Odd speeding law questioned

A road safety campaigner is accusing the police of ‘‘selective enforcement’’ after a man ended up in the High Court battling a speeding ticket.

Alex Mercer had the ticket dismissed in the High Court at Auckland after originally being pinged for breaking the speed limit while passing a slow vehicle that sped up while he overtook.

Now a little-known law has piqued the interest of a campaigner who says Mercer was caught out by inconsistent rules.

According to the police, a fixed speed camera must not be deployed within 250m of the end of any passing lane.

But there are no such rules for officers in moving cars.

Road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-wilson said it was a double standard.

‘‘The police cannot place a speed camera at the end of a passing lane and this is because it is widely recognised that innocent drivers may accidentally exceed the speed limit while overtaking,’’ Matthew-wilson said.

He accused officers of parking near the end of passing lanes and giving out tickets.

However, a police spokesperson said that was against regulations.

‘‘For police officer enforcement, officers should not be parked or targeting vehicles within 250 metres of a final merge of a passing lane. However, when an officer is driving, enforcement may occur anywhere.’’

In the case of Mercer, Justice Timothy Brewer overthrew the infringement notice and said it was disappointing the situation had not been resolved in lower courts.

According to Mercer, he was forced to speed after overtaking two vehicles going 70-80kmh, the second of which sped up at the ‘‘last second’’.

‘‘If I were to slam the brakes, my car could’ve spun around into the traffic from the other direction,’’ Mercer told the court.

‘‘I had to make a snap decision, so I’d rather take the safe option which results in no one dying.’’