All speed camera fines in doubt
From Daily Telegraph
August 10, 2005
EVERY fine issued
by speed cameras could be invalid, after the Roads and Traffic Authority
admitted yesterday it could not prove the authenticity of the pictures
they take.
In a double blow
to the RTA, The Daily Telegraph can also reveal that Sydney Harbour
Tunnel cameras monitoring toll cheats have been switched off for at
least three years - and no penalties handed out.
The
revelation came as Sydney magistrate Lawrence Lawson threw out a speeding
case after the RTA said it had no evidence that an image from a camera
had not been doctored.
Mr Lawson had
adjourned the case in June, giving the RTA eight weeks to produce
an expert to prove pictures from a speed camera on Carlingford Rd,
Epping, had not been altered after they were taken.
He said it was
a matter of public interest and the RTA should be given time to back
up its case.
But RTA lawyers
yesterday told Hornsby Local Court they could not find an expert and
the case was thrown out, with $3300 in legal costs awarded to the
motorist, a man allegedly caught speeding through a school zone on
November 18 last year.
Lawyer Dennis
Miralis, who has won several high-profile cases against the RTA involving
speeding motorists, said the case proved a public inquiry into speed
cameras was desperately needed.
"The integrity
of all speed camera offences has been thrown into serious doubt and
it appears that the RTA is unable to prove any contested speed camera
matter because of a lack of admissible evidence," Mr Miralis
said.
The case revolved
around the integrity of a mathematical MD5 algorithm published on
each picture and used as a security measure to prove pictures have
not been doctored after they have been taken.
Mr Miralis argued
that the RTA had to prove the algorithm it used was accurate and could
not be tampered with. He said: "It is our understanding that
since speed cameras were introduced approximately 15 years ago on
NSW roads, not one single speed camera photograph has been capable
of proving an offence."
The NSW Law Society
said the judgment could "open the doors" for other drivers
caught by speed cameras to mount the same defence.
