Speed camera error sees thousands of drivers fined incorrectly since 2021

Thousands of speeding fines could be cancelled after a “technical issue” saw some speed cameras triggered incorrectly.National Highways has apologised for the error which, it said, meant a “very small number” of drivers had been fined incorrectly since 2021.It is understood a software update created a problem with variable speed cameras on some A roads and motorways that led to drivers being incorrectly detected as speeding after the speed limit had increased.National Highways chief executive Nick Harris said: “Safety is our number one priority and we have developed a fix for this technical anomaly to maintain the highest levels of safety on these roads and make sure no one is wrongly prosecuted.”The agency said it had identified around 2,650 incorrect camera activations since 2021, less than two per day.Not all of those will have resulted in fines as camera activations are not always enforced, and the total amounts to less than 0.1% of the 6 million activations in the same period.The issue affected 10% of motorways and A roads in England, and National Highways is working to implement a solution to the problem as soon as possible.Anyone who has been incorrectly fined will be contacted directly by the police, the agency said, with fines reimbursed and any points removed from their licence.And National Highways has paused sending data from variable cameras to police forces while it deals with the problem.A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “We apologise to anyone who has been affected. Safety was never compromised, and we are working with policing to ensure nobody is incorrectly prosecuted in future.“Enforcement is still in place, and the public can remain confident that only motorists who break the rules will be penalised.”A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said police forces were working to identify and contact “a very limited number of motorists”.They added: “Policing enforces a range of offences, including speeding, on the strategic road network through a number of tactics including mobile camera deployments, roads policing patrols and average speed sites. This remains unchanged.“If you are affected by this issue, you will be contacted and details of the compensation scheme will be shared in due course. You do not need to take any action.”

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