I read with interest that SA Police are now "urging" people to come forward if they think they've been fined unfairly for "speeding".
It turns out that SAPOL's super duper speed camera's aren't as good as what SAPOL will lead you to believe - AND - in addition, internal clerical errors are also to blame. I'd hate to think of how many internal errors are made with defendants DNA samples?
Apparently, officers are supposed to keep records of "dubious" camera snapping that may result in errors, but it has been exposed before that officers have been found sleeping, texting on their mobile phones, and just plain bored and payuing no attention. The simple fact that officers have to record "dubious" snaps indicate that the camera's are not always correct.
This whole fiasco started when a Torrens Transit bus was photographed "speeding" whilst it was actually stationery at a bus stop picking up passengers. How can these so called "state of the art" speed camera's stuff it up so badly? and how many unwitting people over the years have just paid a fine and grumbled and in reality, they're innocent?
We are a society that increasingly relies upon electronics and technology to work for us. There are times when we rely so heavily upon that technology, that most of us don't tend to question it ... then the technology gets caught out. Which is what has happened in this case. What pisses me off is the police will have you believe that the technology and gear they use is just about infallible. Why not just come out with the truth and state that at times, speed camera's and clerical staff DO make MISTAKES?
OK OK, I see you saying to yourself "Well, if the police come out and state that our camera's do make mistakes, we'll have the courts full of people defending their cases" whether they be in the wrong or in the right.
My annoyance is the police/government will basically try and dupe you if they can. If they persuade you so much into believing that you are in the wrong, you are less likely to take up your cause with the courts. If you let the matter go to court and stand up for yourself, and you argue you weren't speeding, and are still found guilty, the court usually punishes you even more with costs etc. So you get a double whammy just for sticking up for your beliefs.
How many magistrates and/or judges are also "blinded" by this police arrogance that they are so in the right?
We should all have the right to defend outselves and not be punished (through additional costs) if the court doesn't find in our favour.
I would hate to think this police/government arrogance also extends to other area's of policing. What if blood or skin samples are found at a crime scene and through a "clerical error" by some lab technician, the evidence points to you. And it would also be a shame if you happened to live next door and were having a neighbourly row over a gum tree. You bet the police would be pointing the finger at you and saying "our technology is infallible - you are guilty as far as the police are concerned", and people are led along the garden path just as they are with speed camera's.
It's about time the government and it's agencies started to be upfront and honest with the public. It seems it's only when an agency or department gets caught out that we become aware that sometimes we are having the wool pulled over our eyes. The less the public knows, the better, type of attitude.
Get Real.
It turns out that SAPOL's super duper speed camera's aren't as good as what SAPOL will lead you to believe - AND - in addition, internal clerical errors are also to blame. I'd hate to think of how many internal errors are made with defendants DNA samples?
Apparently, officers are supposed to keep records of "dubious" camera snapping that may result in errors, but it has been exposed before that officers have been found sleeping, texting on their mobile phones, and just plain bored and payuing no attention. The simple fact that officers have to record "dubious" snaps indicate that the camera's are not always correct.
This whole fiasco started when a Torrens Transit bus was photographed "speeding" whilst it was actually stationery at a bus stop picking up passengers. How can these so called "state of the art" speed camera's stuff it up so badly? and how many unwitting people over the years have just paid a fine and grumbled and in reality, they're innocent?
We are a society that increasingly relies upon electronics and technology to work for us. There are times when we rely so heavily upon that technology, that most of us don't tend to question it ... then the technology gets caught out. Which is what has happened in this case. What pisses me off is the police will have you believe that the technology and gear they use is just about infallible. Why not just come out with the truth and state that at times, speed camera's and clerical staff DO make MISTAKES?
OK OK, I see you saying to yourself "Well, if the police come out and state that our camera's do make mistakes, we'll have the courts full of people defending their cases" whether they be in the wrong or in the right.
My annoyance is the police/government will basically try and dupe you if they can. If they persuade you so much into believing that you are in the wrong, you are less likely to take up your cause with the courts. If you let the matter go to court and stand up for yourself, and you argue you weren't speeding, and are still found guilty, the court usually punishes you even more with costs etc. So you get a double whammy just for sticking up for your beliefs.
How many magistrates and/or judges are also "blinded" by this police arrogance that they are so in the right?
We should all have the right to defend outselves and not be punished (through additional costs) if the court doesn't find in our favour.
I would hate to think this police/government arrogance also extends to other area's of policing. What if blood or skin samples are found at a crime scene and through a "clerical error" by some lab technician, the evidence points to you. And it would also be a shame if you happened to live next door and were having a neighbourly row over a gum tree. You bet the police would be pointing the finger at you and saying "our technology is infallible - you are guilty as far as the police are concerned", and people are led along the garden path just as they are with speed camera's.
It's about time the government and it's agencies started to be upfront and honest with the public. It seems it's only when an agency or department gets caught out that we become aware that sometimes we are having the wool pulled over our eyes. The less the public knows, the better, type of attitude.
Get Real.
