speed camera detectors

choppy-c

Ok its war - I obviously have broken the law & I know the true answer but following 2nd ticket (60mph changed to 30mph on dual carriage & i missed it, the signs had been nicked on 1 occaision !) I am considering buying 1 of these (I dont have a sat nav) I need my license to work .

Do they work all the time or mostly ?
Which is best/any reccommendations ?

Not wishing to infuriate anyone I do generally keep to 30 - crawl past schools & am considerate to animals /Oaps & most others !

Meepster

I think the best way to avoid getting speeding tickets is not to speed. There is a much greater chance of getting a speeding ticket if you speed, than if you don't speed. If I'm unsure of the speed limit on a road, I do 30mph, until I see a sign that tells me otherwise, always seems to work for me and no expensive gadgets needed...

globalds

choppy-c wrote: »

Ok its war - I obviously have broken the law & I know the true answer but following 2nd ticket (60mph changed to 30mph on dual carriage & i missed it, the signs had been nicked on 1 occaision !) I am considering buying 1 of these (I dont have a sat nav) I need my license to work .

Do they work all the time or mostly ?
Which is best/any reccommendations ?

Not wishing to infuriate anyone I do generally keep to 30 - crawl past schools & am considerate to animals /Oaps & most others !

They do work , but you have to make sure you update regularly.

With Tom Tom it means connecting your device to your computer using Tom tom home and getting the updates for the speed cameras.

This will flag up the fixed and mobile cameras.

It works well once you have fine tuned things like distance settings for notifications and chose your display settings ..Notify when over speed limit etc.

Driving for long periods is hard work and it is easy to drop your guard and realise the speed limit has dropped along a stretch of road or mistake one type of road for another.

I don't really think it is practical to drop to 30 every time you are unsure of a roads speed ...Better to be forewarned.

The main thing is to get the updates as the mobile cameras change all the time ..What will show is the locations for that month ..So you will get lots more mobile camera locations than there is cameras ..As they only have to be there for one day to be listed.

Meepster

globalds wrote: »

I don't really think it is practical to drop to 30 every time you are unsure of a roads speed ...Better to be forewarned.

Oh, I can only think of a couple of times where I've dropped to 30 to make sure I'm not speeding. I tend to look at the signs at the side of the road that tell me what speed I can legally do.

My point was the OP shouldn't be speeding AT ALL, or at least, if they do want to speed, then be prepared to "take it like a man" when they get caught...

thescouselander

mwilletts wrote: »

I think the best way to avoid getting speeding tickets is not to speed. There is a much greater chance of getting a speeding ticket if you speed, than if you don't speed. If I'm unsure of the speed limit on a road, I do 30mph, until I see a sign that tells me otherwise, always seems to work for me and no expensive gadgets needed...

Really? No !!!! sherlock. The problem is that councils have gone so over the top with changing speed limits its easy to mess up. Our local ring road has a different speed limit on every section - sometimes its 50 and sometimes its 70 but there seems to be no logic as to why the speed limit changes - it used to be all 70 mph but they changed some parts to 50 for apparently no reason.

The local chavs (or is it the police?) often move the speed limit signs so they cant be seen - I'm not surprised people get caught out.

choppy-c

Thanks - do all work on the sat nav or is there a system that detects the radar element as you approach ?

As a general point - I did state i appreciate that the best way is not to speed at all, I obey the law & I accept resposibility for all my actions.

I had a clean license up till recently - However it has become a matter of self preservation - the tolerance is 0, guilty till proved innocent etc etc . I now regard the general proliferation of these things as another revenue stream rather than bonefide safety devices.

The way people drive past - slamming on brakes then flooring it; 30mph in a 60mph in the fast lane when nearside is clear "just in case" (Saw this today ~~ from a safe distance behind)defies intellegence & the ability to think for one's self.

(Thats not intended as a retort to any previous poster by the way)

MX5huggy

The use (but not the ownership) or radar/ laser detectors is illegal as far as I remember.
And they don't work.
Get a GPS system you can either go for a normal one or road angel that is just for speed not directions.

Have a look at http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Cameras&referer=SideBar for a data base of camera locations.

vikingaero

You can get systems like the Road Angel Professional Connected which require a subscription and you receive updates via a built in SIM card. Snooper also sell various versions: http://www.snooperuk.com/index.html

There are also really simple solutions such as the Inforad sold in Halfords: http://www.gpsinforad.co.uk/

Its very easy for someone who does not drive professionally to carp on about speeding. I defy the amateur keyboard warriors to drive along the North/South Circular in rush hour and work out the varying speed limits on different stretches when you need to keep an eye out on vehicles in front, HGV's obscuring speed limit signs and watching out for people who cut you up.

Or the other way

choppy-c

Ok great - 1 thing i still dont understand - are all theabove based on gps with updates on camera locations ? Or do they actually sense the camera's "sonar" (Sorry) as you approach.

Cheers

vikingaero

GPS systems store the coordinates of the camera. You won't know whether a camera location has a live camera in it or not. I find them particularly useful on the M25 around Heathrow where every gantry seems to have a speed camera sign but only a few have cameras.

They don't sense the cameras "sonar" or radar or laser beam as some speed cameras use embedded wires.

daveyjp

Anything which detects radar etc is illegal. All the legal systems use GPS to map the cameras then flag them up as you approach.

A course of advanced driving will be well worth a small amount of cash and your time. For one thing it teaches you that whilst driving you concentrate on driving - with cameras about that is more importnant now than ever, but unfortunately distractions have also increased and you can't do four or five things at once whilst beihnd a wheel as you will get caught.