Drivers wrongly fined in speed camera saga: 10,000s tickets scrapped

Thousands of innocent motorists have been clocked for speeding due to a fault with EVERY speed camera on smart motorways across the UK, the Daily Mail can reveal.

In a scandal which could cost the Government millions in compensation, a glitch has existed within the variable speed camera system on all smart motorways and some A-roads for four years.

Police have secretly stopped enforcement of the cameras across the UK as the speeding data can no longer be relied on.

More than 36,000 speeding cases have been axed so far, with court cases and speed awareness courses cancelled by 22 police forces.

Over the weekend, ministers and police chiefs agreed a temporary fix which will enable forces to switch the variable speed cameras back on in the coming days.

The malfunction only emerged after motorists were able to show the courts dashcam footage proving their vehicle was travelling below the speed limit when they were caught.

An investigation revealed a critical time delay between a new speed limit being displayed on an electronic speed camera sign and the motorway cameras reacting to the change.

As a result of the delay, the mandatory speed limit signs and cameras are out of sync for 10 seconds.

This means a motorist may see a 50mph speed limit displayed on an overhead gantry, but the cameras recording the vehicle are still operating under a previous 40mph speed limit.

The 'anomaly' has resulted in over 2,600 innocent drivers being detected as speeding when they were travelling below the legal limit.

Astonishingly, the camera fault has been catching out motorists since January 2021 when a National Highways software update introduced a time lag in the interaction between the sign and the camera.

But no one managed to prove that there was an issue with the cameras until a series of similar court cases in the summer started to raise concerns within National Highways and the Department of Transport.

Analysis by the National Highways suggests that around 2,656 motorists have been wrongly clocked as speeding in 22 police force areas as a result of the error.

In total 154 cameras are affected, which comprises all of the smart motorway cameras and a small number of variable speed cameras on A-roads around the country such as the A14 Huntingdon to Cambridge.

That represents 38 per cent of the speed cameras in Britain on the country's motorways and major A-roads.

National Highways calculate that the fault impacts around 10 per cent of 4,500 miles of motorways and major A-roads that make up the Strategic Road Network, which accounts for around 2 per cent of the total road network in England.

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On average, the impacted roads have 1.5 million camera activations - or flashes - a year, with the issue affected fewer than 0.1 per cent of activations during the time period, according to officials.

A compensation scheme is now being set up for those drivers who have been wrongly fined anything between £100-£2,500, made to go on unnecessary speed awareness courses or banned from driving.

In some instances, drivers who rightly challenged the fixed penalty notice believing they were not speeding may have received a criminal conviction at court which could have affected their employment.

The error has been found to occur on smart motorway variable speed cameras known as HADECS 3, which are mounted on poles roadside and monitor up to five lanes of a motorway.

The camera units are supposed to automatically adjust to changes in the speed limit displayed on variable speed limit gantry signs in red circles.

Under the law, motorists are supposed to have a 10 second grace period to allow them to slow down when the speed limit changes.

But an investigation revealed that motorists were being given no grace period after a speed limit change and drivers were being clocked because the update had not been recognised by the camera.

On Friday night, ministers held urgent talks to try to find a long-term fix for the problem after secretly switching off the cameras nationwide.

In the meantime, National Highways are working with police on a 'data check' which will identify an estimated two cases a day affected by the glitch once the cameras are switched back on.

What can YOU do next?

If you have an 'active' prosecution for a variable speed limit offence from the HADECS camera system, police will be getting in contact to cancel this.

This will affect motorists waiting to attend court, who may have already elected to go on a speed awareness course or elected to pay a fine and accept penalty points after being caught on a variable speed camera.

Drivers will likely already have been contacted by a police force to advise that this has been cancelled.

If you have not yet been contacted and you are affected, you do not need to do anything, police will send out correspondence in due course.

If you have historically received a variable speed limit offence from the HADECS camera system since January 2021 and you have been wrongfully prosecuted, police will be contacting those affected in due course.

Policing is working with National Highways to identify and contact those affected.

The cameras are still capable of enforcing the national 70mph speed limit on the affected motorways and police are stepping up patrols in the interim.

A spokesman said: 'National Highways apologises to anyone affected. They will be reimbursed and have points removed from their licence where relevant. Steps will be taken to remedy any incorrect enforcement action, and anybody affected will be contacted directly.

'National Highways has developed a data check to ensure nobody will now be prosecuted incorrectly, and are liaising with police on its implementation this week.

'Enforcement remains in place and anybody breaking the law could face prosecution. National Highways will also be increasing other safety measures, and policing will continue to enforce speeding and other offences on our road network.'

There has been a dramatic rise in speeding cases since 2021, which experts have attributed to the increase in cameras on smart motorways.

Official figures show there has been a 10 per cent increase in people being convicted of speeding offences and the numbers going on speed awareness courses have risen by a third from 1.39 million to 1.84 million drivers in 2024.

The number of fixed penalty notices being handed out has also risen.

According to figures from the Home Office, 96 per cent of the 2.71 million drivers caught speeding in England and Wales in 2023 were detected by speed cameras. 

The scandal will yet again raise concerns about the safety of smart motorways, which are stretches of road where variable speed camera technology is used to manage traffic flow and reduce congestion.

The Daily Mail has campaigned for better safety on the controversial roads as studies have shown almost 400 miles of smart motorways in the UK which have no hard shoulder are three times more lethal to break down on than those that retain the safety lane.

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.

'All drivers should continue observing the posted speed limits as normal. Anyone who has been impacted will be contacted by the relevant police force.'

A National Police Chiefs Council spokesman said: 'Policing is working with National Highways to identify and contact a very limited number of motorists who may have incorrectly received a speeding penalty due to an anomaly impacting the way some National Highways cameras interact with their signs and signals on some A-roads and motorways. This issue affects a limited number of motorists.

'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.'

A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'A technical issue with how some National Highways variable speed cameras interact with signs has led to a very small number of erroneous enforcement actions.

'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.

'The issue affected less than 0.1 per cent of camera activations on the cameras concerned and just 10 per cent of the Strategic Road Network, which is made up of motorways and major A-roads in England. Every affected driver will be contacted by police.'