Speed Camera checking.

VickLad

Just wondered if anyone has any suggestion on this.  Driving into town this morning a fixed speed camera flashed me from some distance away.  It flashed again as I went past to I assume get a clear picture of the driver. 

Its a 30mph limit and my dashcam footage says I was doing 43-44kph (27mph) as a maximum along that stretch of road within view of the camera.  Does anyone know if the production of a ticket if automatic or is there any 'human' checking done?  

CliveOfIndia

The S172 (NIP) will be generated automatically.  You are then given the option of nominating someone else as the driver (only do this if it's genuinely the case!), accepting a FPN (assuming your speed was within the range where a FPN is an option) or else attending court to argue your case.  The latter option is not really recommended unless you've got some pretty solid evidence to support your claim.

But if you're sure you were doing under the limit, and it was an older-style camera, it may not have been you that triggered it.  The 2 flashes are usually very close together (about half a second, something like that).  I know there are lots of different types of cameras these days, some of which don't flash at all, but with the older Gatsos it was 2 flashes in very quick succession.

TooManyPoints

It flashed again as I went past to I assume get a clear picture of the driver. 

he cameras do no take a picture of he driver. heir funcion is o identify tthe vehicle and in many cases, especially where he phoograph is aken from he rear, it is impossi

Car_54

VickLad said:

Just wondered if anyone has any suggestion on this.  Driving into town this morning a fixed speed camera flashed me from some distance away.  It flashed again as I went past to I assume get a clear picture of the driver. 

If I've understood you, it flashed on approach (i.e. facing you) and than again as you went past. Did it swivel, or have I got that wrong?

BTW Speed cameras are designed to identify the vehicle, not the driver.. The latter is the responsibility of whoever is on record as the registered keeper.

VickLad

Thanks, the first flash was from the orange circular thing about 85m away, then the second more or less as I passed the camera.  I can only assume that I might have peaked 30+mph momentarily as I changed up and the Viofo GPS is not quick enough to respond to such minor changes.  I'll have to wait and see what comes through.  Will be a bit miffed, first driving offence in 46 years of driving.

TooManyPoints

It flashed again as I went past to I assume get a clear picture of the driver. 

The cameras do not take a picture of the driver. Their function is to identify the vehicle and in most cases, especially where he photograph is taken from the rear, it is impossible to identify the driver from the images.

Providing the driver’s details is the job of the “person keeping the vehicle”.

In common with every mechanical device, the speed measurement system is assumed to be working correctly unless the contrary is proved. The job of proving it falls to the person who alleges it is not working correctly (in your example that would be you). 

Whilst your dashcam footage may be persuasive, it is unlikely by itself to provide that proof to the court’s satisfaction.

VickLad

Thanks, appears to be a fair cop - deal with it and move on wouldn't dream of trying to contest on the basis it wasn't me.  If it comes back at more than a couple of MPH above the 30 limit I'd be highly surprised.  I've always thought my speedo reads high, doing around 27-28 when reading 30. I've never had a local traffic speed indicator tell me I'm doing 30 when I'm doing 30 but I wouldn't  assume their accuracy to any great extent.   

Car_54

VickLad said:

 If it comes back at more than a couple of MPH above the 30 limit I'd be highly surprised.  

No action will be taken unless the measured speed is at least 35.

CliveOfIndia

VickLad said:

I've always thought my speedo reads high, doing around 27-28 when reading 30.

Speedos always read high, to a greater of lesser extent.  Since it would be prohibitively expensive to make them all precisely accurate (as official speed-detection equipment needs to be), they do have a built-in "safety margin", as it were.  Some cars can over-read by quite a lot, some by not much.  Most cars will over-read by a different margin at different speeds.

But yes, they all over-read.  The idea being that as long as your indicated speed is 30 or less in a 30mph zone, you can be confident that you're not breaking the limit.

As a slight aside, if you're caught doing, say, 85mph on the motorway, the argument would be "well you were actually doing 85, your speedo must have showing roughly 90mph, so you've got no excuse".

VickLad said:

If it comes back at more than a couple of MPH above the 30 limit I'd be highly surprised.

As mentioned by the previous poster, you'd be extremely unlucky to get a ticket for less than 35mph.  Yes, strictly speaking anything over 30 is illegal.  But the nationally-accepted guidelines advise that no action is taken unless you're breaking the limit by more than 10% + 2mph - so 35 in a 30.

VickLad said:

Will be a bit miffed, first driving offence in 46 years of driving.

As already stated, it's exceedingly unlikely that you'll get a ticket.  But even if you did, and even if you don't get the option of a speed awareness course, a single SP30 penalty on an otherwise clean licence will have a tiny effect.  Some insurers will increase your premium by a very small amount, some won't even increase it at all.  Yes, you'd have the £100 fine which is a bit of a pain, but in the grand scheme of things the overall impact is negligible.

TooManyPoints

But the nationally-accepted guidelines advise that no action is taken unless you're breaking the limit by more than 10% + 2mph or more- so 35 in a 30.

FTFY. Hope you don't mind!   

Okell

VickLad said:

Thanks, the first flash was from the orange circular thing about 85m away, then the second more or less as I passed the camera.  I can only assume that I might have peaked 30+mph momentarily as I changed up and the Viofo GPS is not quick enough to respond to such minor changes..

Do you mean a Truvelo camera rather than a Gatso?  (ie one of these - Truvelo D-Cam Speed Cameras Explained and How They Work )

I doubt any knid of fixed speed camera (especially a Truvelo) would photograph you at a range of 85m.  I'd have said its operable range was no more than about 40m - if that.  (I got caught by one last year.)  Are you sure the first flash wasn't for a vehicle in front of you?

If the second flash was as you were level with the camera it was probably catching the car behind you.

Incidentally, I'd suggest it's foolish to rely on any GPS to observe speed limits