LARSOA, the Local Authority Road Safety Officers’ Association, has hailed the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling against two British motorists as a victory for the anti-speeding campaign.

Two drivers took a legal fight against speed cameras to Europe arguing their human rights were breached by making car owners name the driver if the vehicle is caught speeding.

Both men separately claimed a right to silence with company director Idris Francis refusing to say who was behind the wheel of his vehicle when it was photographed doing 47mph in a 30mph zone.

Simon Ettinghausen, a spokesman for LARSOA, said: “It’s a victory for common sense and sends a strong message to those continue to speed. It is not vehicles that speed but the people who drive them.

“Driving at 47mph in a 30mph zone is totally unacceptable. These zones are put in place to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, children and cyclists. They are usually in built-up areas and any collision at that speed with a child or cyclist is likely to cause death or very serious injury.”

The law already makes provision that no offence has been committed if a car owner can prove he or she did not know who was driving the vehicle.

Simon adds: “This protects people if their car has been taken without consent. People who speed should be dealt with by the law and not try and wriggle out of an offence through a loophole. If you are a car owner then you have responsibilities which include driving at an appropriate and legal speed and providing information about an offence if someone else was driving your vehicle with your consent. Not providing that information could be seen as withholding evidence.

“We should be considering the rights of people to use our roads safely and expect drivers to use them lawfully especially when figures just released by the Department for Transport show an increase in deaths among child pedestrians and child pedal cyclists.”