Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/03/322.asp
4/12/2005
UK Officials Admit Speed Cameras Make Mistakes
Suffolk, UK officials admits to a well-known camera error.
The officials responsible for operating speed cameras in Suffolk, UK have investigated the case of a bus driver who received a 81 MPH camera ticket who happened to have an electronic log recording that proved he was actually driving 29 MPH at the time. Terry Marsh with Suffolk SafeCam told the London Times that, "It is known that it is possible for a camera to record a speed inaccurately under sets of very rare circumstances. I think all camera operators have been aware of this since cameras were introduced."
Marsh described the effect of radar bouncing off large sedans and vans in the same way that radar bounces off of the stealth bomber. The reflected beam can record the speed of a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. Marsh denied that this potential for error has any effect on the current system because all tickets are double-checked by a human. He could not explain why no such check prevented the ticket from being issued in the 81 MPH bus case.
Article Excerpt:Terry Marsh of Suffolk SafeCam admitted that it was generally known in the industry that speed cameras could make mistakes, but insisted that there was no need for the cameras to be changed as a human operator usually picked up any anomalies.
Source: Speed cameras are fallible, operators admit (London Times (UK), 4/12/2005)
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