Lottery of speed camera fines
Drivers face a speed camera lottery, with their chances of being prosecuted after being photographed varying according to where it happens, it emerged today.
Drivers face a speed camera lottery, with their chances of being prosecuted after being photographed varying according to where it happens, it emerged today.
In the West Midlands, six out of 10 of those caught by camera end up with points on their licence and a fine.
The figure in Staffordshire is 77 per cent and in Warwickshire 78 per cent.
However, in West Mercia,covering Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, 100 per cent end up being prosecuted.
Latest accounts from the 38 safety camera partnerships in England and Wales, which showed £114 million was raised in fines and disclosed discrepancies over drivers who break the limit.
In some areas, such as West Mercia, a £60 fixed penalty notice carrying three endorsement points goes to every owner of a UK-registered car caught by the camera because the "notice of intended prosecution", triggered by the camera, and the fixed penalty notice are put in the same envelope, to save administration costs.
Others issue the notice of intended prosecution and wait for drivers to respond.
More three million notices of intended prosecution issued in the year ending March 31 2006 triggered 2.2 million fixed penalty notices and of these 1.9 million were paid.
Figures do not take into account foreign drivers or those on false or illegible number plates who could not be traced.
