 mph as you were leaving Newport Pagnel services? Ah, TR6

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Didn't work for me :(

      That old trick...

      More than once I've been following a Police car (on a Motorbike) that's slowed down then sped up in a fairly blatant attempt to either get me to overtake or break the speed limit while following them.

      1. g e

        Re: Didn't work for me :(

        I have my phone mount in the car arranged to video every journey I make (well when the phone's in it, it's not a camera itself, before someone points that out).

        Not cos of plod but I am a bit fed up of other people driving into me over the last few years and then lying on their claim response. Spose I could turn GPS on in the app though no idea how admissible it may be in court to challenge a spurious/speculative speeding charge. Anyone ?

    6. John Tserkezis

      Re: Didn't work for me :(

      "arsehole had emigrated* and so there was no evidence offered. Ha ha!

      *I felt sorry for the Aussies"

      No problem, we already have a heap of those arseholes here in NSW. They seem to like their own company.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Having evidence seems to be enough

    Provided they are aware that the machine is fallible, the threat of exposing this deficiency in court should be adequate - it may not matter what your contradictory evidence actually indicates...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pirate

      Re: Having evidence seems to be enough

      Exactly what I was thinking when I collected this into clipboard:

      The evidence from the device used by Mr Herron was not considered by the court, so there is no established error indicated by that device.

      Seems the establishment is taking pains to NOT have its faulty "evidence" tested in a court of law.

    2. auburnman

      Re: Having evidence seems to be enough

      I think it's more a case of challenging the Police's evidence seems to be enough in radar gun cases. Anectodally* it seems that when the radar gun is challenged plod routinely find they can't prove it's been tested or calibrated in years. And since showing the gun is duff (or at least not up to scratch as incontrovertible evidence) has the potential to unravel hundreds of fines they'll bail out as soon as they can.

      *I read it on the internet so it must be true

  6. chivo243 Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    30+ years ago

    I would have loved to have this type of data. I wasn't speeding not even close, but a car that overtook me was. The Policewoman decided it was easier to stop me than the car that was speeding away. I hope this kind of data can clear other innocent drivers in the future.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 30+ years ago

      This is the *third* time I have heard *exactly* that account. The last (second) time I was told it I was concerned how common it must be... but put it down to coincidence... Now I'm feeling the need for retinfoiling :(

  7. auburnman

    The big question is, why is it not classed as harassment to drag the case all the way to court and then offer no evidence? Did the Judge not give the Prosecution a bollocking at least?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @auburnman

      Did the Judge not give the Prosecution a bollocking at least?

      Happens every other time they're up in front of one, but it makes no difference. The CPS are the most ineffective arm of the criminal justice system by a country mile. Top to bottom they're absolutely woeful, and will circle the waggons in fear when challenged on their inability to perform.

  8. hatti

    I wonder if

    Tele-traffic also provides software for a certain German automotive companies emissions testing.

    1. Tom Chiverton 1

      Re: I wonder if

      That was Bosch. Who pointed out years ago it was a stupid idea, and they wouldn't get away with it. Nice CYA.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Publicity Stunt?

    This sounds highly fishy to me.

    Neil Herron's tweet about the topic:

    https://twitter.com/HerronNeil/status/649881678320664576

    gives a link to: http://www.drivingintuition.com/ which itself has a link to "Grid". The same "Grid" of which (according to his Twitter profile) Neil Herron is the CEO.

  10. Graham Marsden

    "Motoring campaigner Neil Herron"

    Mr Neil Herron is also a joint owner of Creative Telematic Holdings Ltd

    See http://www.endole.co.uk/company/09263397/creative-telematic-holdings-ltd

    Although, unlike some people elsewhere have suggested, I don't think that he somehow fiddled the figures to get himself off, because not only would that mean that the Insurance Companies wouldn't trust their products, but he'd be open to a charge of Perverting the Course of Justice.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Motoring campaigner Neil Herron"

      I don't think he fiddled the figures, but I wouldn't be surprised if he'd set it all up, "baiting" the police at a stretch of a road where he knew they'd be operating - all for the purpose to actually go to court and give publicity to the device. Remarkable involvement in promoting the goods, I would say. And while in general the more complicated the plot the less likely to have been actually hatched, his ties to the device, in the circumstances, look VERY uncircumstantial.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I got two NIP's for variable speed limit on the M25. I use Waze a lot, so I had very accurate Google location information. I wrote some code to calculate the speeds between location points. Unfortunately, it agreed with the NIP accusation, so at least I knew it was a fair cop. Although I couldn't prove either way what the limit was at the time, of course, but that is a different issue.

  12. Haku

    Dashcam footage

    From watching too much Mythbusters (read: every single show to date) I've seen them on many occasion use high speed footage to measure the speed of an object going past a stripey background with the stripes being a perfect measured width.

    So doesn't it stand that even basic dashcam footage (one without GPS) can give you the speed of the vehicle if you measure how many frames it takes to get from one spot to another spot along a road if you know the exact distance between the two spots and the framerate?

    Doubtful it would hold up in court as the prosecution would say the camera's framerate isn't calibrated, but it could tell you wether you were even close to doing 40 in a 30 zone.

  13. Valerion

    Sample rate

    GPS receivers usually update every second, but most loggers won't store every position. Back when I worked in telematics (many years ago, to be fair), the actual sample rate was every 20 seconds or so. Based on a normal-ish car, it would be very easy to accelerate from standstill to 60mph - and be doing double the speed limit - and then back to under 30mph again all within a single sample. A policeman could clock me at 60, but my log might only show 30, even though I had indeed done 60.

    1. Gordon861

      Re: Sample rate

      Except that the positional information used to calculate your average speed between ticks would be wrong.

      The GPS loggers don't read the speed from their sensors, unlike old style loggers that would record the speed directly from the wheels etc, instead the GPS system should take your two positional readings and work out the speed based on the time over that distance giving you a fairly accurate reading every second.

    2. LucreLout

      Re: Sample rate

      @Valerion

      That'd only be possible if the telematics/gps device had a visible countdown to the next recorded measurement, you accelerated at a rate constant with your future deceleration, and you did all that knowingly in front of a camera van for the purposes of getting nicked. And it won't just be you, it'll be everyone the dodgyscope says was speeding who has telematics.

      Not only is it unlikely, its so far beyond reasonable doubt that the SCP could claim Elvis was operating it with no further loss of credibility.

      Having two objects move in unpredictable patterns at unknown speeds will always make it impossible for one object to accurately calculate the speed of the other when you're scaling up a distance travelled of a few inches during measurement to generate a speed in MPH. Its time all handheld or otherwise manouverable speed devices were decomissioned. Fix one to a tripod where the operator can't jiggle it, if you must, but lets at least be reasonable about the laws of physics.

    3. chris 17 Silver badge

      Re: Sample rate

      back then maybe, but today with modern storage you can record every second or every sub second if needed. I set my Garmins (edge 1000 and forerunner 305) are set to record every second else my mtb segments & times are way off on strava and garmin connect, in fact smart recording setting and iPhones recording the same segments will show faster speeds, slightly shorter segments and less time. some of the gpx files for hours long recordings are just a few 10's of KB, whilst the units have GB & MB or storage.

    4. GBSlowKid

      Re: Sample rate

      I am absolutely certain that you have illustrated the premise upon which this use of the device is based.

      The marketing of it as a speed camera/vehicle speed comparison device that will be a serious threat to a conviction is a potential scandal.

  14. Dan McIntyre

    Another Dropped Case

    I've also had a speeding case dropped by the prosecution in court after I appeared and provided evidence which contradicted their own, the details being:

    Letter arrive announcing I'd been photographed travelling at 93mph in a 50mph zone. Bit strange I thought so I checked out the date and time and found I was still at work at the date and time given, some 40 miles away from the location where the photo was taken. My car was with me (I'm a wheelchair user and am the only person insured to drive the car so it stays with me).

    Gathered evidence to prove this - shift rota, emails I'd sent to others around the time of the offence and most damningly an extract from the swipe card system used at work showing I was still in the building.

    Turned up at court and presented this evidence. All the prosecution had was an extremely blurred photo of my car, showing the speed as 80mph and a different date and time. when this was pointed out (by the magistrate's adviser person) to the court the prosecution withdrew immediately and was given a talking to about wasting court time by the magistrate.

    I was given a stern "you've been lucky this time" mention.

    The point is, always challenge if you believe you're in the right. They are not all-powerful and are subject to errors, both human and technological.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Northumbria Police, we lie so you don't have too and yes I know them personally, hence anon mode !

  16. This post has been deleted by its author

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Strange coincidence

    As others have said Herron is a director of the company that makes this GPS device. If you look back a few years his co-director Dr Philip Tann was caught speeding and he too had his case withdrawn by the CPS. Strangely enough both got caught on the same road in Sunderland, how strange is that?

    It seems, on the reporting, that the evidence from the device was not tested by the courts or submitted to an independent expert so it could be examined.

    I can see a large problem with using such a device in making a proper challenge to a speeding offence. The laser gun will measure the speed of the car in a fraction of a second. The GPS machine will not or is not likely to sample at this high sample rate so comparison is largely futile. Drivers who have been speeding and subsequently see the speed gun and police brake so a slow sample rate GPS averaged sped will always be lower than the speed gun reading.

    Another issue is one of time synchronisation. While the Herron/Tann GPS log is on GPS time how many police laser speed guns will be connected to a GPS time source? In the Herron case it is an LTI20.20 Ultralyte 1000 so this will have its time set, if it was, by the police officer's watch. As such the time Herron was caught is only an estimate, unless of course he has a source inside the police that is passing the time to him. Only joking there folks.

    So this case has been dropped probably because of a prosecution service mistake not because of the telematics device; maybe Mr Herron can enlighten us all on that...or will it ruin his advertorial?

  18. Gene Cash Silver badge

    So it's the same on both sides of the pond. I've found every time I'm prepared to fight a ticket, it's dropped. The cop is usually not interested in taking the time to testify. In other cases, it was a K55 radar unit, and when I ask for the daily calibration records, it's usually "uh, we left that in our other jacket. case dismissed"

    I've been charged with running a toll booth, where the truck had the same tag number as my motorcycle - the photo was included with the mailed citation.

    I was told "THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE" of course, and it was dropped when I presented all my evidence of vehicle registration, etc. I found out that the truck was from another state with a different numbering scheme.

    Edit: I got the stern "you're lucky" from the judge and I responded with "No, your Honor, I just don't run toll booths... I'm not that poor." and gave the gimlet stare right back.

    I've also been told if I fight a ticket the cop would add more offenses (which is "illegal duress against due process" as he's trying to keep me from showing up in court) so not only did I get my speeding ticket dropped, he got a black mark on his record.

  19. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    It's bad in Iowa....

    It's bad in Iowa, it's the only state where state law on radar and laser says they NEVER have to calibrate their equipment, and equipment calibration cannot be used as a defense. Luckily, I have not heard of cases here where the equipment is hugely out of calibration like this.

    Pennsylvania, some state senator got pissed about getting caught in a speed trap a few years ago, and made it illegal for ANYONE but the State Patrol to run radar or laser (including the local police!) They can technically use "Vascar", this ghetto rig where they are supposed to either use two landmarks or put dots on the road, measure the distance, hit a "start" and "stop" button as the car passes the dots, and get a speed. It's apparently labor-intensive enough compared to aiming the radar gun and pulling the trigger that they don't bother.

    The city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was told their cameras were illegal and basically said "fuck you, w'ere leaving them up anyway." Unbelievable. The city officials were apparently quite shocked when people started demanding refunds on their ilegally-collected fees. Of course, Gatso operates these, you actually get a "request for payment" from Gatso (which you're not obligated to ever pay, since you didn't order goods or services from this company... and if they report it to a credit agency, you can tell the credit agency the same and they are legally obligated to remove the negative item from your report) instead of a ticket from the city (where there are actual legal penalties for non-payment.)

  20. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    "As others have said Herron is a director of the company that makes this GPS device. If you look back a few years his co-director Dr Philip Tann was caught speeding and he too had his case withdrawn by the CPS. Strangely enough both got caught on the same road in Sunderland, how strange is that?"

    Not strange at all. Given the comments on this model of laser speed gun being known to give improper readings, they probably were both improperly photographed, and were just two of the few with evidence to refute these false speeding claims.

  21. crediblywitless

    When they catch you with one of their lasers, they basically threaten to throw the book at you unless you plead guilty. It's "pay up, or your driving life will turn to shit in hours and you'll wish you'd never been born". There's no hint whatsoever that the box does anything like what they claim it does. I'm pleased that this man challenged them, but I'm surprised they didn't a) take his car apart looking for faults and b) do him for DCA as well when he did. That was what was going to happen to me, I was told.

  22. clatters
    Stop

    In the old days...

    Back in the early days of the laser speed-gun, my now retired mate in the Met tried one of them to see how useful it was. Duly dispatched to K Divisions streets, he came back to the station and presented the Sergeant his findings. The best one was Mr O Tree. On explaining that the oak tree was travelling at 40 mph, the Sarge decided it was either the machine or my mate that was defective. Guess which one it was.

    The device (for those of cynical nature - ie all of you reading this)

    R

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Re: In the old days...

      Mr O Tree however confessed...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: In the old days...

      >The device (for those of cynical nature - ie all of you reading this)

      Thanks for pointing that out. Made me sad thinking that was the end of his career.

      Of course, you mate was doubtless defective too but glad he lived to malfunction another day.

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