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Speed camera detectors to be banned under crackdown on drivers who escape penalties
Motorists caught using popular gadgets which detect speed cameras are set to face stiff fines and penalty points under tough new laws.
Tens of thousands of in-car devices which use laser or radar technology will be banned to stop speeding drivers outwitting traffic police with mobile traps.
Tens of thousands of in-car devices which use laser or radar technology will be banned Satellite navigation systems and other devices which warn drivers about the location of fixed speed cameras or mobile speed trap zones will still be legal to use on UK roads.
Punishment for using the gadgets has yet to be decided, but the Department for Transport today warned that motorists could face penalty points and fines.
Offending drivers could also risk having the devices, worth several hundred pounds, confiscated by police, the DfT said.
The gadgets are to be outlawed under provisions of the Road Safety Act 2006 and are expected to be introduced within the next few months, or by early 2008 at the latest.
Campaigners today blasted the new legislation branding it a 'shocking and spiteful' attack on motorists.
Paul Smith, founder of road safety campaign group Safe Speed, said: "I think this is a complete waste of time.
"The DfT is creating a nation of motorists who are more concerned with not breaking the law and watching their speedometers rather than the road.
"In doing this they are not promoting safer driving at all and the policy seems based on flawed evidence." He added that he found the suggested penalties 'utterly shocking'.
A DfT spokesman said: "The penalty is yet to be decided. There is likely to be a consultation process as to what the penalty would be.
"The aim is that this would remove the incentive of using them. Confiscation of such devices is also a possibility.
"While these devices are still legal there is nothing to stop people going out and buying them.
The DfT said that the new law specifically aims to protect the deterrent posed by randomly positioned mobile speed traps.
"If people know where fixed cameras are then it will make them drive more safely through that stretch of road and therefore the cameras are still doing their job.
"Detection devices differ in that they inform drivers of the position of mobile speed cameras. Mobile speed traps provide a deterrent by their random nature.
He added that suppliers and manufacturers of speed camera detection devices have been consulted on the legislation and will be involved in further discussions.
Road law expert Nick Cotter, a solicitor partner at Darbys legal firm in Oxford, said: "I think the DfT's argument on this is nonsensical.
Road Angel Group Ltd spokesman, Graham Mackie, said that any of their products affected by the ban could be made legal by deactivating certain features.
He said: "It is possible that passive laser detection, which some Road Angel products utilise, may fall under this ban.
In a review, Tim Needell who formerly worked on BBC's Top Gear and now presents Five's 5th Gear show, said: "Every now and again a significant advance is made in road safety. After using Road Angel in my car for a couple of days I began to think how good it would be if such a device was standard equipment in all vehicles.
He adds: "Road Angel has surpassed every expectation, it does the business, will help keep your licence clean and provide essential safety information."
20mph limits to go nationwide?
Britain's towns and cities face the introduction of an impractical 20mph speed limit for all vehicles, it has emerged.
The drastic new restrictions on urban driving could be imposed by all councils across the country in a matter of months. Portsmouth has become the first city in Britain to introduce the tough new measures, and campaigners say it's only a matter of time before the 20mph limit is rolled out across the nation.
The Government has given all local authorities the power to cut residential speed limits to 20mph, and Liberal Democrat-run Portsmouth City Council became the first to take up the offer. The £475,000 scheme was launched in the south-east of the city today, with other residential roads to follow by the end of the year. The new* limit will eventually affect 187 miles of roads within the city.
A study, commissioned by the Rail Safety and Standards Board, has found that a journey made by a family of three in a car will produce half the emissions than if they made the journey on a diesel-powered train.
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