EDITOR – I wrote the initial piece about being fined at the foot of Field’s Hill. Please do not get me wrong, never once did I say I was not breaking the law by speeding, the sign is clearly displayed stipulating a speed limit of 80km from that point. Understood. I broke the law and should, as a law abiding citizen be fined accordingly.
I do not agree that a straight section of road before the hill should be set at 80km, but obviously the traffic department disagrees. I fully agree that at the foot of the hill the speed should definitely be 80km, that’s is not even up for question. Invariably, I travel in the slow lane at about 60km to 70km up that hill, I always have done.
However, my focus is not on the fact that I was speeding according to the law, or had been caught, quite the contrary, it is about the manner in which it stipulates the method of being fined, versus how it was carried out. The sign on the opposite side of the road clearly states “Average Speed Prosecution”. Which is taken between two points, two photos are taken and the average is then used as the prosecuting speed, please correct me if I am wrong, I am not a fundi on the law.
Glenn Fisher stated in his letter that in his research and I quote “No prosecution may be instituted where the speed measurement was taken within 300m of the commencement of the speed limit zone”. Is the distance from the sign to the camera 300m? I also only received one photo for each of my three fines, and all at very close speeds, 91km, 92km and 93km. My question is about being unfairly fined.
If, as an example, the stated method of average speed prosecution stands, and at the bottom of Field’s Hill I am traveling at 91km, by the time I am at the top of the hill I am at a maximum speed of 60km, my average speed would be 75.5km p/h. Which is well within the 80km limit. I do not speed as a rule, and do not condone those that do, agreed, it is extremely dangerous to all.
As stated in my initial letter, I have only ever received two fines in my entire driving life (27 years), one for speeding slightly over the limit and the other was a parking ticket. I want to say that I am a person who believes in the principle of fairness. Before I pay any fines I want to see the other three photos with my speedometre readings, to show that I was in fact doing an average of 91km. The authorities should not ethically give me a speeding fine for doing 91km in an 80km zone, when the average speed was supposed to be used as the barometer to prosecute me.
Kim Archer
Hillcrest
