A technical glitch with National Highways’ cameras could lead to thousands more speeding convictions being overturned, as the government-owned company extends its investigation back to 2019. The Department for Transport (DfT) revealed that this is when an “upgrade” of variable speed limit cameras began.
Previously, the department had announced action would be taken regarding 2,650 “erroneous camera activations” identified by National Highways since 2021. The malfunction caused a delay between cameras and electronic speed limit signs, resulting in some motorists being wrongly accused of speeding after the limit had already been lowered.
The DfT assured last month that those affected would be “contacted directly by the relevant police force”, leading to them being “reimbursed” and having “points removed from their licence where relevant”. This issue led to the cancellation of speed awareness courses for tens of thousands of individuals by police forces.
Earlier this week, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander declared that Tracey Westall, a non-executive director of the DfT, will spearhead an independent review into the incident.
Transport minister Lord Hendy suggested on Wednesday that drivers wrongfully penalised for speeding might be eligible for compensation if they can demonstrate they incurred losses such as increased insurance premiums due to the erro.