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October 17, 2006 - Specs appeal

Seems there's a bit of a problem with the flashy new Speed Enforcement Camera System (Specs) speed cameras.

Specs are those high-tech cameras that measure a driver's speed over a given distance. They're the government's apparently foolproof weapon in the fight to print money... sorry, promote road safety.

But they're not quite as clever as they thought they were. It seems that motorists can avoid fines and points on their licence just by changing lanes.

The cameras are designed to catch drivers who slow down in front of speed cameras and then speed up until they reach the next one.

But government regulations state that prosecutions are only valid if the driver is filmed in the same lane by both the start camera and the finish camera.

And the camera's manufacturers have confirmed that motorists can avoid a fine and three points by lane-hopping. Naturally, they condemn such practice as irresponsible and dangerous.

Of course, Top Gear would never encourage such reckless behaviour. But we'd never want to be thought of as one of those middle-lane huggers.

 Steve N | 21MY Defender | 08MY Discovery 3 (history) | 06MY Discovery 3 (ancient history)