Nearly 1/2 Avon & Somerset speeding fines dropped

[J500ANT]

Articeles from the Bristol Evening Post
(The webpage that links to is on a bit of a go slow!)

I pity the poor sods who did get done though.

Tony

>> Edited by J500ANT on Friday 30th December 12:04

[lightstepper]

I think this is why mine might have not ever arrived.

[JoolzB]

"No one from the Avon and Somerset Safety Camera Partnership was available for comment."

What a surprise there then. There is a likeness between these "companies" and rip off companies often reported on by TV prgrammes such as Watchdog, nobody ever available to comment and hiding behind locked doors etc. Perhaps Rogue Traders shoud dedicate half an hour to them.

[justinp1]

I think the most interesting part is the final two sentences.

I think it is basically saying mow they are not going to be getting the money any more the scamera partnerships have 'reduced effort' in following prosecutions up...

[james_j]

I expect, because of media attention in the last few months highlighting the innacuracy of laser "dodgyscopes" and innacurate gastos, people are rightly contesting the "evidence" of their accusers. Wonderful!

[deltafox]

Har har har! I love it! These skanks are finally on a downward trend.
And not before time either.
Whats da matter boys? Not Making enough money? Has someone taken your ball off of you? Awwwwww diddums, they dont wanna play no more! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Great stuff!

[blueyes]

"The Mid & South Wales safety camera partnership was the only region apart from London which cancelled more speeding tickets than Avon and Somerset in 2004/5.

Some 216,499 prosecutions were cancelled in the capital."


Top, top, top, banana!!!!!!

[J500ANT]

I've just re-read this and its made me even more

So they've issued lots of NIP's but of those only 43% have gone on to become a speeding ticket? I wonder if the proper Police's arrest to conviction ration is as bad?

[deeps]

Or maybe there's alot of fiddling going on and somehow FPN's are being cancelled after they've been paid, in a kind of unofficial back pocket collection sort of way.
It wouldn't suprise me if fraudulent activity was discovered amongst the scam management.

[alloypearltam]

J500ANT said:

I've just re-read this and its made me even more So they've issued lots of NIP's but of those only 43% have gone on to become a speeding ticket? I wonder if the proper Police's arrest to conviction ration is as bad?

I seam to recall that their conviction rate is not that great. My own experience of them is not that great. I had some equipment stolen in the summer from my business by what can have only been an ex employee. Avon & Somerset have still not followed it up with me although they were kind enough to give me a crime number for insurance purposes.

[Peter Ward]

article said:

The number of cameras in and around Bristol could have reached its peak because the Government wants to spend money raised from speeding fines on better road junctions and more warning signs instead.

How should we read this in the overall context? It seems to me that you could read it as saying,

"Now we partnerships can't keep the money and put up more and more cameras, and we're expected to improve road safety instead, there's not much point in doing the job any more".

Maybe I'm reading more into this than it deserves, but in the overall context it appears to me that we can expect a lower effort on speeding simply because the money is going to go somewhere other than the partnerships. If this proves to be the case, then it would be the ultimate proof of the true purpose of the partnerships. Let's see.

[deeps]

But the partnerships aren't being scrapped are they?

I think they will fund their operations via county councils, rather than claiming funding from the treasury as at present.

[deeps]

Bristol post said:

According to latest figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT), drivers in Avon and Somerset received 164,008 notices of intended prosecution in 2004/5, but only 94,249 fixed penalty notices - which meant 43 per cent of prosecutions were dropped. In the previous year, drivers received 201,988 notices of intended prosecution, but only 134,435 fixed penalty notices - meaning 33 per cent of prosecutions were dropped.

Don't be fooled into thinking the scammers are winding down their activities.

201,988 nips in 2004 against 164,008 in 2005.

For those that don't know, this is because the partnership used to include Gloucestershire, but they seperated this year to operate their own partnership.

[purpleheadedcerb]

It probably costs too much to pursue those who contest the NIP by whatever means. However, they can still make enough money to pay their wages and put a few more cameras up based on the people that do pay. I don't see their incentive to pursue every ticket.

[J500ANT]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4571824.stm

So Avon & Somerset arent the only ones!!

[rodney59]

Kent get 100%? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4292645.stm

rounding errors? or more lies?


>> Edited by rodney59 on Saturday 31st December 19:55