Your legal rights if you are caught by a hidden police speed camera

Can you contest or appeal a speeding fine if the camera or van was not visible? This is what the guidelines, laws and experts say.

Receiving a fine (officially known as a fixed penalty notice (FPN)) for speeding is never a nice experience. It may be even more frustrating when you didn’t realise you were doing it or didn’t realised you’d passed a speed camera. As such, many people might immediately begin thinking about how they can contest or appeal the fine and get it overturned.

One reason people believe they may be able to get speeding fines overturned is because the speed camera was hidden, or that there were no signs warning drivers it was there. In fact, one company director, who also claimed to be a former barrister, took to a legal forum to say exactly that. Claiming to have been pictured doing 61mph in a 50mph area of a dual carriageway, they wrote: “In my opinion this camera was hidden as it was under the bridge in the shadows. I only saw the van as I passed by. I believe there are Department of Transport guidelines that all speed cameras have to be clearly visible.”

This is everything you need to know about your legal rights if you are caught by a hidden speed camera.

What does the law say about speed cameras?

The Road Traffic Act 1991, Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 and the Highways Act 1980, taken together, allow evidence collected on camera to be used in proceedings for a speeding offence. They in fact allow for evidence generated by speed and traffic light cameras to serve as the sole evidence against an offender and the resulting issuing of a fixed penalty.

What is the penalty for speeding?

The minimum penalty for speeding is a £100 fine and three penalty points added to your licence. There are three categories of speeding based on seriousness and this also affects the amount you may be asked to pay and the number of points you may get. You may be able to avoid the points and opt for a speed awareness course if it is offered to you but your eligibility for the course depends on which police force is dealing with your offence. You could be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of three years. Unlike with some parking fines, a speeding fine does not give you the option of paying a smaller amount if you pay the fine quickly.

Do speed cameras have to be visible?

You may think that if speed cameras are not visible, or there were no signs warning you were about to pass a camera, you might be able to appeal the fine. But you’d be wrong. However, it’s not surprising there’s confusion around the issue because government guidelines do in fact refer to the visibility of speed cameras.

They say speed cameras (including those in vehicles) “should be clearly visible from the driver’s viewpoint”. They also say signs warning of speed cameras should be visible.

Department for Transport guidance issued in 2007 says “fixed speed camera housings… should be coloured yellow” and that vehicles housing cameras “should be liveried and clearly identifiable as an enforcement vehicle”. It even says: “On every occasion before commencing enforcement at camera site, the enforcement officer should check that the conspicuity guidance is met.”

However, the crucial thing to be aware of here is that these are just guidelines and are not legally enforceable requirements. Indeed, in 2015 Humberside Police disguised speed cameras in tractors and other farm vehicles to catch motorcyclists and drivers travelling “at very high speed” on rural roads in East Yorkshire. While the plan attracted criticism, the National Police Chiefs Council said: “While speed enforcement will usually be conducted overtly to add to the deterrent effect, sometimes less overt tactics will be required to address specific problem which are causing casualties.”

Can I appeal a speeding fine?

You can appeal a speeding fine but your grounds for succeeding are very narrow and a hidden sign is not among them — “prosecutors have heard every excuse under the sun for speeding,” says the RAC. Possible grounds you have for disputing a speeding fine are:

• a technicality: there are missing or incorrect details provided on the Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP), or there were incorrect, absent or obscured road signs
• you weren’t driving the vehicle (but, crucially, you know who was and can identify them)
• you weren’t speeding (and you can prove it)
• mistaken vehicle identity: it was not you driving or your vehicle involved
• camera was faulty: all enforcement cameras are calibrated in accordance with manufacturers and Home Office guidelines. and you would have a legal defence against a speeding penalty if you could prove the equipment was faulty. Drivers can request the calibration certificate for the specific camera or radar gun used.

You can appeal the fine by filling out the correct section on the NIP within 28 days but if the police do not accept your appeal you will have to go to court to contest the conviction and if this happens things may still not go your away and you could end up with an even bigger fine.