800mph - police accuse 'supersonic' driver | Manchester Evening News

800mph - police accuse 'supersonic' driver

Don Frame

December 10, 2005

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SAW funny side: Adalat Khan

A PENSIONER couldn't believe his eyes when he got a speeding ticket - it said he had been clocked at 800mph!

Adalat Khan, 73, was told he had been captured by a camera apparently going at more than the speed of sound.

The letter even said there was both photographic and video evidence.

Mr Khan was driving his S-registered 3.4 litre Toyota Land Cruiser when the speed cameras snapped him on the 30mph A57 Hyde Road in Ardwick, close to the Apollo.

He said: "I would have needed a jet engine to have been travelling at 800 miles an hour.

"I later saw the funny side of it, and a lot of my friends just laughed out loud when I told them how fast I was supposed to have been going."

Mr Khan, a newsagent from Openshaw, added: "I was very worried when I opened the letter from the police. I knew I had been driving on the road in question at the time they said, but I knew I hadn't been speeding."

Mistake

When he appealed, Greater Manchester Police immediately realised their mistake and cancelled the ticket - they said it was an inputting error.

A spokeswoman for GMP said the Central Ticket Office had looked into the case and found the speed on the ticket was not correct.

She said the information on the ticket was inputted manually, and the mistake was down to human error.

She added: "This was an isolated incident. The ticket has been cancelled and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience that this has caused."

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Les, Norden, Rochdale (10/12/2005 at 10:57)

It's good of the central ticket office to admit their mistake - they had no choice did they?
But how many times has an incorrect speed been 'input' which results in the poor person getting the penalty notice being fined wrongly?

Barb, SE England (10/12/2005 at 15:12)

Hmmm.... I wonder how many other 'inputting errors' have resulted in innocent motorists being fined and incurring penalty points. Good job it said 800 mph and not 80 mph, otherwise the plods would not have cancelled the ticket.

Nicholas Elmslie, New Milton (10/12/2005 at 18:16)

So what speed was he doing. Not 80 so it wasn't just a typo. How could they be that far off with an input error.

Kevin Wells, Kent (10/12/2005 at 18:26)

That prooves that speed cameras cannot be relied on as evidence in speeding.

Gregory Happy, Manchester (10/12/2005 at 18:35)

"Inputting error" - unlikely. So what speed was he driving at? Surely if he wasnt speeding then there would be no video evidence. Sounds fishy to me

Gary Catchpole, Lowestoft (10/12/2005 at 19:28)

One wonders how many speeding tickets have been issued in error by "manual input" and not questioned by the hapless motorist.

Shafter, Rochdale (10/12/2005 at 20:01)

Excellent!!!!!!!! just luv it

Jack, Reigate Surrey (ex Oldhamer) (10/12/2005 at 20:06)

I wonder how many "inputting errors" which were not detected as off the scale, have been paid for as a result.
It sounds as if there could be a very good case for anyone now to ask for a return of their fixed penalties as the integrity of the system is compromised and will be until the police can prove the system is error free.

Laughable, Manchester (10/12/2005 at 23:15)

"A spokeswoman for GMP said the Central Ticket Office had looked into the case and found the speed on the ticket was not correct."

And we actually pay this person a wage for stating the obvious? Now I know why we pay our council tax

Scott, Manchester (11/12/2005 at 01:44)

If the mistake has been put down to human error (i.e. inputting the speed in question on the ticket), I would be rather concerned about ALL the other speeding fines that are issued. Surely if Mr Khan had been initially caught speeding via a camera etc, the Central Ticket Office SHOULD have the correct speed he was allegedly travelling at which caused him to recieve a ticket in the first place. SO in a nutshell, "when you recieve a speeding ticket - were you actually travelling at that speed ??????"

Sue Doughty, Twyford (11/12/2005 at 09:43)

300 mph on a British public road? That has got to be a record, and since he has documentary evidence he should be getting prizes, accolades, and a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
All those people spending B#ms strapping areplane engines to the back of steel tubes to blast their way into speed records in a US desert must be kicking themselves. Could have stayed in Manchester after all!

Traveller, Derby (11/12/2005 at 11:29)

So what would've happened if the 'human error' had put the speed at say 40mph? Would we all have a good laugh then? Or would we just see another (apparently major) criminal get his just desserts?

frank, manchester (11/12/2005 at 11:51)

Unfortunately this is not funny and it is not acceptable merely for GMP to 'apologise for any inconvenience'. They need to explain:

-why he was flashed if he was only doing 30 mph, this must mean the camera was faulty

-why they don't check speeding tickets before they send them out. It is not acceptable to say this is a one-off. Just one person having points on their licence which they don't deserve is bad enough.

This sort of nonsense is exactly why the public are losing confidence in the police and the so called 'partnerships' who manage these cameras.

Gardiner Westbound, Ontario Canada (11/12/2005 at 13:00)

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.

FJtoys, Seattle, Washington (11/12/2005 at 17:17)

They should have given him a certificate of good taste and the video that showed Adalat Khan going 800mph. Landcruisers rule.

Terry Hudson, Kent (11/12/2005 at 18:24)

"Inputing error", would they have said this if it was 10 or 20 mph above limit? No! They admit to such an obvious error.

David, Belle Vue (11/12/2005 at 20:20)

If he made a return run within the hour he could claim a new land speed record

Jim, Liverpool (11/12/2005 at 22:21)

An RAC poll earlier this year found that two-thirds of drivers admit to speeding in 30mph zones and 57 per cent admitted to speeding on motorways. If people didn't speed then there would be no need for cameras, so blame the speeders, and especially the speedfreaks.

Tim, Boston Lincolnshire (11/12/2005 at 22:24)

Just how many other "inputting" errors have resulted in convictions? If this was an isolated case then are we to assume human error on the part of these data input operators is virtually nil? Well if so is any error that remains "beyond reasonable doubt" if not then the whole point of automated speed cameras is surely lost! Scrap them now, they obviously don't work!!!

CJ VILA, AUSTRALIA (12/12/2005 at 00:25)

Wish my Landcrusier could do speeds like this. What was he feeding his LC ?

Steven, manchester (12/12/2005 at 01:27)

So does this now mean I can appeal for supposedly doing 50mph in a 40mph zone?!! I am not happy about this so called speeding fine anyway

John, Coventry (12/12/2005 at 12:31)

The number of "isolated" incidents seems to be increasing! Either the Police are using equipment not fit for purpose (probably) or those administering the system are incompetent (also probably). It is a pity that the Government and the Police force are allowed to profit from such woefully inadequate systems.

tony jones, Stockport (12/12/2005 at 12:52)

The explanation "inputing error" just does not explain anything. It is time for GMP to come clean. Is this machine accurate, Is thier system accurate. Does any one care as long as they get B#60?

Carol, Gt Manchester (12/12/2005 at 13:29)

If 'black boxes' were fitted to all vehicles, then in the event of a motorist claiming they weren't speeding and contesting the case, the data from the black box could confirm whether or not they were. What do contributors think of that idea?

Jim, Liverpool (12/12/2005 at 14:00)

Regarding the claim by a number of posters that many innocent motorists could have been mistakenly booked for speeding, does it seem likely that the 'errors' are always 10 or 15 or 20mph etc above the limit, but never something akin to the 770mph as in this case, which we - Joe Public - would undoubtedly have heard about if it had happened before - ie it would have been a news item. In other words, if they (the GMSCP or the Central Ticket Office) - somehow or other - are consistently getting it wrong, then how come they're always getting it wrong by a relatively small amount, and never getting it wrong by a 100 or 200 or 500mph etc on occasion. Anyone got an explanation?

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