Industry News from Yes Insurance

The motorists going to the European courts claiming that speed cameras breach their human rights have come under fire from road safety campaigners.

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts) has spoken out as Idris Francis and Gerard O'Halloran prepare their case with the backing of human rights group Liberty.

The pair claim that the current system of prosecution denies them their right to silence and risks self-incrimination.

However, Robert Gifford, a spokesman for Pacts, says the men should accept their punishment.

"The issue here is that he clearly committed an offence or a person driving that vehicle committed that offence," he told Channel Four News.

"It was driving at 47 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour area. I would at that point, if I was him, say 'you have got me bang to rights, gov'."

The motorists have been offered little in the way of encouragement since they announced that they would take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Lawyer Nick Freeman, otherwise known as Mr Loophole due to his ability to get clients cleared of motoring offences, says he doubts their case will be a success.

"I do not think they are going to succeed," he told Channel Four News. "I think that this is a legitimate aim by the government to prevent a high death toll on our roads and I think this is something the European Court will uphold.

"There is a breach [of human rights] but the breach is proportionate to the mischief they are seeking to remedy which is, of course, avoiding road traffic offences."

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