About 14 years old and with 130,000 miles on the clock, the Honda Civic driven by Dale Lyle was barely capable of reaching the speed limit.
So when he received a ticket for apparently driving at almost 100mph on the motorway, he told magistrates the mobile speed camera must have got it wrong.
Since he had already sold the car to a friend for £600, he had to take out a bank overdraft to buy it back.
Then he had to pay an independent driving expert £600 to test the 1.3litre Civic’s top speed at a circuit in Bedfordshire.
The result was as expected. Even when driven flat-out, the Honda could still only do a top speed of 85.4mph in fourth gear and 81.3mph in fifth.
Next, Mr Lyle obtained the mobile speed-camera footage of his alleged offence. The three-minute film shows three other cars in the frame at the same time, he said, which he believes means his vehicle was mistaken for another.
“I’m really glad I fought the system and won,” he said. “It’s shocking how hard it has been for me to prove my innocence.”
He intends to return to court to seek compensation for the £1,200 he spent proving his innocence.
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