M25 Junctions 10-15

bizzybee

This may not be of interest to everyone but I have today heard from a reliable source the following:


As and from the 15th February 2008 all the speed cameras in the variable speed limit section of the M25 near Heathrow Airport (Jct 10-15) are going digital and the activation limit is being lowered.

They are currently the older film type cameras and set at 90mph when the variable limit signs are not in operation.

The new digital cameras are going to be set at the normal 10% of the speed limit + 2mph (80mph + and your taking a risk basically) when the signs are not in use i.e. national speed limit. I can’t confirm the activation limit when the signs are set (variable limits showing) but believe it would be the same 10% + 2mph of the speed shown by the sign at that time.

I hope this saves a few of you getting points on your licence!!!

Keith

bizzybee wrote: »

They are currently the older film type cameras and set at 90mph when the variable limit signs are not in operation.

No they do not The Camera's only activate when the variable speed limit is active.

Mat_Lock

Keith wrote: »

No they do not The Camera's only activate when the variable speed limit is active.

I have seen them go off when the variable speed limit is not on.

Markyt

I've seen this email a few times, with different dates / motorways. Nobody can ever confirm it.

michaels

Mat_Lock wrote: »

I have seen them go off when the variable speed limit is not on.

Me too - not very often but I make sure I am doing 80 on the speedo (probably about 74 in reality) when I pass under the gantrys Uses much more fuel of course with the accelerating and braking plus of course confusing for the other drivers but then we live in a country where it is the letter of the law rather than common sense that prevails.

moonrakerz

Markyt wrote: »

I've seen this email a few times, with different dates / motorways. Nobody can ever confirm it.

There are always lots of these things doing the rounds - most of them are not correct.
About 5 years ago there was a spate of e-mails about the cameras mounted on the new gantries down the M4 - they would monitor your average speed from the M25 to Swindon etc, etc.
Eventually Thames Valley Police put out a press release, they weren't speed cameras; they were cameras looking at the other gantry signs to see if the message displayed was correct.

Keith

From Autoexpress last September

Speed cameras on Britain’s busiest motorway are about to go digital.

The M25 is currently controlled by wet-film Gatsos. But there are now plans to replace these with the latest electronic kit, according to a source at the Highways Agency. As a result, thousands more speeding motorists could face fines.

Our insider claims the cost and time required to maintain the traditional traps – which can catch only 400 motorists before the film has to be changed – leads to many housings regularly being left dormant.

But the source said that the new Highways Agency Digital Enforce­ment Camera Systems (HADECS), already being trialled on the M42, has no such restriction. “Many cameras on the M25 aren’t ‘live’, so speeding drivers are not being caught. But that will change when this new system comes in,” he said. “It automatically enforces variable speed limits – the kit takes the picture, and sends it straight to police for ticketing,” he said.

A Highways Agency spokeswoman denied the claims, saying: “There are no immediate plans to introduce these digital systems on the M25.” However, she admitted that the agency was about to release the results of its recent consultation into the Active Traffic Management trials on the M42 –which include the HADECS pilot.