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Caught on a speed gun at 53mph in a 30mph zone: possible defences?
I was stopped for speeding by an officer standing at the roadside with a radar gun. I have a couple of questions which I hope you can help me with : 1) The 'recorded' speed was 53mph in a 30mph zone. The 30mph zone was a small village B road of approx 500m long - no schools or anything just a couple of houses. The officer gave me a fixed penalty fine/£60 and I have been asked to surrender my licence at the local police station. If this is a fixed penalty fine will this be just 3 points? The offence code he logged was L018 / Exceed Speed. I was slightly uncomfortable about the way I was pulled over, and following chats with a couple of friends I decided to write in to you. a) There were no signs showing speed camera in operation - do they have to do this? b) The officer had the radar gun already pointed down the road but I read that he should at first assess my speed and then point the gun at me for at least 3 seconds? I must have been over 100 metres away when he first saw me as I came round a corner. I hit the brakes as soon as I saw him so I cannot think I was doing 53mph by the time he monitored my speed. He was not clearly marked as his car and colleague were down a country lane and his fluorescent jacket was unzipped. c) He waived me into a lane opening and showed me the radar device with 53mph marked on it without me asking to see it, I asked if they were testing speed here due to a number of road accidents and he said no. He said that they were here as this B road is on their Red Route - I have been down many Red Route Roads before and they seem clearly marked but there was no such markings on this road. d) Although he says I was speeding at 53mph, which is 23mph over the limit he was still OK with this being dealt with by a FPT - was he just being fair or does this sound suspicious for this level over the speed limit ?
Speeding is an absolute offence and if you were caught over the limit then you are liable to a penalty. 53mph in a 30 mph (indeed any speed of 50mph + in a 30mph limit) would normally lead to a summons and we would normally expect 6 points and a substantially higher fine than the 3 points and £60 you have been offered. If you opt to go to court then they are likely to deal with you on this basis.
The offence code is wrong - an SP30 would be more likely - LO18 relates to axle weight - but this not a point on which a defence is likely to succeed - the court would treat it as a minor clerical error.
As to the method of your being caught, there is no requirement on the police to put up warning signs regarding speed cameras. Indeed there are now very few restrictions on the methods of enforcement save over the testing of the accuracy of the equipment at the beginning and end of the day. The "gun" is almost instant and he may well have you before the braking took place.
Despite "tips and tricks" regarding loopholes on officers' jackets and the like which supposedly enable drivers to avoid speeding offences, to be found elsewhere on the internet, most of these are bogus, distorted or downright wrong. Magistrates are overwhelmingly trusting of evidence derived by traffic officers and I would strongly recommend you accept the fixed penalty in this case.
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