Not sure if I will get a speeding ticket

DoaM

renegadefm said:

DoaM said:

The reason (IMHO) the use of satnavs was brought into the testing regime was so people could show that they are able to use proper observation and not be distracted by what a satnav tells them. By your own account you've failed the (real life) observation test by trusting your satnav rather than your eyes.

I use Google maps and it regularly gets things wrong / slightly out of place - particularly on transitions from dual to single carriageways (and vice-versa), suggesting that a 70 limit is in place when it is clear that the single carriageway has started so a 60 limit applies.

The thing is aswell, if google maps and sat navs are regularly getting things wrong, surely they are unsuitable to use in a test, and after the test. Surely its better advice to just use good old fashioned highway code. 

I wish people would remember what satnav stands for ... Satellite Navigation. Other than calculating time to the next junction, speed has nothing to do with navigation so any speed reference being made by a satnav device should be treated as spurious information and not taken as gospel. Which takes me back to my previous point - the reason satnav is included in the test is to ensure that drivers understand what it is and isn't for.

pould

The bottom line is that it is the markings on the signs on the side of the road (or the absence of them but presence or absence of other things like street lights) that sets the speed limit. A GPS / Google Maps / Waze defect is not a legal defence and is a waste of your time arguing.

When I get a new car I get two GPS units out and calibrate the speedometer. On my current vehicle the speedometer is clocked 2 MPH faster than the actual speed (so 32 MPH on the dial is 30 MPH in reality, 72 MPH is 70 MPH etc). I then simply set my cruise control to 1 MPH *below* the speed limit to make sure I don't speed (so I set to 31 MPH in a 30 MPH zone - do the maths).

It's not hard.

DoaM

I've never had a speedo measure a fixed amount higher than actual ... it's always been a percentage. (e.g. 75 for real 70, 64 for real 60 etc.)

pould

DoaM said:

I've never had a speedo measure a fixed amount higher than actual ... it's always been a percentage. (e.g. 75 for real 70, 64 for real 60 etc.)

Yup, that's been my normal experience too. This car is prob the same, just works out that way.

[Deleted User]

National Speed Limits
60mph single carriageway unless otherwise stated
70mph dual carriageway and motorway unless otherwise stated.
Sat navs introduced to the driving test but you cannot fail for going wrong way as long as you do it safely. 

Coupon-mad

70mph dual carriageway and motorway unless otherwise stated.

Yes on a motorway but not always on a dual carriageway.  Not if there are a series (three or more) of regular streetlights.  That takes the national speed limit down to 60mph for that stretch.

And commercial vans have to do 10mph less than other vehicles...even fairly small vans! 

Ahem...I knew the first one but not the second.  Got that from a speed awareness course! 

nosferatu1001

C-M - hate to correct, but the presence of a system of street lights no more than 200yard (180ish metres) apart from each other makes the road a *restricted road*, and all restricted roads have a limit of 30mph 
There are not allowed to be any other signs stating this, just the street lights. 
Commercial vans only have to do 10mph less on roads above 40mph, unless they are car derived vans

Coupon-mad

OK, let's put it a different way.  A dual carriageway is only 70mph if there is no streetlighting.

If there is, it's 60mph.

nosferatu1001

No, it is *30* if there is street lighting. It can also be 40, 50, 60 if it is signed as such.
Street lighting means a roadway is restricted, and is a 30mph limit unless told otherwise. 

Coupon-mad

The street lights and national speed limit sign tell you otherwise, on a dual carriageway.  It's 60mph.