Nineteen year old Emily Davies, described as a ‘model driver’, was more than a little surprised to get a £60 speeding fine in the post for being clocked at 7mph over the 30mph speed limit outside her house. Especially as at the time of the alleged incident, Emily was fast asleep in bed.
The teenager’s car was allegedly photographed exceeding the speed limit ouside her Liverpool home and the following day she got the ticket from the Merseyside Police Camera Partnership.
Naturally, Emily disputed the claim, but was initially told that mistakes are never made. Later, however, she received an apology from the Merseyside Police. It seems that her car was in the same frame as a car that had actually triggered the speed camera and her number plate had then been noted and procedures set in motion for the issuing of a fine.
According to the AA, thousands of motorists have been wrongly accused of various offences, ranging from wrong number plates being noted to drivers being allegedly caught for speeding when they were, in fact, miles away or even abroad at the time of the offence.
There are roughly 8,000 fixed speed cameras and around two million motorists a year receive fixed penalty fines of £60.