Handheld Speed Camera Advice Please!

helen_dui

I would like a bit of advice on handheld police speed cameras if anyone out there can enlighten me.

Just returning ironically from getting my MOT done I was driving back home on a motorway that then becomes an A road and the speed reduces to 50mph. A few hundred yards on the speed then reduces to 40mph. Not one for rushing about I had just passed the 40mph signs and had eased off from the 50mph I had been doing to slow down to 40mph when I noticed ahead of my a couple of policemen with what looked to be a laser gun or similar by the side of the road. I can only assume they were waiting to trap some people speeding down there, but now I have got myself into a panic thinking "had I got down to 40mph by the time I would have encountered them?"

They were clearly there to trap people who ignored the now 40mph restrictions which is fair enough, but what happens when you are slowing down to fall in with the new limit and you pass them? My other half in the car at the time said he reckoned I was fine, but the more I think of it the more concerned I get. I was definitely below 50mph anyway as I was already slowing when I first saw them, and when I actually passed them I was at 40mph, but how far ahead do they point their gun to get you?

To be honest I don't think they were positioned to see very far down the road as a slip road joining my section sort of blocks the view from where they were for a bit, but I am just all in a flap now. I am a relatively new driver of just 18 months and always fall in line with speed limits as I am pretty careful, so I would feel really hard done by to be caught on this occasion.

My main question is, if the police do zap you, do you get stopped or is it a letter etc in the post like a normal permanent speed camera? And do they usually trap anyone even if they are just going a bit over or do they tend to wait for people haring along miles over the limit?

Can anyone wise out there give me any insight?

Thanks

Molanole

Hi there

I'm not an expert by any means but I was zapped by a mobile camera. It was a similar scenario where the speed limit changes from 40 to 30 but I was stupid and doing 46mph - yes, I know I was irresponsible, I have truly learned the error of my ways and now go everywhere slowly. They didn't stop me but pretty soon afterwards I had the letter in the post informing me of the 3 points and the fine.

I think (but again, I'm no expert so someone will probably come and say I'm talking rubbish) that it depends on how much over the limit you actually were. You may well have been doing over 40 but if it's only by a few mph it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Do you have any points on your licence already? Whenever I get quotes most of them say that having 3 points doesn't affect your premium too badly but having 6 points will.

It also depends on where you where when you were zapped. *Alledgedly* Avon and Somerset and also Kent police are pretty harsh but I wouldn't know about other authority.

Either way, if the letter's on its way there's not a lot you can do, so try not to worry for a couple of weeks and let us know how you get on!

hjb123

When I did my Advanced Driving test a couple of years ago I was told that you should already be at the new speed limit when you pass the sign - so if the sign says 40 you should have already got to 40 when passing the sign. You shouldnt start speeding up again until you get past the sign informing you of the change in speed limit!

Little_John

It depends.
Sometimes they will have police bikes down the road to stop you if your caught but these are usually on the more organised speed traps.
or
the registered owner/keeper will just receive the NIP in the post within about 2 weeks as with normall speed traps.

I wouldnt worry about it, ALL speedos read more than the actual speed and the difference can be quite a lot. If you want to know how much, find someone with a GPS (Tom Tom or Garmin ect) it will give you a speed reading that is more acurate get up to 50 on your car speedo and see what the gps says your going at if when your car says 50 and the gps reads 44-46 then if your going 50 or lower you should get away with it. it all depends how strict the police were being you can usually get away with 10% over the speed limit

helen_dui

Thanks everyone.

No I don't have any points on my licence already, and I hope I still don't know!

I know there isn't much I can do if I have been zapped and I suppose I should just try not to fret - but I am an awful worrier!

PS - It was in Manchester - just on the Princess Parkway A5103 after the M56 ends travelling towards the city.

Will let you all know what happenes in a few weeks or sooner if the worst happens!

Cheers

hjb123

If you have been caught they have 14 days to send you the notice - so if you havent received anything with 2 weeks you are in the clear!

MarkyMarkD

Little_John wrote:

It depends.
Sometimes they will have police bikes down the road to stop you if your caught but these are usually on the more organised speed traps.
or
the registered owner/keeper will just receive the NIP in the post within about 2 weeks as with normall speed traps.

The bikes are NOT there for speed traps - there's no point in them stopping people for speeding. They just send you a NIP as you point out.

The "organised" stops are number plate recognition arrangements, where the police check all number plates going past them and stop anyone who is uninsured/untaxed/unregistered as well as known criminals etc. The bikes are there in case the car tries to escape!

tomstickland

Firstly, car speedos overread, so 46 indicated will be 40 true, for example. So you have a fair chance of being OK.
Secondly, if you have been caught, it will be £90 and 3 points, so not a big deal.

tonys_3

I wouldn't worry about it Helen. They would normally pull you off the road
and advise you of your speed. If they ignored you, you were under the limit.
If you see police aiming laser guns etc at you in future -brake-don't just carry on slowing down naturally. They can only charge you for the speed that they registered so even if you were speeding before and they see your car front dip under braking there is nothing they can do if you can get your speed down. Then look at your speedo. Remember your speed in case they send you a NIP since the hand held cameras are notoriously unreliable.

tomstickland

Good advice - I was caught on the mway (blatantly speeding), but was a victim of my desire to "not look too obvious" when braking. I should have stood on the brakes.

Cumbrian_Male

hjb123 wrote:

If you have been caught they have 14 days to send you the notice - so if you havent received anything with 2 weeks you are in the clear!

Correction

They have 14 days to serve notice of intended prosecution (NIP) on "The Registered Keeper" who may not have been the driver.

Speeding is an absolute offence so 1 mph over can be prosecuted, however prosecution usually begins at 10% + 2mph or 46 mph in this case.

Also if the device wasn't tripod mounted then the "guidelines" are 400 metres maximum distance but its only a guideline.