Speed cameras out of action after High Court ruling

By JO-MARIE BROWN and ALAN PERROTT

Police have been forced to stop using fixed speed cameras and laser guns in built-up areas after the High Court found a loophole in legislation governing their use.

The country's 13 fixed cameras, used in 56 different sites, have been withdrawn and the use of hand-held laser devices has been restricted to the open road.

The moves came after an Auckland judge discovered that a part of the Transport Act 1962, which assumed their accuracy, had been repealed.

The fixed cameras and laser guns will not be used until the law is amended, which could take some weeks.

In the meantime, police will make more use of mobile speed cameras in urban areas, as well as other devices in any speed zone, to keep road speeds down.

The problem could affect defended cases involving speeds of less than 100 km/h, and evidence from fixed cameras or laser devices in cases still before the courts.

The anomaly emerged during the case of Alistair Haskett, a university student from Auckland, who was fined $230 after being caught allegedly driving at 80 km/h in a 50 km/h area on The Strand, Parnell, in August 1999.

Mr Haskett fought the case in the district court and lost before appealing to the High Court at Auckland, where Justice Robert Chambers quashed the ticket because of a breach of the Bill of Rights.

But in his ruling, the judge found that the section of the Transport Act which automatically protected the accuracy of speed enforcement devices used in areas governed by speed limits of under 100 km/h had been deleted, and judges could not legally assume the devices used were accurate.

Fixed cameras and the lasers are used in built-up areas.

Speeding on the open road is enforced using mobile cameras and other devices, and infringement notices are issued under the Land Transport Act, which contains a provision assuming their accuracy.

Justice Chambers urged Parliament to address the problem. Any law change must be approved by the cabinet, which does not meet again until October 29.

In the year ending June 30, more than 185,000 people were snapped by fixed speed cameras. Those who have paid their fines cannot use the loophole to retrospectively challenge them.

Transport Minister Mark Gosche said the loophole would be closed as soon as possible.

Police national road safety manager Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald said the devices' accuracy was not being questioned but police could no longer rely on courts accepting certificates of accuracy for speed cameras and lasers operating in 50 km/h to 80 km/h zones.

The country's 31 mobile speed cameras and 1068 hawk, eagle and stalker radar guns would be used as normal because their accuracy was checked daily and they were accepted as accurate under common law.

Common law may not apply to fixed speed cameras and laser guns as they were more recent developments and their track record was not as well established, said Mr Fitzgerald.

"Because it's different technology which hasn't been around as long, the courts might not be as certain about whether they have a common law presumption of accuracy."

Mr Fitzgerald said motorists should not assume they could now speed and get away with it. Mobile cameras and radar guns would be brought in to cover sites previously monitored by fixed cameras.

"We're doing more speed enforcement now than ever before."