IF you were forced to fork out sixty quid after being zapped by a camera at roadworks on the M62 at Ferrybridge near Pontefract then don't worry, you're not alone.
It's been revealed that a staggering 18,000 motorists were caught by the Gatso over the course of just 18 months, racking up a total of £1,088,000 in fines.
The good news for drivers is that the temporary camera – set up in September 2003 while roadworks were under way – is now no more.
The bad news is there are another 288 speed cameras in place across West Yorkshire, around a quarter of them in Leeds.
Add to that 28 mounted on traffic lights plus 64 mobile ones and the chances of being caught on camera have never been greater.
To make matters even worse for West Yorkshire's motorists, the county is about to get another 23 mobile traps and six more fixed ones at a cost of £3.2m.
It already has the fourth highest number of cameras in the country, while the 20 speed cameras on the A65 between Rawdon and Kirkstall Abbey – five for every mile – is thought to be the highest concentration anywhere in the UK.
It's all a bit ironic when you consider that traffic cameras were originally invented to help us drive faster.
Back in the 1950s, Dutch rally driver Maurice Gatsonides was looking for a way to monitor his speed around the corners of a race track.
The device he dreamt up was so good that he formed the Gatsometer company, which has blossomed to the point where it is now the world's largest supplier of speed camera systems.
Britain's first was put up in West London in 1992 and since then their numbers have rocketed.
The Government says the only ones who have anything to worry about are the ones breaking the law.
Stealth tax
But others claim it amounts to a stealth tax, with some renegade motorists even vandalising Gatsos in protest. Such motorists include the notorious Captain Gatso.
For obvious reasons, Captain Gatso isn't too keen to divulge his real name.
His website is plastered with photographs of wrecked speed cameras and gives tips on how to dodge speeding tickets.
He has three mobile phones registered to various bogus addresses and drops hefty hints that he does the same with his cars.
All that is known of him is that he is a 40-year-old Londoner who has a passionate hatred of speed cameras.
"It's a dash for cash, be under no illusion," he tells me. "These camera partnerships are a corrupt entity. It's a stealth tax, an empire-building scheme."
Gatso, like a not inconsiderable number of motorists, views many of the country's road laws with contempt.
He, and the members of his group Motorists Against Detection, treat speed limits purely as advisory.
Gasto regularly doubles them, driving at 60mph on a stretch of road with a 30mph speed limit at night.
"The police would have you believe if you drive over 70mph then hell freezes over and you die," he says with a cackle.
"I've absolutely total disregard for speed limits. I resent the fact they are are totally without discretion. I drive in a safe manner, according to the conditions of the road and the state of the vehicle.
"I've had motorbikes and performance cars since I was 16. And I'm still here."
Captain Gatso wasn't surprised to hear about the £1m raised by the speed camera at Ferrybridge, though he points out that it is the first temporary trap to break the six-figure barrier.
But what he would prefer to discuss are the ways motorists are dodging their fines and the three points a speeding offence puts on their licence.
According to Gatso, more and more drivers are getting away with it.
Figurehead
Membership of Motorists Against Detection is growing and the group has what Gatso calls "an active cell" here in West Yorkshire.
Their cause has an unlikely figurehead in the shape of Christine Hamilton, wife of former cash-for-questions row MP Neil Hamilton.
In November 2003, she escaped a fine by saying she couldn't remember who was behind the wheel when her car was snapped by a camera on the M62.
The couple had been clocked at 63mph in a 50mph zone while driving back to their Cheshire home after officially opening the Princess Christian Nursery School in Guiseley.
The law states that "a person shall not be guilty of an offence...if he shows that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained who the driver was."
Hamilton successfully argued as much in court, leading to the judge deciding to dismiss her case and sparking fears – or hopes depending on your point of view – that millions of others could soon follow her example.
Gatso says they are.
"People are getting wise and playing hard ball now," he says with relish.
"The whole thing is a game and if it's good enough for Christine Hamilton it's good enough for the rest of us.
"At the moment people are being bullied into confessing.
"But you don't have to prove your innocence, it's up to them to prove your guilt. And the only evidence they have is a photo of the back of your car.
"The key is to stick to your story."
Gatso, who prides himself on the fact he's never been successfully prosecuted for a speed camera offence, claims half of the 5,000 tickets doled out each week by the London Safety Camera Partnership go unpaid.
"As we all know, the postal service in this country is terrible. Who's to say you ever even got the letter?
"I've been advising people for years. There are loads of loopholes out there...registering your car to a different address and so on.
"The vehicle registration process is full of flaws and so is the law."
Gatso and his followers work on the assumption that safety camera partnerships up and down the country don't have the resources to spend time tracking down ticket dodgers.
But Philip Gwynne, head of public affairs at the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, says that is changing.
He confirms he is only too aware of Captain Gatso – whom he describes as "a terrorist" – and his stance on speed cameras.
But Gwynne says his organisation knows the lengths to which some motorists will go to shake a speeding fine and are acting accordingly.
Enforcement
More police enforcement teams are now being employed to trace those who fail to respond to the letters advising them they have been caught by a camera.
Stories that someone else was behind the wheel at the time the offence was committed are also being checked out.
Gwynne says the success rate in tracing the no-shows currently hovers around the 97 per cent mark.
"There was a case recently, for example, where a chap said his wife had been driving when a camera caught his car speeding.
"Our enforcement team tracked her down and found out it was the first she'd heard of it.
"He was brought to court, received his fine, penalty points plus another hefty fine for attempting to pervert the course of justice, a six-month suspended prison sentence and court costs.
"Oh, and his wife left him as well."
Much of the controversy surrounding speed cameras hinges on where the fines money goes.
Gwynne dismisses this by saying the cash heads first to the Treasury, but much of it comes back to the partnership – a not-for-profit-organisation – to cover its running costs and some is ploughed into other road safety measures.
However, he is unable to say exactly what percentage stays within the Government's coffers.
Gwynne is quick to dismiss the argument that speed cameras represent a stealth tax on motorists.
"It can't be a stealth tax because we make them extremely visible and publicise where they all are, including the mobile patrols.
"Plus we paint them yellow so everyone can see them. Why do we do this? Because they only work if people can see them. We want people when they see a camera to realise they're coming through an area where someone has died."
Figures available on the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership's website show casualties have generally reduced where speed cameras have been installed.
Even if they have often not come down quite as much as you would perhaps expect.
Despite the warnings, Gwynne knows there are some people who will do anything to avoid a fine and points on their licence.
For those motorists tempted to follow Captain Gatso's lead he has a message: "It's just not worth trying to squeal out of a sixty quid fine and three penalty points.
"You'll be found out. And when you are the penalty you'll pay will be a lot higher."
grant.woodward@ypn.co.uk

Up to speed on county's cameras

l The cost of a fixed roadside camera, distinguished by its yellow box, currently stands at £30,000.
l They can only be placed on stretches of road which have seen three or more crashes causing death or serious injury in the previous three years.
l The number of fines issued in West Yorkshire fell by 10 per cent last year to 78,780, resulting in a £250,000 drop in revenue for the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership.
l Approximately one in four of speed cameras are live at any one time. The live cameras are rotated frequently, which means a camera may not be live when you drive past it in the morning, but it might be when you drive past at lunchtime.
l The locations of West Yorkshire's speed cameras are available at www. safetycameraswestyorkshire. co.uk.
l The site also includes a list of the locations of mobile cameras, which are updated on a weekly basis.