The other big area, the other big type of camera, which is often used to catch a motorist, is the laser device, is the handheld laser operated by police and camera battles. Cover enforcement officers that are normally static needs camera burglars again.
These people will tell you pinpoint accuracy, and these things never go wrong. Just don’t believe it they don’t have pinpoint accuracy. I’ve, had cases in the past where the police will say they fire a laser beam, pinpoint accuracy and it hits the number plates and the often put the finger up like that in court say pinpoint accuracy what the often don’T realize and the manufacturers will often admit quite openly it’s in their instruction manuals, that there is a beam spread.
So there’s, a laser fires, the further it goes down the road. The beam spreads out and around about a thousand feet say around about 340 meters or so the beam the laser can be around about 3 to 4 foot wide.
Now, if you’re driving great being HTV, that may not be a problem, because a three or four foot laser beam is hitting your massive big truck. What happens if you’re on a motorcycle, and your motorcycle is only 12 inches.
18 inches wide at the widest part and that’s. Normally you’ve sat on the motorcycle, but the width or the number plate is often the wider part of the bike. It’s difficult because the vast majority of the laser may in fact be missing and you can get your bike all together.
If you’re in a car, then the laser may well be hitting part of the number brake part of it may go under the vehicle are possible, it may be hitting the fairing at the front of the vehicle may be hitting the curvature of The bonnet, maybe it’s in the windscreen, you might think.
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Well, so what well all of those issues can create problems. This is the vehicle it may hit something else and be reflected back from somebody else’s car. If a laser slides along the vehicle call slip effect that can increase the speed, nothing always increases the speed, but it can increase the speed, so slip effect can increase the actual speed of the laser before it’s reflected back manufacturers and, in fact, Code of practice issued by the police says that a laser should not be fired through a glass.
Often people consider that to mean a police officer sat in a police vehicle firing, the laser through the windscreen of a vehicle quite clearly stays. That should not happen, albeit I’ve, had a case recently where exactly that happened where it’s fired through a glass, because the glass can reflect the actual angle of the beam and affect the speed and speed reading, and in fact, Whether it even hits your vehicle altogether, but in also in my argument, can affect it if it hits the windscreen of your vehicle or the headlights, view vehicle of the headlights or motorcycle and again that could be reflected back and could give a faulty speed reading.
So a number of problems with the actual laser devices themselves and how they’re operated. They don’t, give, in my mind, pinpoint accuracy. If you’ve got a wide beam, spread, lasers will often, or lasers, can often give problems.
If they’ve not been calibrated, the police will lead to believe that the device is perfect and that it’s been calibrated. They’ve got a calibration certificate and we’ll. Want you to accept that the device is perfect because of a calibration certificate.
Again, that is just not correct. The calibration certificate and again most police forces these days quite happy to show their calibrations to make it on the website and that’s. Only the calibration certificate produced by the manufacturers once a year that’s because type approval for Home Office approval say that their manufacturers check the device each year.
In fact, some type approval, doesn’t actually require that, although the police are quite happy to state, we has type approval as long as it’s calibrated each year and that’s. Okay, myself, as a defense solicitor, not particularly bothered about whether it’s, been calibrated by the manufacturers each year, because I would expect that to happen.
And I would expect it to the crags in all the years that I’ve been dealing with speeding cases. I don’t. Think I’ve ever had one case where the manufacturers have gone out inspected, a laser found. It to be wrong and then issued a document to say this is wrong.
Doesn’t happen because if they go out and find the laser is inaccurate, they simply correct it and then issue a new calibration certificate to say. Yes, it’s perfect, so you would always expect to have a calibration certificate from the manufacturer saying everything is hunky-dory, but we’re, not interested in that.
What we are interested in is how was how was it calibrated on the date? Was used so when that device is used to detect your speeding offence? What did the police do to ensure that it was accurate and again? This opens up a whole minefield of checks that should be carried out.
The main checks as far as a laser go a laser device goes, is a distance track, speed, check, scope, check and an alignment check. Those checks should be carried out, ideally both before and after the detection of an offence.
Those checks should be documented, usually in any contemporaneous notes or pocket notebook countries. If a video has been linked up with the laser device you may work may well find those checks are actually recorded on to the video again.
All this information can be obtained, possibly can be obtained by the disclosure requirements. So once you’re challenging it that’s when you can start to see the evidence against you, so we get to see what checks the police officer did.
Is there a distance check, documented a speed check, a scope, check alignment check if the alignment check was carried out well as it carried out? Was it carried out at the police station base before they go out on the tour of duty, obviously carrying out on-site, where they have to detected your offense again, arguments which can be raised if things are done in the correct way it might have carrying out a Perfect alignment check base my concern there as well.
How’d? You know it was still accurate. If you then pack up all the equipment drive to the site, take it all out set it all up, then start using it. Ideally, the alignment check is carried out on the site, but with the distance check, the distance check is dominant at base, not the site.
Is it based its nominee, a marked out distance along the the rail yard of police station which they then calibrate and check the distance accuracy of the laser device that opens up a new problem for the police because I will often say to the police officer? Well, how do you know that the distance that you Church was in fact the correct distance and they’ll, say well, it’s been marked out of his part out by training standards or the police accident investigation department, because there the Danger is that the police are relying on hearsay evidence.
They’re, trying to prove a fact. The accuracy of fact against you by what they’ve, been told by somebody else and in law that shouldn’t be admitted into evidence. So again, even if the police have done things correctly and in fact the device might be giving the correct reading, if they can’t provide the evidence in the right format.
The case may fail, so it does beg the question. Should you ever be accepting an allegation of committing a crime without first checking and challenging the evidence I’ve had two minute cases over the years where we’ve won cases because the evidence was just not there.
I was not documented in the right way. I’m, often accused of winning cases for clients on technicalities on loopholes or trying to get people off when this should be convicted and there are dangers with the road users.
I don’t, see it in that way. My concern is if the police have got the evidence, he’s presented in the right way, then you would either acts out guilt. They advise truckers, have guilt won’t be found guilty, but if they cannot provide the correct evidence against you, then why on earth should you accept it? There’s too much at stake, and just because the police say that you’re, speeding, doesn’t mean to say that you’re travelling at that speed.