Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3272.asp

9/25/2010

Argentina, Australia, UK: Speed Cameras Snare Legal Drivers
Court shuts down Argentine speed camera scam, 19,000 Australian fines to be refunded, and UK tickets man at transition point.

A motorcyclist in Hertforshire, England was ticketed by a speed camera operator for driving 38 MPH just yards away from a 40 MPH speed limit sign that is visible in the ticket photograph. According to Motorcycle News, Hertfordshire's Speed Camera Partnership defended the citation by saying, "There is nowhere in the law that says it's okay to start accelerating before the speed limit changes."

In Argentina, federal officials have seized the speed camera equipment in the municipalities of Mocoreta, Parada Pucheta, Bonpland and La Cruz, El Litoral reported. Private companies set up the cameras along National Highway 14 and demanded 300 pesos (US $75) from passing motorists in letters that threatened to bump the fine to 500 pesos (US $126) if payment was not promptly received. The enterprise was illegal because the route is under the jurisdiction of the national government which never approved the use of the cameras. The companies involved also failed to install the warning signs required of any speed camera deployment. The prosecutor who ordered the seizure called what was going on "a scam."

At least 19,000 bogus speed camera fines worth $4 million are to be refunded in New South Wales, Australia according to the Express Advocate. Gosford deputy mayor Craig Doyle responded to the news by shutting down his city's speed cameras until questions regarding their accuracy are resolved.

"This is totally unacceptable," Doyle told the Express Advocate. "We are told these cameras are absolutely reliable and here is proof they are not."