Around 600 drivers seeking to overturn fines for speeding after a fake 50mph sign was placed on a dual carriageway in south east London will not have their penalties waived, the Metropolitan Police said.
Thousands of motorists were ticketed on the A20 near Sidcup on a stretch of the road where the speed limit had been temporarily dropped from 70mph to 40mph by Transport for London due to persistent flooding.
Police say the 50mph sign was installed by an “unauthorised third party” on January 24 after speed cameras were set to match the lowered limit.
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While the Met admits the sign should not have been there, it “would not have impacted the enforcement of the 40mph average speed limit”.
They’re saying that it was an unauthorized third party (so either someone put it up themselves, or the council fucked up, most likely the former imho).
The force claimed if a motorist was to have traveled through the section signed as 40mph at the maximum permitted speed of 40mph, then sped up to 50mph after seeing the now-removed fake sign, their average speed on the section would not have resulted in them being issued with a speeding ticket.
That seems like a pretty important part of it too. They’re saying that even if you followed all the signs posted, your average speed would not have netted you a ticket.
The police don’t have authority to dictate laws, they don’t even know the law half the time. They can say whatever they like, the courts are the ones who decide.
They time your car from start to finish in a section for tickets? I’m horrified
They’re quite common, and they’re very effective, as you can’t speed then brake to avoid the camera.
For example, if you’re on a motorway with roadworks, and a temporary 50mph limit in place, you’ll very rarely see anyone doing more than 53, because they know they’ll get a ticket.
You won’t get a ticket until you average 60 in a 50 limit on motorways. Motorway speed cameras don’t trigger until 10mph above. If it’s one of the smart motorways and it’s running the national speed limit, they won’t trigger until 90.
These are super common in the Netherlands, the big twelve lane highway from Utrecht to Amsterdam has it, which means the speed limit in lane 1 is maybe 5kmph higher than in lane 5.
Average speed limit cameras on motorways are pretty common now, with more on the way.