Autoblog

A too-clever motorist in the UK is staring at some jail time after concocting a sign-switching scheme to get out of a speeding ticket.

44-year-old John Hopwood apparently placed a stolen 40 mph speed limit sign over the 30 mph sign that he violated, then took a photo and brought it to court as proof of his innocence. Suffice it to say, it didn't work.

More details of Hopwood's shenanigans at the link.

[Source: UK Mirror]

UK car enthusiasts' struggle with the kudzu-like spread of speed cameras has been well documented, but to those outside of England, the scale and scope of the issue is hard to get one's head around without experiencing it firsthand. That said, perhaps news that an auto insurer has just authored a plan specifically designed with speed cameras might give readers some sense of the scale of the issue.

Isle of Man Assurance has just begun offering LicenseGuard to its clients for a premium. The basic gist of the package is that it covers transportation costs for one year if you have your license revoked due to speeding offenses.

According to the UK's financial times, there are 8,000 cameras in use for plate recognition, and a further 6,000 dedicated speed cameras. With nearly one million motorists a single conviction away from losing their license, it's no wonder that certain offenders are seeking out accomplices that will admit to committing speeding offenses that they didn't actually commit, paying them in cash or by favor.

[Sources: The Financial Times; Art by Andy Davey]

 

British SUV owners may return to their parked vehicles only to find a ticket decorating their windshield. But they aren't parking violations, they're shame awareness tickets from an environmental group chiding owners for driving resource-hungry vehicles in cities like London. Advocates say they're warning consumers of the genre's potential effect on future generations, as well as those in the present (read: safety issues).

While hardly at the same level of popularity as their U.S. counterparts, UK SUV ownership has skyrocketed in excess of 40 percent in the last half-decade - this, despite increasingly stiff tax hikes that target the vehicles.

The tactic is hardly new, having been reported around the U.S. for some time, in articles like this August, 2002 New York Times piece.

What do you think about guerilla awareness campaigns like this? Have you ever been on the giving or receiving end of a fake ticket?

[Sources: MotorTorque at AskAPrice.com; Nick M]