Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/02/275.asp
3/22/2005
Australian Couple Beat Speed Camera Tickets
An Australian couple beat a series of speed tickets issued by a notoriously inaccurate camera.
A Wollongong, Australia magistrate has acquitted an elderly couple who received a series of tickets from a problematic speed camera. Located at Balgownie Rd the device has received a great deal of public scrutiny after issuing tickets to a milk truck driver for driving an impossible speed and to a school crossing guard whose car was parked near the camera.
The Roads and Traffic Authority blamed the mistakes on human error, not the accuracy of the camera itself. Magistrate Robert Walker expressed "grave concerns" over the RTA's refusal to do anything about the mistakes until forced by the court to correct them.
Victor and Jeannie Nascimben together received four tickets in a three-week period. The elderly couple testified that they had a nearly clean driving record for almost 50 years and it didn't seem likely they'd all-of-a-sudden start getting several tickets. The judge found the charges proven, but dismissed the case anyway.
Article Excerpt:Mrs Nascimben told the court under oath: "I have only this to say and that is I have been driving for 47 years with only three tickets in all that time. I regularly drive to Sydney and currently clock up about 2000km a week. Yet within the space of 21 days last year, I get four speeding tickets. Surely there is enough doubt provided there."
Source: Couple win trial by speed camera (Illawarra Mercury, 3/22/2005)
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