Speed cameras legal challenge

A car in Central London passes a speed camera. The Government played down claims that traffic laws could be thrown into chaos after cases against two men allegedly caught speeding were thrown out because police paperwork sent to them breached European legislation. * In standard letters to the registered owners of the vehicles, officers asked for the name and address of the driver at the time and warned of possible prosecution for dangerous driving. The judge in the case said that to ask for such information as well as alerting the recipient to possible prosecution was in breach of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The article safeguards the right of anybody suspected of a crime to remain silent so as not to incriminate himself. 7/2/2001: According to a claim by the Association of Chief Police Officers speed cameras have helped cut the number of deaths on the roads. In a pilot scheme eight police forces used money from speeding fines to fund extra cameras instead of passing it on to the Treasury, an according to one senior police officer there was a 50% reduction in collisions and casualties. 13/8/01: The Government was unveiling the extension of a controversial scheme which allows money raised from speed cameras to be used to expand the network of devices on the roads. Transport minister John Spellar was set to announce how successful the plough-back-the-fines' scheme has been in eight trial areas. The eight existing trial areas are Thames Valley (Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire), Essex, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Cleveland, Glasgow, South Wales and the city of Nottingham. They are more than half way through a two-year trial that will end in April next year. 30/12/03: Tory proposal that thousands of motorists would avoid getting points on their licence from offences registered on the majority of Britain's 4,500 speed cameras have received a mixed repsonse from motoring organisations. (Photo by Michael Stephens - PA Images