Motorway variable speed limit speeding fine, inadequate signage

fwor

Robin9 said:

Surely this is unsafe .    Should you not be switching cruise control off when you see the sign (which is probably visible a mile away)

It's not really any more unsafe to use cruise control than to control your speed with your foot. On my car's cruise control all it needs is two presses on a steering wheel button to drop the set speed from 70 to 50MPH. 

Though in fairness I doubt that it would have been quite soon enough if that had been done at the position shown in the OP's second photo - it looks likely that some braking would have been needed at that point.

Isthisforreal99

prowla said:

avinashvv said:

I was driving on cruise control and usually the car adjusts to speeds automatically after it passes the first sign. I was trusting this was ok as i got atleast one warning on my previous experiance. 

Car_54 said:

No "prior warning" is needed. Throughout the country, there are countless examples of a transition from NSL (60) to 30 with no such warning.

You say "The car in front of me suddenly breaked near the gantry and this forced me to change lanes for safety," Couldn't you have braked too? Were you driving too close to do so safely?

I didnt break hardly partly due to this and there was another car behind me I previously overtook.

Keep_pedalling said:

Looks like you had plenty of time to slow down. Also the cameras don’t become active immediately the speed limit appears on the gantry, there is always a delay so people who are actually paying attention are not caught out.

Sorry I think you are bang to rights on this one.

Yes, this limit was active 6 minutes ago, I know my defence is not based on this but about prior warning.

I would never trust the car to read or interpret speed limits correctly.

This.

My car occasionaly reads 30mph signs as 80mph and speaking to friends/neighbours I'm not alone.

I somehow don't think 'my car did it' would be a great defence.

Exodi

fwor said:

Robin9 said:

Surely this is unsafe .    Should you not be switching cruise control off when you see the sign (which is probably visible a mile away)

It's not really any more unsafe to use cruise control than to control your speed with your foot. On my car's cruise control all it needs is two presses on a steering wheel button to drop the set speed from 70 to 50MPH. 

Though in fairness I doubt that it would have been quite soon enough if that had been done at the position shown in the OP's second photo - it looks likely that some braking would have been needed at that point.

No 'in fairness' about it, the car would have slowed down even with the Adaptive Cruise Control on because the car in front slowed down. The only reason it didn't was because the OP made the decision to change lanes to prevent their car slowing down (though they characterize it that the car in front slammed on their brakes, and OP changed lanes for their own safety).

The OP reminds me of myself initially after I'd been court speeding, it's clear he still considers himself the victim or that the events were out of his control. I strongly suspect in a month or two, they might interpret the situation differently.

Fortunately they've got the message to not try their luck at court, I suspect they would have been in for a rude awakening.

prowla

Isthisforreal99 said:

prowla said:

avinashvv said:

I was driving on cruise control and usually the car adjusts to speeds automatically after it passes the first sign. I was trusting this was ok as i got atleast one warning on my previous experiance. 

Car_54 said:

No "prior warning" is needed. Throughout the country, there are countless examples of a transition from NSL (60) to 30 with no such warning.

You say "The car in front of me suddenly breaked near the gantry and this forced me to change lanes for safety," Couldn't you have braked too? Were you driving too close to do so safely?

I didnt break hardly partly due to this and there was another car behind me I previously overtook.

Keep_pedalling said:

Looks like you had plenty of time to slow down. Also the cameras don’t become active immediately the speed limit appears on the gantry, there is always a delay so people who are actually paying attention are not caught out.

Sorry I think you are bang to rights on this one.

Yes, this limit was active 6 minutes ago, I know my defence is not based on this but about prior warning.

I would never trust the car to read or interpret speed limits correctly.

This.

My car occasionaly reads 30mph signs as 80mph and speaking to friends/neighbours I'm not alone.

I somehow don't think 'my car did it' would be a great defence.

Here's a dashboard image of mine saying 100mph on a residential road.

It's not just a mis-read (it was an ordinary road with street lights and no signs, ie. 30 mph), but afaik there are no roads in the UK with a 100mph limit anyway.

My other (new) car doesn't appear to be able to read "(20)" signs painted on the road surface.

MattMattMattUK

The speed limit notification in my car (Model Y) seems accurate, I have not yet noticed it being wrong. It uses GPS roads and limits on Google Maps unless there are signs which it reads and amends. It seems to pick up the variable signs on motorways well ahead of needing to slow down, 100+ meters on the M25.

Mildly_Miffed

MattMattMattUK said:

The speed limit notification in my car (Model Y) seems accurate, I have not yet noticed it being wrong. It uses GPS roads and limits on Google Maps unless there are signs which it reads and amends. It seems to pick up the variable signs on motorways well ahead of needing to slow down, 100+ meters on the M25.

Still 200m or more after an attentive driver should have, though.

user1977

prowla said:

Isthisforreal99 said:

prowla said:

avinashvv said:

I was driving on cruise control and usually the car adjusts to speeds automatically after it passes the first sign. I was trusting this was ok as i got atleast one warning on my previous experiance. 

Car_54 said:

No "prior warning" is needed. Throughout the country, there are countless examples of a transition from NSL (60) to 30 with no such warning.

You say "The car in front of me suddenly breaked near the gantry and this forced me to change lanes for safety," Couldn't you have braked too? Were you driving too close to do so safely?

I didnt break hardly partly due to this and there was another car behind me I previously overtook.

Keep_pedalling said:

Looks like you had plenty of time to slow down. Also the cameras don’t become active immediately the speed limit appears on the gantry, there is always a delay so people who are actually paying attention are not caught out.

Sorry I think you are bang to rights on this one.

Yes, this limit was active 6 minutes ago, I know my defence is not based on this but about prior warning.

I would never trust the car to read or interpret speed limits correctly.

This.

My car occasionaly reads 30mph signs as 80mph and speaking to friends/neighbours I'm not alone.

I somehow don't think 'my car did it' would be a great defence.

My other (new) car doesn't appear to be able to read "(20)" signs painted on the road surface.

Are any cars meant to? Surely there are normal 20 signs too for them to read?

MattMattMattUK

Mildly_Miffed said:

MattMattMattUK said:

The speed limit notification in my car (Model Y) seems accurate, I have not yet noticed it being wrong. It uses GPS roads and limits on Google Maps unless there are signs which it reads and amends. It seems to pick up the variable signs on motorways well ahead of needing to slow down, 100+ meters on the M25.

Still 200m or more after an attentive driver should have, though.

I very much doubt that most people can read a speed sign on an overhead gantry at 300 meters, that would be well over the DVLA vision requirements. 

As an example at 300 meters the sign would need to be 475mm higher to be readable with 20/20 vision, the acuity level for drivers from the DVLA is 6/12 that would mean the letters would need to be 875mm high, the height of the numerals on a variable speed sign on a motorway are 600mm high. Based on the legally required visual acuity that would mean that they should be readable at around 160-200 meters, however it is estimated that at least a third of people driving are below the required standard. 

Frozen_up_north

Isthisforreal99 said:

My car occasionaly reads 30mph signs as 80mph and speaking to friends/neighbours I'm not alone.

My Seat Leon is incredibly clever at reading road signs, it even knows the local farmer uses a John Deere tractor as it shows a deer sign when passing the farm sign 

Like I guess most others, it can pick up the 20mph signs on side roads when in a 30 limit and display 20 followed by beeping at me for "speeding". It sometimes misses reading overhead gantry signs on motorways, and can easily miss speed limit signs where a lorry or a bus obscures it.

As many others have said, don't rely on these gadgets as they are not foolproof.

victor2

It's a bit like using SatNav. Common sense has to prevail, but doesn't always.