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SPEED TICKET GIVEN IN HASTE
A Motorist has escaped a speeding fine and points after proving the 30mph signs he had just passed were in the wrong place. John Hatton thought the positioning of the signs at the end of the Long Ashton bypass “didn’t feel right” after he was caught by a Safety Camera Partnership van on the outskirts of Flax Bourton in North Somerset.
And he was proved right when records from the council’s highways department showed they had been put up 200 metres further away from the village than they were supposed to be. Mr Hatton now hopes that, after his four-month fight, other drivers caught in the same speed trap since the signs were put up 18 months ago will be given a cash refund and a licence reprieve.
He was returning with his wife from a shopping trip in Bristol to their Weston-super-Mare home when passed the 30mph signs on the A370 bypass.
He then noticed he had been filmed by the Safety Camera Partnership from a van parked in a layby on the outskirts of Flax Bour ton.
He was notified by post of an intended prosecution because he had been travelling at 44mph and faced a fixed £60 fine and a three-point licence endorsement.
But Mr Hatton said: “I suddenly wondered why these 30mph signs had been put up in a rural area and on a road with no pavements and fields on either side.
“I didn’t think there was any apparent danger to the public and it just didn’t feel right, so I did a spot of detective work.
“I went on the internet and downloaded a lot of information about 30mph speed zones from the Association Of British Drivers’ website.
“It revealed how the provisions of the Highways Act are intended and how they may be misused.” Armed with this information, Mr Hatton visited North Somerset Council’s highways department and asked to see the “footprints” marking the extent of the 30mph zone at Flax Bourton.
He said: “It was then that I discovered that the signs had been put up 200 metres further outside the village than they should have been.
“I pointed this out to the Safety Camera Partnership who, after four months of correspondence, said they would not be taking any action against me.
“I now hope that every other driver who has been fined in that area receives a refund.” Avon, Somerset and Gloucestershire Safety Camera Partnership assistant communications manager Gary Larsen said: “Mr Hatton identified an error and from the time he informed us, all enforcements at Flax Bourton were stopped.
“We have since been talking to North Somerset Council’s highways department. We are also seeking legal advice from Avon and Somerset police regarding the prosecutions in that area.” North Somerset Council spokesman Zoe Briffitt confirmed the signs were in the wrong place and said the mistake would be rectified.
Best Regards
Stuart XV16
Please note that some of the comments and articles posted may not represent my views or the views of FORUM99 and its moderators.
HELP KEEP THIS FORUM ALIVE! PLEASE DONATE.Funny……I thought they just put them any where they wanted to make more money! Didn’t realize there were guidelines to where they could be placed!
The roads are my race track!!
There are actually strict guide lines(not as though they stick to them), see my post Association of Chief Police Officers, if you email me, I will send you a copy.
Best Regards
Stuart XV16
Please note that some of the comments and articles posted may not represent my views or the views of FORUM99 and its moderators.
HELP KEEP THIS FORUM ALIVE! PLEASE DONATE.
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