[LINK] Speeding fines may come to sudden halt

Kim Holburn kim at holburn.net
Thu Aug 24 21:47:16 AEST 2006


http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/08/23/1156012614351.html

> EVERY speed camera fine issued by the Roads and Traffic Authority  
> since 1999 may be invalid, after a judge ruled the photos used to  
> convict drivers were meaningless.
>
> The decision in the Sydney District Court by Judge John Nicholson,  
> SC, could cost the State Government hundreds of millions of  
> dollars, said Dennis Miralis, the solicitor who won the case.
>
> The authority had sought to convict his client, David Baldock, of  
> Castlecrag, of driving at 93kmh in an 80kmh zone on the M5 at  
> Bardwell Park in June last year, Mr Miralis said. But Judge  
> Nicholson ruled that the photograph provided by the authority was  
> not valid evidence.
>
> He found that to be given weight as evidence the digital cameras  
> that took the photos had to be calibrated every day. The authority  
> calibrated its cameras once a year, Mr Miralis said.
>
> He said every person convicted on such evidence since 1999 - when  
> digital cameras came in - had been improperly convicted.
>
> "The biggest problem the RTA face is how they're going to run these  
> prosecutions in the future," Mr Miralis said.
>
> He said he would ask the Attorney-General's department to hold an  
> inquiry into how the authority's lawyers had conducted their court  
> cases.
>
> The authority said its cameras were accurate and denied the court's  
> decision had set a precedent. Every camera was subject to  
> "comprehensive" tests, a spokesman said. The authority would  
> consider an appeal.
>
> In March Mr Miralis won an appeal in the Supreme Court against the  
> authority over a speed camera photo that did not have the proper  
> "security indicators". The court overturned his client's $75 fine.
>
> In February the authority lost another appeal when the Supreme  
> Court said a speed camera fine had wrongly stipulated which lane  
> the motorist was using.
>
> There are 113 fixed speed cameras in NSW. Last year $57.3 million  
> worth of speed camera fines were issued, up from $50.9 million in  
> 2004 and $41.6 million in 2003.



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Kim Holburn
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