Around 600 drivers seeking to overturn fines for speeding after a fake 50mph sign was placed on a dual carriageway in south east London will not have their penalties waived, the Metropolitan Police said.
Thousands of motorists were ticketed on the A20 near Sidcup on a stretch of the road where the speed limit had been temporarily dropped from 70mph to 40mph by Transport for London due to persistent flooding.
Police say the 50mph sign was installed by an “unauthorised third party” on January 24 after speed cameras were set to match the lowered limit.
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While the Met admits the sign should not have been there, it “would not have impacted the enforcement of the 40mph average speed limit”.
It's a strict liability offence, so no.
Yes, but in this case there can be a reasonableness take - people had every reason to think the speed limit was higher.
Bear in mind, this is the police saying people are guilty. The police do not determine this, the court may well have a different take.
With strict liability offences, if you do it, you are guilty. Intent does not come into it. The only question for the court is whether or not they did it, as the law is very clear.
Not necessarily. If you plead guilty with special reasons, it's possible to get the charge dismissed. It's very rare, but this is exactly the kind of situation where that would apply.
Essentially, they would argue yes they were speeding, but they had good reason to think they weren't.
However, that wouldn't work if they were going significantly over 50, which most if not all probably were, because cameras are typically set 10mph above on motorways.