Speeding ticket shock: Horse float driver hit with 213km/h notice, police admit error

A motorist driving a horsefloat has had a speeding ticket for travelling 213km/h cancelled after police admitted the camera that clocked her “impossible” speed was at fault.

The motorist, who did not want to be named, told the Herald she recently received an infringement notice clocking her older model horse truck doing 133km/h over the 80km/h speed limit on Waiuku Rd in Glenbrook south of on the Waikato Expressway Auckland nearly two weeks ago.

However, she claimed it was “physically impossible” for her 2009 Nissan Diesel horse truck to reach 213km/h, and even more so when it was carrying a horse.

Police today admitted there was an issue with the camera at the site when it came to capturing heavy motor vehicles and moved to cancel the notice.

The Police Infringement Bureau (PIB) has recently been made aware of an issue that can potentially arise when the camera at this particular site captures a heavy motor vehicle," said Infringement Transformation Manager Inspector Peter McKennie.

“With regards to this matter, the notice has since been cancelled and the notice holder will be contacted in due course along with an explanation.”

The 2009 Nissan Diesel horse truck which received an incorrect fine for speeding on Waiuku Rd.

The motorist claimed her truck was barely able to reach 90km/h on the Waikato Expressway, let alone the 213 km/h indicated on the ticket.

The notice said the truck had reached that speed on a rural road at 4.30pm on November 9.

“It had my daughter’s pony on board. It’s not little.

“I’d love to challenge the powers that be to drive my horse truck in excess of 100km/h.

“Even if it was fuelled by jet fuel, I’m pretty sure its top speed would barely be 100km/h.”

The notice issued to the truck driver which claimed she was speeding at 213km/h on Waiuku Rd in Glenbrook.

She disputed the notice and wondered how many other people had received traffic infringement based on an incorrect reading from speed cameras.

“Although I find it amusing, it is concerning that people could potentially be receiving traffic infringement notices based on inaccurate speed readings.

“It does pose the question - can we be sure that the speed cameras are accurate?”

The notice invited her to contact the Traffic Investigations Bureau if there were any issues with the information, which the motorist says she did.

McKennie said all infringement offences detected by safety cameras were reviewed by an authorised member of the PIB before any notice was issued.

“The PIB has robust quality assurance processes in place to ensure its staff meet the required standards.

“However, Police acknowledge that errors can occasionally occur resulting in an infringement notice being issued incorrectly.”

McKennie said error rates in speed safety cameras were proportionately extremely low.

Where Police were notified of an error, all affected notices were cancelled, and any fees paid returned.

McKennie said in this case the speeding notice was cancelled and the motorist would be contacted with an explanation.

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