Think I just got caught speeding

robdex1

There was a mobile speed van ahead in a 30mph, I wasn't paying attention, it's a big wide road not in a built up area, I slowed down as soon as I saw it but I think it was too late, when I looked at my speedometer it was almost 40. I know they tend to have a leniency of 10% so won't set off until 33mph, my question is though if I was say doing 40 will my speed be detected as 36mph because of the leniency?

LightFlare

You will find out in 14 days.

Check your document (V5) has a serviceable address for you in the meantime

born_again

The speed that you are clocked at, is the speed you would be prosecuted for.

There is no leniency to knock it down.

New_in_the_fens

Better to get a speeding ticket, than be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention… 

chrisw

Touch and go. It's 'usually' 10% + 2, so 35mph. It all depends on the accuracy of your speedometer. If it was indicating 'nearly 40' and was over reading by 10%, you might be ok. However, most speedos are a bit more accurate than this. Although you might have managed to knock a couple of mph off before it registered your speed.

As above, it's a waiting game for 14 days. You can't do much about it now, and if anything, it's likely to be a course if you haven't been done recently.

fatbelly

If your speedo was showing 38 you were probably doing an actual 35, which is 10% plus 2.

So it's borderline

DullGreyGuy

robdex1 said:

There was a mobile speed van ahead in a 30mph, I wasn't paying attention, it's a big wide road not in a built up area, I slowed down as soon as I saw it but I think it was too late, when I looked at my speedometer it was almost 40. I know they tend to have a leniency of 10% so won't set off until 33mph, my question is though if I was say doing 40 will my speed be detected as 36mph because of the leniency?

Your speed is your speed as they measure it with their, normally, highly accurate devices. 

The law states if you are going above the speed limit you have committed an offence. 

Police guidelines suggest considering some leniency which is often 10%+2mph so they won't actually prosecute someone in a 30mph zone unless they are going above 35 mph but there is no legal requirement for this and they can prosecute you for doing 30.5mph if they want. 

So the question will potentially come down to how accurate your speedo is... most speedos run fast so your not going as fast as it shows 

DE_612183

Just be grateful you didn't hit anything - speeding and not paying attention is not a good mix

Hoenir

Mobile vans have cameras that will catch you before you see them. 

Cobbler_tone

I 'got done' once for doing 33MPH in a 30. It is the only time I have ever been caught speeding in 40 years of high mileage driving, which is some achievement in this day and age regardless of how careful a driver you are!
If you were approaching 40MPH when you clocked the van, it will have clocked you before you undoubtedly hit the anchors. I'm assuming you saw the van, checked the speedo before slowing down? If you slowed down before you checked the speedo even higher. Either way, if you have seen them they have already seen you.
Do the course, avoid the points and concentrate a little more going forwards. 

The ever changing limits in some areas/roads make it very difficult to establish what the actual limit is. Sat nav does often not help matters!

Keep_pedalling

If you were speeding they would have clocked you up to 1km away long before you actually notice and started to slow down. Expect a NIP before 14 days are up.