Speed limit signs did not meet strict guidelines (From Daily Echo)

Speed limit signs did not meet strict guidelines

3:58pm Wednesday 21st January 2009

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By Jon Reeve »

ANOTHER mistake with street signs has seen the speed limit on a major Hampshire road declared legally unenforceable.

A Southampton man is celebrating after the speeding prosecution against him failed because authorities admitted they could not prove signs met strict guidelines.

The case is being hailed as another example of problems with signing across Hampshire – and again led to calls for thousands of motorists to have fines refunded and points removed from their licences.

Roderick Reeves was snapped by a camera driving out of Portsmouth towards the M27 late at night, but insisted he hadn’t seen anything indicating he was in a 40mph zone.

In court, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) admitted it could offer no evidence against him.

Despite the camera being suspended three times in the past three years, the authorities could find no records proving they had been corrected.

Mr Reeves was “caught”

in November 2007, a month after speeding cases against 14 drivers were thrown out because of faulty signs on the A27 around Fareham.

An independent expert hired by his specialist solicitor, Barry Culshaw, presented a report on the site to the CPS in September, prompting Hampshire’s Safer Roads Partnership to suspend the camera.

“I genuinely didn’t know it was a 40mph limit. The signs weren’t lit, but we found other issues there as well,” said Mr Reeves, from Bitterne.

The partnership said it would be inappropriate to comment on the case, and refused to say if enforcement has resumed since.

“We know of no evidence that confirms that the signing was unlawful at the time of the offence,” said a spokesman, who added camera locations are “continuously monitored”.

“If we have concerns the signage is no longer clear or legal we will suspend enforcement until that problem has been fixed.”

The case comes after motorist Tony Seaton complained to the partnership over 21 defects he says he has found with signs on the A35/A3024 into Southampton.

The partnership admitted there are some problems, which it was working with councils to correct, but insists no one has been incorrectly fined or prosecuted.

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