Why do so many people speed on motorways when there are camera alerts everywhere?

JUAN8888

I was driving halfway round the M25 yesterday and I noticed that almost all the gantrys have the speed camera signage and the lanes have the white markings after each one.

I was trying to keep my speed around 70mph but even in the left hand/middle lanes I had people tailgating and in the overtaking lane the cars were going by way over 70mph.

I don't use the motorways often so I was curious why so many people seem to ignore the cameras. Are the signs just there for deterrence, do they actually have operational cameras?

(I'm not talking about the 50mph average speed camera section going through the road works, which people seemed to observe)

Wig

They are either very clever that they know and can remember exactly which gantries actually have cameras on them, or they are very stupid.

Or they have a camera GPS locator which they trust implicitly to be 100% accurate and they therefore know there is no camera on that gantry.

dacouch

The cameras have the speed limits set much higher than you expect

Nearly_Old

The current legislation (Statuory Instrument) under which the speed cameras operate only authorises them for use when the gantries show a reduced variable speed limit. The cameras are active all the time but, at present, can only be used to enforce a temporary limit and not the national 70 limit as when there is no reduced limit the signs are blank. Will be interesting to see what happens if they change the legislation with the minimum of publicity.

MX5huggy

To the best of my knowledge the gantry cams only work when the variable speed limit is in force.

Plus, and it's been done to death on here, you speedo saying 70 will mean you are doing at a guess 65 or so.

StumpyPumpy

Much of the traffic on the M25 is regular. More so if you travelled during the commute. I drove on it almost every week day for 12 years and you get to know which gantries have cameras on and which don't: many don't. Also some of the ones that do, only function when the variable speed limit is in action. And, of course, if the car in front of you is doing 80mph and the cameras don't go off, you can be reasonably sure that they won't go off for you either if you are keeping pace. (YMMV)

SP

ETA for what it is worth, my car (a Honda S2000) has had its speedo verified on the track and 50mph in car was 49.4mph on the gun.

jase1

What constitutes "way over 70"?

If there are very many vehicles all doing that speed, it may be lower than you think.

You also make a distinction between the "middle" and "overtaking" lanes. Why is that?

George_Michael

Or they have a camera GPS locator which they trust implicitly to be 100% accurate and they therefore know there is no camera on that gantry.

Or they have a radar detector which will pick up a camera on a motorway from about 150-200 metres away, and are perfectly legal to own and use in the UK.

TrickyWicky

StumpyPumpy wrote: »

And, of course, if the car in front of you is doing 80mph and the cameras don't go off, you can be reasonably sure that they won't go off for you either if you are keeping pace.

Yeah but the average speed check cameras don't "go off" as you put it. They calculate your speed and send a ticket via the post. There is no warning "you've been had" flash like a gatso. I don't understand your logic of knowing if its gone off or not.

mancitychick

TrickyWicky wrote: »

Yeah but the average speed check cameras don't "go off" as you put it. They calculate your speed and send a ticket via the post. There is no warning "you've been had" flash like a gatso. I don't understand your logic of knowing if its gone off or not.

The cameras on the m25 are not average speed ones, they are gatso.

Obukit

Nearly_Old wrote: »

The current legislation (Statuory Instrument) under which the speed cameras operate only authorises them for use when the gantries show a reduced variable speed limit. The cameras are active all the time but, at present, can only be used to enforce a temporary limit and not the national 70 limit as when there is no reduced limit the signs are blank. Will be interesting to see what happens if they change the legislation with the minimum of publicity.

Type approval was changed on 26th June 2008 to allow enforcement of NSL. Whether they are using them or not is another matter but there is no "film" so I wouldn't bet my licence on it.

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/police/road-traffic-documents/approved-speed-meters/hadecs?view=Binary