Not a single driver on the M25 has been caught or fined for speeding in the past year because the cameras don't work, a three-month investigation has discovered.
In an exclusive report, AOL asked all the police authorities charged with policing the London orbital how many drivers had been caught speeding by the cameras.
Police forces were reluctant to provide information on the M25 cameras
Four of the police authorities had to be pressed into supplying details with 20 Freedom of Information requests from AOL Cars.
The results were emphatic with AOL Cars forcing those police forces to admit that their cameras either didn't work or had failed to catch any drivers in the last year.
AOL Cars said the The Metropolitan Police, which looks after the M25 in Surrey and the Thames Valley, took more than 40 days to respond to its FoI requests and originally refused to reply for "fear of the repercussions".
SEE THE FULL STORY:
- Exclusive: M25 Cameras Failing to Catch Speeders
"However, after arguing with the Met that these cameras are paid for by motorists, are supposed to be located at "accident black spots" and that other forces had already revealed the information, the force finally admitted that NO drivers have been caught be overhead gantry cameras on the M25 in the last 12 months in its area," AOL reported.
Editor James Baggott said the original aim was to discover which overhead speed camera had caught the most motorists and each police authority was asked this question. However, it soon became clear from the reactions he found, as well as the evasiveness of some police forces, that very few of the cameras were actually working.
"I always suspected these cameras didn’t work," Baggott told The Huffington Post UK.
"When I tweeted asking if anyone knew anyone who had been caught by one and got no responses I knew something was up. My investigation sent me around the houses, from councils to speed camera partnerships, to government agencies and police forces – but finally I got the information I always suspected: The M25 cameras aren’t catching any drivers.
‘Cameras should be placed in accident black spots to slow motorists down in dangerous areas – simply placing them on motorways to generate revenue is wrong. Britain’s motorways are among the safest in Europe."