Missed this thread as I was in France last week.
As a matter of law, there is no right to see the evidence against you until a not guilty plea has been entered in court. For 'either way offences' (triable summarily or under indictment) there is a right to see the evidence before choosing the mode of trial, but that is not relevant to summary only offences such as speeding.
The standard advice offered on PePiPoo is to request photos to help identify the driver before naming yourself as the driver - whilst there is no obligation on the police to do so, they are far more likely to send photos for that purpose. Once you have named yourself as the driver, getting the photos without sacrificing the option of a course or fixed penalty is often not possible.
The police will generally refuse to disclose any evidence relating to an active criminal case under the exemptions in the FoIA. Even if they did not, the time limits for supplying information under the FoIA mean that the options for a course or fixed penalty would have expired before you get the photos.
Laser speed meters are generally capable of operating at a range of up to 1000 metres - it is common to have been pinged well before seeing the van. It is often not possible for the operator to form a meaningful opinion of excess speed at such distances, to corroborate with the device, but the courts tend to be reluctant to concern themselves with such issues.
Laser speed meters can produce erroneous readings (somewhere I have a video of a police device operated by a police operator, recording a speed against a stationary bike as a van drove past), but proving that it was unreliable on the occasion you were 'caught' can be difficult, and more to the point, very expensive if you fail.
As a matter of law, there is no right to see the evidence against you until a not guilty plea has been entered in court. For 'either way offences' (triable summarily or under indictment) there is a right to see the evidence before choosing the mode of trial, but that is not relevant to summary only offences such as speeding.
The standard advice offered on PePiPoo is to request photos to help identify the driver before naming yourself as the driver - whilst there is no obligation on the police to do so, they are far more likely to send photos for that purpose. Once you have named yourself as the driver, getting the photos without sacrificing the option of a course or fixed penalty is often not possible.
The police will generally refuse to disclose any evidence relating to an active criminal case under the exemptions in the FoIA. Even if they did not, the time limits for supplying information under the FoIA mean that the options for a course or fixed penalty would have expired before you get the photos.
Laser speed meters are generally capable of operating at a range of up to 1000 metres - it is common to have been pinged well before seeing the van. It is often not possible for the operator to form a meaningful opinion of excess speed at such distances, to corroborate with the device, but the courts tend to be reluctant to concern themselves with such issues.
Laser speed meters can produce erroneous readings (somewhere I have a video of a police device operated by a police operator, recording a speed against a stationary bike as a van drove past), but proving that it was unreliable on the occasion you were 'caught' can be difficult, and more to the point, very expensive if you fail.
