Everyday is a school day always thought you had to be travelling towards them. Can’t really see how they can film you from the back without lines on the road.
Every day's a school day !!!
I received a N.I.P. in the post today, clocked at 50 in a 40 near my hometown. Fair cop.
I've filled in the form and then took the liberty of logging in to the constabulary website to view the images.
The road in question leads from a 30 roundabout in the country, no houses within a mile, becomes a dual carriageway straight off the roundabout then opens up into a 40 then opens up again on to a national speed limit dual carriageway.
It's a much travelled piece of tarmac for me so as per, I come off the roundabout and accelerated onto the dual carriageway, speed increasing for the entry onto the main national speed limit dual carriageway.
What's opened my eyes more than anything is the camera/van, which I saw and passed, has clocked me as I'm leaving him some 300 metres away and behind me.
My surprise is that his lens has followed me from that distance looking at my tail pipes !!
I was I guess foolishly, expecting to see a photo of me head on, on the approach.
Bottom line is........You need eyes in your Ar$e out there...!!!
Everyday is a school day always thought you had to be travelling towards them. Can’t really see how they can film you from the back without lines on the road.
Rear facing so they can catch motorbikes as well.
Did you check the speed limit for the section of road? I appealed one last year where the dual carriageway had lighting so national speed was higher than the offence notice stated.
You just have to accept the fact that we are all being monitored all the time. They even know where you are thanks to having a mobile phone in your pocket. I wouldn't be surprised if they could work out your speed from it.
As regards to the road, more pressure groups are demanding lower speed limits in certain areas and speed monitoring devices are springing up to ensure they are being enforced. We are not far away from the day that every inch of the road is under surveillance so it's either comply at all times or get done many times.
Freedom on the road days are rapidly coming to an end.
My mate got caught on his bike a few weeks back. Riding away from the camera van from a 30 limit into a 40 limit. They got him at 36.
But what really annoyed him was that I was in front of him, and kept my speed at 30 until I’d passed the 40 sign.
Edited to correct that we were going from a 40 to a 30…
Last edited by Enoch; 2nd February 2023 at 11:14.
It’s just another tax
Might be legal but it’s hardly acting in good faith catching people as they speed up anticipating the increased limit. Struggle to believe that’s likely to be the most dangerous stretch they could have picked if it’s about safety.
Personally, I’ve never seen a camera van operating at night when all the boy racers in my neck of the woods are driving round at double the speed limit.
I observe the speed limits at all times (granted there will be the odd occasion when I have missed a sign, but the intention is to observe) and quite frankly I am a traffic hazard.
If they take the image with the car going away from the camera how can they identify the driver?
I don’t think it’s luck. What’s the difficulty in sticking to the speed limit? There’s nothing ambiguous about it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m really not that bothered whether you speed but it’s personal choice…go over the speed limit and risk the fine. I really can’t see how people can complain about it.
I can't deny I was increasing my speed on a dual carriageway. I'd already acknowledged the copper in the van as I passed him.
I'm pissed that he clocked me 300 metres after I'd passed him.
Shit happens, I'll take the rap, I was wrong.
I've been 20yr old but I'm not a tear arse but I do like driving. Not had speeding points for 25+ yrs.
Sorry, wasn’t aimed at you or anyone in particular.
My driving gripe would be traffic enforcement cameras in areas like London. These can be particularly unfair, particularly when the volume of traffic on the road exceeds the capacity for the rules of the road to be effective. I’ve seen box junctions where the only way to proceed is to risk the exit clearing, otherwise you literally wouldn’t be able to go.
"Do mobile speed cameras work both ways?
This usually depends on the type or form of a mobile speed camera. Typically mobile speed cameras can work both ways. You can expect to get a speeding ticket if you exceed the speed limit regardless of which direction you are travelling."
Anyone who's been driving for years and can claim they've never exceeded a speed limit is a driving god. I never intentionally do so but it's easy to do so very occasionally, transitioning into higher speed limits on wide roads, missing a change from say 50 to 40, up/down hills, temporary speed limits or even when your sat nav indicates the limit is different, especially if you cover a lot of miles in areas new to you.
That said the placement of so many mobile cameras vans bear no relation to the prevalence of past accidents, only revenue gathering. We have one regularly clocks people coming over the brow of a steep hill in a 30 zone on a wide road with few houses, I've never heard of an incident/accident there in 30 years or reports of regular speeding once past the brow.
Last edited by deepreddave; 2nd February 2023 at 09:56.
The reality is everyone breaks the speed limit on almost every journey.
Modern cars feel almost stationary at 30 or even 20mph.
It is a common theme for people to moan about speed cameras ... tax, revenue collection, have the police not got rapists to catch etc ...
They don't necessarily operate speed enforcement units at accident black spots they do so in places to give maximum awareness of speed enforcement in the hope that they will perhaps change a few attitudes.
It is a fact that speed contributes to the severity of "accidents" and if we can all moderate our speed all the better.
That said I would rather see some enforcement of mobile phone use at the wheel as it is driver inattention that seems to be a far bigger risk than speed.
We have the technology to stop both speeding and mobile use at the wheel but not the will to implement such controls. So I guess we will continue to kill each other pointlessly ...
I think, but don’t quote me, that the lines are not required for mobile cameras as they are "supposed" to be checked and calibrated daily, whereas the fixed ones are checked far less frequently.
Still a bummer being done for accelerating up to the next limit though, can't see the harm in that but kudos to you for taking it on the chin.
😁 I've done 60ish in a 30mph limit, but I was on a blue light shout chasing a speeder that was involved in a burglary.
I got nicked whilst delivering groceries to my elderly parents at the height of the first lockdown, just after entering a non-residential 30mph zone (there was a 30 sign overgrown with foliage but the speed limit was indicated by the presence of lamp posts regardless). That felt like a revenue generating exercise but at least they didn't have much else to be getting on with.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
It was a bit of a kick in the teeth for her to receive the speeding letter but it was welcome that they were understanding of the circumstances.
Point is if it were a revenue collecting exercise they'd not give any quarter ... it is about trying to get people to slow down because speed increases the severity of accidents.
I realised they could shoot you in either direction many years ago in my Mk1 focus RS.
I’d installed a radar/laser detector as was the only option back then. Coming past Reading college, spot the van in its usual place but no trigger on my detector.
Miffed and being a young arse, after passing the van and slowing, first gear engaged, wheels lit up and the detector went bat-shite crazy and lit up.
Always made me wary ever since.
I am good in 30-50 limits but take a broader view in NSL subject to circumstances, eg middle of nowhere on wide sweeping roads with proper visibility.
I hate getting someone up my arse on properly twisty roads where you need to drive slower to be able to stop in your field of vision. Yes I can go faster, my car can go faster, but I’m not willing to as I can’t stop as required.
Pistonheads thread by 10 pence short is always a sobering reminder of what can go wrong.
Fair play to you OP for holding your hands up. I was caught a few years back at 37mph accelerating from a 30 to a 40, I was maybe only 10 metres away from the 40 zone though I just shrugged my shoulders and accepted it.
As for anyone commenting about speeding fines being a tax on motorists.... don't be daft! Anyone who speeds is doing so knowingly 99% of the time, accept the risk of being nabbed if you do so and move on.
Of course it’s a tax, usual argument why hide the safety camera after the bend and not before it, and why do they put so much effort into generating revenue from speed cameras yet if your car were to be stolen they won’t even bother turning up, just give you an incident number and tell to to call your insurance company, and then we have dangerous potholes……………
I don't view it as a tax - I see it as a fine and a deterrent. 'If you can't do the time', etc.
The only way the tax argument works is if you (attempt to) compare it to income - the more you earn the more you pay, the faster you drive the more you pay.
Bottom line is that, broadly speaking, we can't be trusted to drive within speed limits regardless as to if the reason for the limit is obvious or otherwise. Even if speed cameras generate a net positive income who's fault is that?
Anyone who drives should accept that limits are in place and that, should they be exceeded, the possibility of being held to account exists. It's part and parcel of holding a licence.
I agree - when taking a driving test, candidates, pay attention to the speed limit knowing that if they exceed it they fail. Yet, amazingly once they have the pass certificate in their hand it all gets forgotten about. I'm sure we've all been guilty of exceeding the speed limit on many occasions - but, we shouldn't.
I think the reference to tax is to imply the primary motivation behind some speed camera placements are clearly revenue generation rather than education/deterrent i.e. locations with low accident history/inherent danger but where motorists are most likely to unintentionally and/or temporarily exceed the limit.