Camera Says Yes, Computer Says No! Thousands of Fines Cancelled Amid Technology Failures

Recent reports indicate that a number of speed cameras on roads across the UK have been falsely triggered, resulting in the wrongful issuing of thousands of speeding fines to motorists who had not broken the speed limit at the relevant time. 

The speed cameras were falsely triggered because of a delay between the change in the variable speed limit and that change being reflected in the camera settings.

Effectively if a driver was travelling at 40 miles per hour in accordance with the variable speed limit, and the variable speed limit increased to 50 on the road signs, the driver would be wrongly identified as speeding if their speed increased to 50 miles per hour because of the delay in the new speed limit reaching the speed camera.

Since 2021, National Highways have found 2,650 erroneous speed camera activations, with over 36,000 drivers having had their speed awareness courses cancelled due to the unreliability in the camera results which have led to the issuing of speeding notifications.

There is widespread concern among motorists and authorities alike, with the reliability of the speed enforcement technology currently in use being questioned. 

Cancelled Fines

As a result of these wrongfully issued tickets authorities have taken the step of cancelling thousands of fines which has resulted in a significant administrative burden to identify and address the affected cases. 

The process of reviewing and rescinding these fines, as well as the cancellation of the speed awareness courses, has been both time-consuming and costly, and officials have apologised to affected drivers for the inconvenience and anxiety caused. 

Many motorists expressed relief at the news, but some have called for further reassurances that such mistakes will not recur in the future.

In response to the incident, there are ongoing investigations into the root causes of the camera failures, with some calls for independent audits of the speed camera network.  The issue identified relates to the 10 second grace period which is supposed to prevent cameras from activating when either the speed limit drops and drivers start to slow down, or vice versa. 

National Highways has pledged to enhance oversight and introduce safeguards to ensure the accuracy of speed detection on variable speed limit motorways in the future. 

The episode has reignited debate about the role and reliability of automated traffic enforcement, as well as the need for transparency and accountability in its use. It also underlines the need for robust processes to be in place to ensure there is full legal compliance.

Philip Somarakis, National Head of Regulatory at Irwin Mitchell has commented on this issue in the Daily Mail, which led on this story.

If you think you may have been wrongfully issued with a notice of intended prosecution, please contact our expert Team for assistance.