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Matthew Vella
The St Julian’s and Sliema local councils have bagged a total of Lm462,875 in speeding fines, courtesy of the mechanical eye over Regional Road.
Snapping over 26,000 snapshots of speeding vehicles, three speed cameras installed for the first time in 2005 netted Lm625,845 from drivers who were overspeeding.
The St Julians local council, whose speed camera is located at one of the busiest thoroughfares at Regional Road, issued over 20,313 fines in one year. The council is still waiting for 5,000 fines to be paid.
Two other localities, the Qormi and St Paul’s Bay councils, issued over 6,000 fines for cars which breached speed limits before being caught by the camera. They got Lm54,595 and Lm108,375 in fines, respectively.
Fixed speed cameras use a tracking radar, measuring the speed of vehicles up to 21 times per second.
Despite being in line with EU standards and directives, in March 2005, driver Victor Bonello successfully challenged two speeding tickets from speed cameras at the St Julian’s tunnels.
According to research he found on the internet, Bonello found that Maltese and European law stipulates that measuring devices have to be calibrated by a competent and accredited laboratory or person in order for it to be used.
He told the Sliema Tribunal that in the absence of a certificate proving the St Julian’s cameras were calibrated, the authorities could not prove that the machine was correct when it issued his ticket. He claimed his speedometer read 40 km/h in both cases, 5km/h less than the stipulated speed limit near the tunnels.
Over 9,000 car owners contested their fines: 997 were found not to be guilty, whilst another 106 fines were withdrawn. Another 58 had been time-barred. Eleven of those who contested the fine admitted guilt. The rest were found to be guilty, or did not even show up in front of the tribunal.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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