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

StumpyPumpy

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.

What mancitychick said, and also, the OP explicitly excluded average speed cameras in the first post, which they are quite correct in saying tend to be more effective.

JUAN8888 wrote: »

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

Nearly_Old

Obukit wrote: »

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

Yes they have type approval but (I can't remember the exact wording) the offence is "exceeding the displayed (or it may be posted) speed limit". So if no limit is displayed / posted then no offence has been committed. In some areas (e.g. Scotland) they quite often have "70" signs on the entry sliproads to ensure that it can be proved that an offence has been committed.

The signs in advance of fixed cameras on ordinary roads are being updated so that there is a sign with both the camera symbol and the speed limit on one sign. When average speed cameras were first introduced there was a similar problem as the offence as written in the Statutory Instrument was "exceeding the speed limit in a lane". So you could "beat" the system by changing lanes between active cameras.

Personally from a long involvement in the industry I think that it is only a matter of time before the Statutory Instrument is changed has as been done for the average speed offence.

The new ones don't use film - all electronic.

Lum

Wig wrote: »

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.

The GPS locators are fine. You can verify the accuracy of your own by driving the stretch once and checking your mirror after you go under each gantry. If they wanted to move the cameras or camera housings around they'd have to send someone up the gantry which would mean closing the motorway, so they don't move them.

The GPS locators report all gantries with camera housings, of which only a subset actually have cameras in. No I don't know which ones on the M25 have cameras in.

Also, on the M25, every gantry that contains camera housings also has camera housings on the opposite gantry that can easily be seen on approach. Note that this is not true for the M4 HADECS installation. I'm not sure if it's true or not for the M42 as I haven't used that road for quite some time now.

spiro

The other thing is that lots of cameras are set to speed limit plus 10% plus 2mph so 70mph becomes 79mph which you have to exceed before it goes off so driving round that section of the M25 just under 80mph is unlikely to result in a ticket.