Speed gun problem may have affected Kent couriers
Date: 12 October 2007
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Couriers and other freight haulage drivers may have been wrongly convicted of speeding in Kent because of a problem with police hand-held speed detectors.
A leaked police memo dated October 4th advised local traffic officers not to issue penalties based on evidence from the hand guns because there may have been "problems" with the way one of the machines was calibrated.
Although a statement from Kent Police said there was "no problem with the use of laser speed guns", there is the implication that these gadgets have been in use while failing to meet minimum standards.
As Paul Smith of campaign group Safe Speed notes, this may have led to courier drivers and other motorists receiving fines when they shouldn't have, and may even have cost people their jobs.
"We demand that Kent Police immediately contact all those wrongfully convicted and refund them and remove points from their driving licences. Nothing less will do.
"Anyone who has lost their job or otherwise suffered as a result of an erroneous conviction will be entitled to substantial compensation."
He also said that the news illustrated the wider subject of "sloppy" speed enforcement, where speed cameras have become a "dangerous distraction".
"The tragedy is that the original objective of safer roads was completely forgotten long ago," he said.
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