Thousands of drivers wrongly fined in major UK speed camera malfunction
A delay on smart motorway speed cameras meant some drivers were fined for speeding, even when the limit had increased
Thousands of motorists have been wrongly fined for speeding since 2021, says National Highways. A fault with speed cameras on smart motorways meant they were triggered even when drivers weren’t breaking the law.
The issue largely revolves around what National Highways describes as an “anomaly” on variable speed limit cameras on major roads and smart motorways. This, the organisation says, resulted in “a slight delay between cameras and variable speed signs, leading to some drivers being incorrectly detected as speeding after the limit had changed.”
National Highways told Auto Express it’s uncovered 2,650 wrongful activations of this kind since 2021 and that the issue was originally brought to its attention when an individual case was flagged by Avon and Somerset Police back in January 2025. While, at first, the problem was thought to be isolated to one location on the M5, after an investigation it’s now understood to affect a total of 154 cameras spanning 10 per cent of the Strategic Road Network (SRN), including all variable cameras on smart motorways and two on the A14.
The organisation’s chief executive, Nick Harris, apologised for the error, explaining: “Safety is our number one priority and we have developed a fix for this technical anomaly to maintain the highest levels of safety on these roads and make sure no one is wrongly prosecuted.”
Those drivers who were wrongly fined will be contacted by National Highways and will have their fine reimbursed and any penalty points on their licence removed. Auto Express asked what will be done to compensate those affected who might have been forking out for inflated car insurance premiums given their false convictions or been banned from driving, and was told that this is something that is being “investigated”.
That said, it’s important to note that while the blunder is certainly a serious one, it only accounts for a minute percentage of speed cameras activations; National Highways says the number of instances equates to fewer than two mistakes per day.
With this in mind, National Highways warned drivers that while these cameras have been switched off for the time being while it develops a fix, “enforcement is still in place, and the public can remain confident that only motorists who break the rules will be penalised.”
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