Hedge helps man beat speed fine
Discussion
However it should read: Camera location illegal due to inadequate signage, but hey its not as good a headline!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/so
Last Updated: Wednesday, 20 December 2006, 13:08 GMT
Hedge helps man beat speed fine
A motorist has won a High Court battle to overturn a speeding fine after arguing he could not see the roadside warning signpost.
John Coombes, from Wells, Somerset, was fined for speeding in a 30mph zone near the city in 2005.
He argued that an overgrown hedge meant he could not see a signpost warning of the restriction.
His conviction was quashed by two senior High Court judges in London on Wednesday.
This judgment has confirmed what many motorists have always felt
Jeffrey Bannister, solicitor
They ruled that, because of an obscured sign, he had not had sufficient warning that he was passing from a 40mph zone into a 30 mph stretch.
Mr Coombes' solicitor, Jeffrey Bannister, said: "This judgment has confirmed what many motorists have always felt.
"Namely that they should not be convicted if trees and hedges overhanging or obscuring signs mean they cannot properly see the signs, and they are not given adequate notice of changes in the speed limit."
Mr Coombes was caught in a police speed trap on the B3139 Bath Road at Horrington near Wells last July.
He was convicted of speeding by Mendip magistrates in January and fined £250 and ordered to pay £150 legal costs.
At Bristol Crown Court, both conviction and fine were upheld in April, and he was ordered to pay an extra £229 legal costs.
The High Court said his legal costs should be reimbursed out of public funds.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/so
Last Updated: Wednesday, 20 December 2006, 13:08 GMT
Hedge helps man beat speed fine
A motorist has won a High Court battle to overturn a speeding fine after arguing he could not see the roadside warning signpost.
John Coombes, from Wells, Somerset, was fined for speeding in a 30mph zone near the city in 2005.
He argued that an overgrown hedge meant he could not see a signpost warning of the restriction.
His conviction was quashed by two senior High Court judges in London on Wednesday.
This judgment has confirmed what many motorists have always felt
Jeffrey Bannister, solicitor
They ruled that, because of an obscured sign, he had not had sufficient warning that he was passing from a 40mph zone into a 30 mph stretch.
Mr Coombes' solicitor, Jeffrey Bannister, said: "This judgment has confirmed what many motorists have always felt.
"Namely that they should not be convicted if trees and hedges overhanging or obscuring signs mean they cannot properly see the signs, and they are not given adequate notice of changes in the speed limit."
Mr Coombes was caught in a police speed trap on the B3139 Bath Road at Horrington near Wells last July.
He was convicted of speeding by Mendip magistrates in January and fined £250 and ordered to pay £150 legal costs.
At Bristol Crown Court, both conviction and fine were upheld in April, and he was ordered to pay an extra £229 legal costs.
The High Court said his legal costs should be reimbursed out of public funds.
So he had to go through 2 layers of courts before he reached a point where someone listened to him. How could he have known that the speed limit changed if the sign was hidden? How could a magistrate or judge give the impression that drivers must be psychic? This is yet more legal madness.
This year outside the schools in Portlethen, (Nr Aberdeen), the council have errected those bloody 20 signs for when the darling kiddlywinks come out of school.
I searched in vain for the 30 sign at the end of the 20 restriction. Being inquisitive, I eventually parked the car and walked back.
The sign was of course obscured by a tree. The tree has been there probably for 30 years at least, so its not as if it popped up overnight. Maybe the contractors didnt see it.
I searched in vain for the 30 sign at the end of the 20 restriction. Being inquisitive, I eventually parked the car and walked back.
The sign was of course obscured by a tree. The tree has been there probably for 30 years at least, so its not as if it popped up overnight. Maybe the contractors didnt see it.
vipers said:
This year outside the schools in Portlethen, (Nr Aberdeen), the council have errected those bloody 20 signs for when the darling kiddlywinks come out of school.
I searched in vain for the 30 sign at the end of the 20 restriction. Being inquisitive, I eventually parked the car and walked back.
The sign was of course obscured by a tree. The tree has been there probably for 30 years at least, so its not as if it popped up overnight. Maybe the contractors didnt see it.
I searched in vain for the 30 sign at the end of the 20 restriction. Being inquisitive, I eventually parked the car and walked back.
The sign was of course obscured by a tree. The tree has been there probably for 30 years at least, so its not as if it popped up overnight. Maybe the contractors didnt see it.
The bright sparks in Glasgow's signhanging department are taking the cheap route with our 30mph roundels at the end of the 20mph school zones by hanging them on the reverse of the start signs for the other direction. Sounds ok? Yep, it's fine until you find out that they are also doing it on dual carriageways so you can actually be waiting to join an unfamiliar road with an unfamiliar layout, see 30mph roundels to your right and assume that if you turn towards them in the left lane you'll be going the right way when in fact you'll be travelling the wrong way along the DC.
I believe it's also been decided to remove the 30mph roundels completely at the end of the temp school limit areas and replace them with 'end of limit' signs instead, but that seems to be taking a loooong time.
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