Gatso UK Boss caught driving at 102mph on a 70mph road

Darren · Last edited by Darren on Mon May 04, 2009 5:23 pm; edited 1 time in total

Story courtesy of the Telegraph.

The Chief Exec of Serco UK, the global service company that has contracts in Safety Cameras, defence, justice, healthcare and many more sectors has been arrested after being photographed driving at 102mph on the A11.

Tom Riall is due to appear before magistrates in Suffolk on Wednesday. If found guilty he faces a driving ban of up to two years and a £2,500 fine.

When asked about the incident he said "I was travelling from my home to a business meeting on a clear A-road and I was unaware of my speed."

His comments have provoked road safety campaigners into angry reactions with one questioning how a man responsible for many of the UK's safety cameras could claim to be 'unaware' that he was travelling at over 100mph.

Serco have been the UK agent for Gatso for many years and have contracts with most of the UK Safety Camera Partnerships for their supply and maintenance. In 2008 they lead a Government backed anti-speeding campaign called Safe Drive Stay Alive. Strangely their UK website is notable for the lack of any information on their safety camera business.

www.serco.co.uk
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Darren Griffin

Jellyroll · Lifetime Member Joined: May 17, 2006 Posts: 57

Remember, folks, you don't need to be able to spell "schadenfreude" to experience it. Laughing

mikealder

gem · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 11:05 am Post subject:

Maybe his defense will be the equipment is faulty....ha ha. Rolling Eyes

But as a previous perseon said, if he is banned (due to going over the total points limit) then he will simply hire a chauffeur which Joe Public cannot do.

Fair laws?

Jellyroll · Lifetime Member Joined: May 17, 2006 Posts: 57

Joe Public can, if Joe Public wants, take out insurance to cover such an eventuality, but instead Joe Public generally has more sense than to drive at such an outrageous speed on an 'A' Road.

What Riall will lose is worth a lot more than his license. His reputation will be through the floor, and he may well find himself out of a job, ousted by the Board of his company. We can but hope.

Philip

Border_Collie · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 2:55 pm Post subject:

DennisN

Border_Collie · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 4:56 pm Post subject:

I would like to advise the morons that to stop from 100 mph = 100 feet thinking distance (reaction time) + 500 feet stopping distance, total 600 feet (200 yards)

70 mph = 70 feet thinking distance + 245 feet stopping distance, total 315 feet (105yards).

60 mph = 60 + 180 = 240 i.e 80 yards.

You can double the above for when the roads are wet.

My personal view is, anyone travelling at 50% or more over the posted limit should have their vehicle crushed and ban them for life.
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Formerly known as Lost_Property
And NO that's NOT me in the Avatar.

Philip · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 5:17 pm Post subject:

My - what a lot of hypocrites we have in today, given that the only reason for PocketGPSWorld's continued existence is to provide the speed camera database, which is there to assist people in exceeding the speed limit without getting caught. And some of you are even "moderators" and "verifiers" - how do you sleep at night?!

How sad that you believe the government's "Speed Kills" mantra - despite it not being supported by the government's own evidence. How very sad that you cannot understand that "excessive speed" and "exceeding the posted speed limit" can be two very different things. And even sadder is that you do not seem to understand that improving driver education and allowing drivers to make proper risk assessments based on a whole range of factors (including weather, traffic density, vehicle performance, driver ability, etc) is eminently preferable to forcing people - through financial penalties - to obey a completely arbitrary and meaningless law.

@DennisN - I'll exclude you from this. You are obviously such a sad, bitter and twisted individual that I'll leave you to square your conscience about what you ask for in your prayers with your own God.
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Philip

Darren

Philip

Darren

JimmyTheHand · Frequent Visitor Joined: Apr 16, 2005 Posts: 386

Jellyroll · Lifetime Member Joined: May 17, 2006 Posts: 57

I'm in court next Friday to contest a GATSO-based prosecution for travelling at 50mph (the photo says 51mph, but that's within the margin of error for the camera, let alone my speedo) on a 40mph road with which I was not familiar. The initial 40mph sign was hidden by foliage. Not having my SatNav with me that day I blithely continued with my cruise control set at what I thought was the speed limit, and failed to spot the solitary speed limit repeater that was part of the warning of the camera ahead, attracted as I was instead by the repeaters a couple of hundred yards after the camera that were, at 750mm, large enough to give the impression that they were the start of a speed limit.

(I don't hold out much hope of success, but we have to try...)

Certainly 50mph was an appropriate speed for an all-but empty three-lane dual carriageway at 05:30 on a dry and sunny mid-May morning, but the camera doesn't take that into account, as Darren says.

I would be lying if I said I had never sped. Heck, I would be lying if I said I'd never "done a ton" in my younger days. Now, though, with so many cameras about and insurance costing so much, I don't dare pick up points ("more points", perhaps, depending on how I get on next week) so I don't dare speed. I (almost) always use my SatNav, even on the shortest of journeys, to provide me with a heads-up display of my speed, a (more or less) accurate reminder of what is the current speed limit, and a warning of any cameras in case I've still made a mistake.

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