British speed camera nabs senior citizen for exceeding posted limit by 770 mph
In what can be seen as either an amusing
glitch or a blanket indictment of photo radar technology (or both), the Manchester Evening News is reporting that a UK
retiree was issued a speeding ticket for driving a barrel-chested 770 mph over the limit. No word yet on what
modifications retiree Adalat Khan performed to his Toyota Land Cruiser in order to trip the lights fantastic at 800 mph
in a 30 mph zone, or how the area coped with the sonic boom when the senior speedster made his improbable run into the
record books.
After contesting his innocence, the Greater Manchester Police wisely rescinded what must've been a rather spectacular fine, blaming Khan's supersonic ticket on an 'inputting error.'
A recent televised test on BBC's Top Gear revealed a similar glitch at a decidedly slower speed, foiling a Gatso in a TVR Tuscan S at 170 mph.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dee Clark 12:26AM (12/19/2005)
Didn't you get one of these tickets?
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modenadude 12:26AM (12/19/2005)
That was a very fun read, haha.
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Mal Fuller 12:26AM (12/19/2005)
Lucky for citizen Kahn that he wasn't clocked at a more credible speed, say 450MPH or so. Then they'd have thrown the book at the poor old guy.
However, this raises the question whether speed limits in the UK are posted in MPH or KPH. I thought it was KPH there.
By the way, Chris Paukert, your writing sets a good standard for your fellow Autobloggers to emulate!
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Gardiner Westbound 12:26AM (12/19/2005)
.
Automotive radar speed measuring devices are typically accurate to within 1/1000 mph. However, there is no way of determining with absolute certainty exactly what is being clocked. They are also vulnerable to random radio interference. Citations for outlandish speeds are typically discarded to maintain the charade. Undoubtedly the clerical error here is this one slipped through. Governments, the judiciary and the insurance cartel have feasted on unreliable radar evidence for decades, unjustly penalizing millions of motorists worldwide.
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Carlos 12:26AM (12/19/2005)
Mal, England uses miles, and other English units for length and distance. They've never gone fully metric.
But they use kilograms instead of pounds.
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Andrew Holding 12:26AM (12/19/2005)
England (UK) officially is metric for everything probably but speed limits and Pints of beer.
As for not using pounds for weight, basically we do, just it is sold as a strange number of Kilogramms. Same for milk you buy it in 1.34543Litres or something which is 2 pints.
This is why we hate the EU sometimes.
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