Reply With QuoteI've only seen them flash when limit is active.
So when variable speeds are not in play, can you still get a ticket post for driving over 70 mph?
Loads and loads of conflicting reports on the t’intersphere, so can’t be sure.
Anyone been ticketed driving over 70 mph when driving on M25, M1 etc. when variable speed is not in use?
I've only seen them flash when limit is active.
I don’t think they switch them off when not imposing a reduced limit, if they did then that would make no sense, well not to me.
Having typed the above I think I might have got done on the m25 on Tuesday, variable limit at 60 but as my junction came up I think I got excited and put my foot down.
I came down the M1 and around the M25 on Monday and noticed a few speeding cars braking as they passed under the gantry with cameras, even though the variable speed limit was not in play.
Obviously some folk are confused.
The answer is yes, they are always on. The critical part though is whether the safety camera unit choose to enforce. A lot of safety camera units just enforce “high speed” offences. Applying the 10% +2mph guidance most back offices would be unable to cope with the prosecution numbers. You stand a chance of prosecution/diversion course at anything above that threshold in the lower variable limits but the likelihood is unless you are breaching the 70 limit by some margin you wouldn’t attract attention
Yep. A friend of mine got done on the M4 by Bristol. There was no active speed restriction, he was doing 80+ and got done.
I can certainly confirm that those on the M5 southbound from Birmingham are active when no speed restriction is posted. I found this out in Jan 2018 with a fine and 3 points. First points in over 20 years!
What speed were you doing?Originally Posted by Skier
Yes they work, fortunately just a speed awareness course but I proved to myself they work lol
Are you aware there are two types of permanent camera on the M25 (and I would imagine on some other motorways) - the average speed ones in gantries and HADECS cameras attached to the sides of some gantries, with separate speed detectors (used to be three small cameras but now looks like just one square one) mounted on a pole about 100 metres in advance (so essentially if you brake for the camera rather than the pole-mounted speed detector it may be too late):
https://www.speedcamerasuk.com/hadecs-3.htm
"A man of little significance"
And we also have just had the introduction of the LTi 2020 a mobile camera that takes your speed in 0.03 of a second up to 1 mile range ,!!!!!!!! No chance by the time you’ve seen it your done son.
I got a fine for doing 57 in a 50 average speed restricted aea on M6 and my neighbour was fined doing 52 so I wouldn't bank on the 10% plus 2 rule. Wouldn't ming but it was 7.30 on a Sunday with absolutely nothing else on the road.
I believe average speed is precisely to get rid of the tolerance. Most people see Max speed as a target to achieve. If you set your speed at 45, and need to pass another car you’ll be fine at the second camera. If you set it at 50 you won’t
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Just? This dates from 2010(!):
"BBC Inside Out documented the inaccuracy of the LTI 20/20 on how the 'slip effect' can add up to 30MPH to the recorded speed."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N25ybu2y2aA
I was just reading on PistonHeads that it recorded a wall traveling at 44mph and a parked car travelling at 22mph.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...&f=10&t=239793
Yes i’m regularly on M4 section (M32 junction) near Bristol early in the morning. Most mornings i see the cameras flash even though theres no lower speed limit showing. Maybe people think they are safe doing 80mph. The regularity of the flashes suggests it may be set to a lower 75 (?) ish mph..
But your average 57 would mean your speedo was probably showing over 60 between cameras. Your neighbours speedo could well have indicated 56/57 or more
I always set my cruise control to an indicated 55mph and have never had an issue.
No - would be my vote.
I have a mate who drives quite quickly on the motorway, flash territory most of the time. He covers most of the main English motorways at least once a month. At 0.85 leptons the gantry cameras do not flash unless:
1. There is a speed limit indicated, or
2. If the reduced speed limit has not been raised back to national.
There are long stretches on the M1 without a junction where a gantry will drop you to 50 and the following gantry will display nothing but is still live (at 50), the 50 zone only ends when you see ‘end’ or a NSL sign. I believe this is where people get caught out.
My mate is living proof that they’re not always on.
As mentioned above there are two types of camera... there is the old style camera which sat above each lane, these did not work when the variable speed limits are in force.
the second type is called Hadec and sits at the side of the road. these are newer cameras and cover upto 5 lanes I think it is. These will work without the variable signs and work at all times.. you can see these up and down the M1 and M25.
Most speedos over read by 10% so a reading of 55mph would be 50mph in reality. Satnavs often can confirm true speed.
I think it depends on which police force region is responsible for the cameras.
The ones on the south section of the M25 only give out tickets when a variable speed is active - I know someone who tests this daily up to 90 mph....
Something in the 90s; too fast for a speed awareness course, just slow enough to avoid a mandatory court appearance. I'm told by a friend who drives past these cameras every day that they're set at around 85mph.
And worth noting that the newer HADEC cameras don't use/need a flash either. I did read that the pole mounted cameras 50m or so ahead of the gantry record an image of the gantry displaying the variable speed limit signage as proof of the limit in operation at the time.
I would like to see a copy of the paperwork when people claim to have been 'done' for being 1 or 2 mph over the limit, any limit. There has to be a tolerance due to inaccuracy of speedometers. Urban myth territory I feel.
The National Police Chiefs Council issued the 10% +2 mph guidance around speeding prosecutions when it was still ACPO, and generally speaking all 43 police forces adopted it.
However, I believe some did break ranks and introduce zero tolerance or much lower limits, North Wales Police were one force and IIRC Hampshire were another. Many other forces also run campaigns where the limits are strictly enforced, in 20 or 30 mph limits where even 1 or 2 mph over will be prosecuted. ‘Speedo error’ is generally in favour of the driver, so 32mph recorded in a 30 would be nearer 35 indicated in the car, which is the justification.
NPCC guidance is just that, and it can be dropped or varied at any time by a force in question particularly if they’re targeting problem areas, and people do get prosecuted for being very slightly over posted limits. The focus is increasingly on ‘marginal speeders’, some would say cynically so as they can be processed via SACs with a resultant bump in local budgets.
When I did my speed awareness course, they told us that most fatalities on motorways are between 3 and 4 in the morning when there are hardly any other vehicles on the road.
Mine is much more accurate then that. I think the days of 10% are long gone.
Agree, another myth.
For any legal speeds mine is nearly bang on, I think at around 70, my sat nav indicates 69 ish.
They all over-read rather than under-reading, for obvious reasons (the legal penalty for a speedo which under-reads is draconian), but I agree, I think for the vast majority of newer cars it's probably less than 5% rather than the old 10%.
Then mine is inaccurate. Bloody Toyota rubbish!
Sounds unlikely - what is the draconian penalty?
Is it that the vehicle is deemed not safe to drive? https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-safe ?
It wouldn't comply with the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986
- - - Updated - - -
Mine seems to over-read by 3 mph (rather than by a %).
Might just be let off. https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/ne...er-was-faulty/
I've seen the gantry mounted cameras flash on the approach to the Queensferry crossing regardless of what the variable speed limit is so I suspect they're constantly in use.
70mph + 10% +2 is 79, that's why 80mph can be the set trigger speed, I don't know how much change in the reading is caused by worn tyres, potentially 12mm on the diameter but I know some taxi drivers who change tyres regularly to keep the meter accurate. Speedos are so much more accurate now so paying attention to speed drift is more important now.
Brilliant! Love how completely random the law is!
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