Scamera detector supplier to sue government
Leave the law alone, says Car Parts Direct, or we take action
A radar detector supplier is claiming compensation from the government on behalf of motorists who use its device. The company is asking for up to £2m or a £100 per motorist. The company's move follows the proposal in last year's Road Safety Bill, to ban radar detectors -- though not GPS-based devices. PistonHeads covered the story last month (link below).
Mark Cornwall, boss of UK-based Car Parts Direct which has a five year agreement to supply the Quintezz XT7000 radar detector (right) here, has asked transport minister Alistair Darling to leave the law alone and allow motorists to continue to use their speed trap detection device.
Cornwall said, "Our radar detector does exactly what a speed camera is supposed to do - it advises a motorist to check their speed and keep within the limits of the law. It is a road safety device that has helped thousands of motorists keep their driving licence and avoided hefty speeding fines. Alistair Darling has demonstrated once again his greed for speed camera cash – road safety is just a feeble excuse to extort easy money from the motorist."
Cornwall said that his local MP had seen information from within the government showing conclusively that the only valid reason proposed for banning radar detectors was financial. The other reason the government put forward, said Cornwall, was technically incorrect. "They said that detectors set off supermarket door openers but of course it's the other way round."
Cornwall added that he will do everything possible to make sure the law remains unchanged. He said, “While ever there are speed cameras we will have huge demand – and we will also continue to supply the Quintezz and pay the cost of the £60 speeding ticket to our customers – it’s about the only defence the motorist has left against speed cameras.”
Mobile speed cameras are of course a huge source of government income. One police officer managed to give 329 tickets in five hours, raising nearly £20,000 in revenue, said Cornwall. Police overtime pay is regularly given to officers willing to carry out the mobile speed checks.
Cornwall caused outrage with the Government last year when he announced that any motorist using their device who is unfortunate enough to receive a speeding ticket would have the cost of their fine paid.
Cornwall said: “Any customer purchasing our Quintezz XT7000 Radar detector will have up to £100 refunded to them if the Government manages to ban the product within 12 months of purchase. We will then take action against Alistair Darling to recover the costs from the Government – and the Government fails to pay, further action will be taken through the European Court of Human Rights.”
PistonHeads' Road Safety Bill story: www.pistonheads.com/speed/default.asp?storyId=9581
Quintezz XT7000 Radar Detector: www.carparts-direct.co.uk
Where do I send my £££ contribution, to the legal costs fund to take it all the way to to the European Court of Justice--that word is still recognised in the EU.
B 7 VP said:
This MUST be the news, we have all been waiting for, isnt it??.Everyone waiting for "Someone else" to do Something--But-Someone else hasnt blinked.
Where do I send my £££ contribution, to the legal costs fund to take it all the way to to the European Court of Justice--that word is still recognised in the EU.
Good idea. I am sure that there would be many people who would donate to that cause. There would be plenty of the previously convicted motoring public who would probably want to, and this would be hundreds of thousands of people. A big march through London holding up traffic like the anti Iraq protests would do well IMO.
Well done to Mark Cornwall for standing up against the might of the government. Let's get this guy motivated and see where he can go with it. Not only is this government not happy with robbing hundreds of thousands of motorists, now they don't care if they are closing private companies down, which is adding to unemployment - that's a clever policy
Alistair Darling is the new Sherriff of Nottingham, it's official, and we are in desperate need of a Robin Hood. These policies are not working, and we all know that the government is not pulling in the same amount of revenue as it used to (ie Smoking Kills campaign which hit them very hard for lost revenue).
I wonder if someone will actually start a political movement against the government or whether this too quietly dissolves. Direct action is needed and I feel the softly softly campaigning political approach is not moving with enough pace, but something is better than nothing.
Maybe Mark Cornish should stand in local Government and see how he does? What happened to all that clap trap about the tories banning speed cameras if they got into power? He would get my vote anyhow
edited for spelling
>> Edited by ultimasimon on Wednesday 5th January 17:56
Take that.. 
Refusal to attend court having written a letter saying that the camera was operated outside the guidelines may start a ruckus.
I like the tale that someone removed the numberplate froma police radar van and repetitively drove through their trap.
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