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”.
They're saying that it was an unauthorized third party (so either someone put it up themselves, or the council fucked up, most likely the former imho).
The force claimed if a motorist was to have traveled through the section signed as 40mph at the maximum permitted speed of 40mph, then sped up to 50mph after seeing the now-removed fake sign, their average speed on the section would not have resulted in them being issued with a speeding ticket.
That seems like a pretty important part of it too. They're saying that even if you followed all the signs posted, your average speed would not have netted you a ticket.
The police don't have authority to dictate laws, they don't even know the law half the time. They can say whatever they like, the courts are the ones who decide.
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.
