speed limiter

Thanks.

Quoted here for the web challenged...

"SPEED GUN FAULT RAISES DOUBT OVER MANY CASES
Date : 16.02.05

Thousands of motoring convictions throughout Scotland could be unsafe after
a speed gun was found to be inaccurate, a solicitor has warned.

Campaigners have called for speed guns to be withdrawn from use after a
Highland motorist clocked at 132mph in a 70mph speed limit was cleared when
it was shown his car was incapable of travelling faster than 107mph.

His solicitor last night claimed the verdict showed the hand-held ProLaser
III device, previously thought to be one of the most effective ways of
measuring vehicle speed, could not be trusted.

James MacGregor, 34, a pipe-layer, of Cruachan, Dalcross, Inverness, was
charged with driving dangerously at 132mph in the 70mph limit on the A9 at
Daviot on August 6 last year.

Mr MacGregor pleaded not guilty and the matter went to trial at Inverness
Sheriff Court.

Two experienced traffic officers told the court Mr MacGregor was stopped
after being clocked from a distance of almost 2,000ft at around 9.45pm. They
said the road was dry and it had been getting dark.

They said the ProLaser III had been operated correctly and confirmed Mr
MacGregor's car had been the only vehicle travelling north on the dual
carriageway at the time.

But the court heard that Mr MacGregor's Subaru Impreza WRX was a "grey
import" from Japan and was therefore fitted with an electronic speed
limiter - a legal requirement in its country of origin.

The court was told that although cars of this type were usually capable of
high speeds and were often used for rallying, this one was not because it
had been built for the Japanese market.

Gavin Wallace, of Wallace Per4mance, Murcar Commercial Park, Bridge of Don,
Aberdeen, said he had tested the car on a rolling road and found it had a
maximum speed of 107mph.

Asked whether the limiter could have been tampered with after Mr MacGregor
was stopped and before the vehicle was tested by him, he said no.

Sheriff Alexander Pollock found the case not proven.

David Hingston, who represented Mr MacGregor, yesterday said: "This is a
machine which is used throughout the UK. This laser gun is considered to be
better than radar in that it is supposed to be much more accurate, much
faster and capable of being used at much greater distances.

"It is not only used as a hand-held device, it is also fitted in some of the
mobile units."

He said the laser gun used on his client's car had been proved to be
inaccurate.

"This has huge implications throughout Scotland and the whole of the UK,"
said Mr Hingston. "In this case, we had a reading of 132mph from a vehicle
that is not capable of doing 132mph. We have proved that this so-called 100%
accurate machine is unreliable.

"Everybody being stopped as a result of a ProLaser reading should now be
pleading not guilty."

He added that he thought it unlikely previous cases based on the device
would be reviewed, but said the convictions could be unsafe.

Paul Smith, of the web-based Safe Speed road safety campaign at
www.safespeed.org.uk, said: "We have long been worried about the quality of
evidence gathered by both the ProLaser III and the LTI 20/20 laser speed
meters.

"This case proves beyond doubt that a laser speed meter gathered faulty
evidence. We must cease all use of these devices to prosecute motorists
until such time as the errors can be fully explained and confidence
restored.

"It is a very serious matter and we cannot assume that this case represents
a single isolated incident. Not only are livelihoods at stake, but the
public must be able to have absolute confidence in the police and their
equipment."

Neil Greig, head of policy for the AA Motoring Trust in Scotland, said: "We
would seek urgent reassurance from the police that they have tested this
equipment and that they are 100% satisfied that it is accurate. We need to
know if this was a one-off."

He said it did not automatically negate any other conviction. "It is up to
any court to accept evidence put before it," said Mr Greig.

Road policing inspector for Northern Constabulary John Smith said: "The
ProLaser is a type approved device, which is tested on a regular basis on
calibrated speedometers in police vehicles.

"Any variance in the speeds recorded would be reported to the manufacturer
immediately."

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) and the Crown
Office were not available for comment last night.

In a similar case in August last year at Pontefract Magistrates Court in
West Yorkshire, Steve Lucas, 20, of St Helens, Merseyside, was charged with
driving his 1.2-litre Fiat Punto at 115mph on the M62. The charge was
dropped after expert evidence showed that the car had a top speed of
104mph."

 

The chap had a kph-mph converter on the speedo so his car was restricted
to 175mph instead of 175kph or whatever.
He took it off before his car was examined by "an expert".

Or something like that.

 

I drank four cans of it once, for a bet, during an afternoon cricket
match outside our on-campus accommodation during my finals. Went up
the bar afterwards, too, but I was in bed unconscious by 9.

 

Um.. Don't know..... And a quick Google reveals very few detailed (or,
actually no detailed) accounts of what actually happened... But I'll find
it. Eventually.

You're just showing off... I couldn't stand more than 2 cans of it. A mate
once drank 4 in an hour, though. Of course he then started talking to
lampposts and doing other strange things. I think that's when we decided
that 'normal' beer would be sufficient in future.

Dave

 

Heh.. That's an amazingly inefficient bike, hurrah for green house gases!

 

Doesn't seem to have admitted that he was, just that it was the max
speed the car could do, so clearly the 138 was wrong and hence it was
a stitch-up.

 

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but about 10 years ago I conducted
a "just how drunk can I get for less than 5 pounds" experiment.

I bought 2 x tins of Kestrel Super Strength lager (9%/vol) and 2 x tins
of Diamond White cider (8%/vol). Made this lot into snakebites.

Very, very drunk.

Very, very sick.

 

At Peverell Stores (where the discerning undergraduate punter buys his
pre-JCR booze), 2 litre bottles of White Lightning (Diamond White
ripoff, funnily enough) were 1.99 in 1995.

Could have had ten pints of the shit for a fiver. Or can't I count?

 

maybe it wasn't White Lightening - in fact, it couldn't have been,
because I distinctively remember it was some sort of "premium full
strength" cider thay only came in 500ml tins.

 

Tescos do bottles of brandy for £3.87 - 36% proof. I reckon if was to
diversify sideways into vagrancy this would be my tipple of choice.

 

Budgen's used to this stuff called Tudor Rose, it wasn't as strong but
just as lethal IMO. It was like cheap sherry/fortified wine and would
have me seeing vapour trails on less than half a bottle.

Happy daze.

 

is it really brandy though? Usually the ultra-cheap distilled grape
spirits are branded as "French Spirit" or such like.

The one that got me, and had me actually LOL in the booze aisle in
Tesco when I first saw it was Tolstoy "Vodka-Style Drink".

I mean, how fucking industrial must be if they can't even get away with
just calling it Vodka?

 

Not only is it Brandy, it is in fact Napolean French Brandy and has a
picture of old Big Nose himself on it.

The funny thing was that it had one of those alarm clips on it.

 

Well, theft is theft, and your average thirsty vagrant isn't all that fussy
when it comes to brand names, IME of working a supermarket booze section,
many years ago.

What's even better, if you want something to relieve the tedium of working
in such a place, is when they make no attempt to steal it... but the manager
decides they've 'had enough'.

 

for a 70cl bottle?

Not that I'd drink it, but it sounds like something I could use for
cooking purposes without wasting 5 quid's worth of Hennesey X.O. every
time I want to flambé some crepes.

 

Bear has his picture on a bottle of Brandy? I've heard of Customer of
the Week schemes but that is ridiculous!

I'd be alarmed if I was drinking from a bottle with Bears picture on.

Phil

 

35cl you cheap bastard

I bought it for flambé purpose.

 

JackH grabbed the crayons and scrawled

And that's funny?

 

No, but at times it provided more entertainment value, than being asked
'where's the jam' by the 29th old dear that day.

See, told you it was tedious working there... much like myself.

 

A couple of years ago I was driving an imported (from Australia) Ford Falcon
XR6 Tickford; basically a straight-6 4-litre, along the lines of a Sierra
Cosworth on steroids.

Anyway, back in Oz these things are limited to 240kph (~150mph).
This one had had the speedo recalibrated so the "kph" numbers read out as
"mph" - much neater than stickers on the dial glass. It also had the effect
of changing the limiter to 240mph! I never found out what it's true top
speed was but it was still pulling strongly at an indicated 170mph.

Of course, if I'd drawn the wrong sort of attention at that speed I could
have pointed to the manufacturers specs and shown "I couldn't have been
doing more than 150, officer".