Thousands of drivers wrongly fined for speeding since 2021

Thousands of drivers could have speeding fines cancelled after a fault saw some cameras falsely triggered on English A roads and motorways.

National Highways said it had found 2,650 wrongful speed camera activations since 2021 due to a delay between cameras and variable speed signs.

Affected drivers will be contacted by police and be reimbursed for any fines while points will be removed from their licences where needed.

Not all camera activations are enforced, so not all of the wrongful activations will have resulted in fines.

National Highways apologised for the error and chief executive Nick Harris said a fix for the issue has been identified.

“Safety is our number one priority… All drivers should continue observing the posted speed limits as normal. Anyone who has been impacted will be contacted by the relevant police force,” he said.

National Highways, which runs England’s motorways, blamed an “anomaly” in how variable speed cameras were interacting with signs on some A roads and motorways.

It meant a delay of around 10 seconds between cameras and relevant variable speed signs, meaning some drivers were incorrectly identified as speeding after the limit had changed.

The body said the 2,650 incidents since 2021 represent fewer than two each day, compared with more than 6 million activations of speed cameras on the affected roads over the same period.

It said the anomaly has impacted 10% of England’s motorways and major A roads.

It is working with police to check activations and promised nobody will now be wrongly prosecuted.

Meanwhile, police forces have stopped issuing fines from variable cameras until they have confidence in their accuracy.

A Department for Transport spokesperson 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.”