All you fellow drivers, please be aware of some new cameras - fixed & mobile - that have been installed on the M4 last week between Bristol J 19 & Hungerford J 13-14. A colleague of mine got flashed on Friday, he reckons his car speedo was only showing 80mph when he got clocked, so it might be wise to keep your speed to a registered 75mph, as most car speedos read faster than you're actually going. They're using the white mobile cash generators on the over head bridges, so watch out for the increase in sudden braking that's bound to occur!
Speed Cameras
- Thread starter Mike_5041089
- Start date
There has been a lot of information in the press and on TV about the new speed camera vans operating on the M4 in the Swindon area. These vans have been on overhead bridges on the M4 in south Wales for a few years - generally between junction 33 (Cardiff West) and junction 41 (Port Talbot). Also on the flyover at Port Talbot there are fixed cameras in both directions on the motorway. Be carefull in south Wales on the M4.
I heard about them on the radio news, and apparently they are talking about zero tolerance, so beware of your speed.
Now, don't get me wrong here! I hate these money meters as much as the next guy, but fair do's here! "His car speedo was only showing 80" !!
And he wondered why he got flashed?
Contrary to popular misconception, there is no 10% allowance, and there is no leeway.
If you speed, expect to get caught!
And he wondered why he got flashed?
Contrary to popular misconception, there is no 10% allowance, and there is no leeway.
If you speed, expect to get caught!
I agree with your sentiments but it is so easy nowadays to creep over the limit without realising it although when driving I know one should be aware of all situations at all times including excess speed.
no 10% leeway, are you sure? i've always been led to believe that as your speedo on your car only has to be within 10% for your mot, then thats the allowance, plus 2mph given by the police and such like.ie to be 'flashed' in a 40 limit, you need to be travelling in excess of 46mph (40+10%+2). maybe we could have a definitive answer?
So the speedo is part of the MOT now is it? that's interesting, it wasn't when I retired, having been an MOT tester since the 'Ten Year Test',as it was then known, began. However, I think it is a legal requirement to have a speedo accurate to within 10%, this will make Zero tolerance difficult, I was told by a Traffic Cop, some years ago, that the allowance they used was 10%+ 2MPH.
There are guidelines which recommend +10% +2. The speedo is required to be accurate within 10% at 30mph only. Modern cars with sophisticated fuel injection etc. have very accurate speedos otherwise the on board computers would be useless. Trucks are required to have the tacho/speedo calibrated and sealed and are VERY accurate. Most trucks on the level on a motorway will be doing 56mph their speed limiter restricting them to this so drop in behind and check yours! If you can't see their mirrors......
PS the M4 cameras are moveable and not in the same place all the time. Wait until they put SPECS on all motorways..it will come believe me.
- Mar 14, 2005
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In my locality (Walsall Metropolitan Borough) the authority is doing its utmost to generate traffic congestion, by dropping speed limits, and swamping its area with 20 mph zones with suspension destrying speed humps. I believe that soon there will be no main road with a speed limit above 40mph! and many reduced to 30 mph. On top of this the signage is often confusing or missing so you have to check almost daily to see where they moved the signs. This is one debate about how apropriate a particular speed limit is, but providing it is set and signed legally then no driver should beef if they get caught for speeding. Plain and simple they are breaking the law and should be prepared to accept the consequences.
A word of warning to all who value thier driving licence, Walsall's limits are now so slow you'l almost be fined for stopping!
A word of warning to all who value thier driving licence, Walsall's limits are now so slow you'l almost be fined for stopping!
Yes: I'm sure!!
Machines don't give leeways!! Old fashioned friendly coppers did, but that's all long gone.
The blood machines are set to flash if you are travelling at more than the legal limit for that particular road. When did you ever expect mercy from a Dalek!
Get real! These horrible machines are there to collect money. Plain and simple.
Machines don't give leeways!! Old fashioned friendly coppers did, but that's all long gone.
The blood machines are set to flash if you are travelling at more than the legal limit for that particular road. When did you ever expect mercy from a Dalek!
Get real! These horrible machines are there to collect money. Plain and simple.
There is of course a very simple solution ............. dont exceed the speed limit BUT ........ if you do then dont whinge and whine if you get ticket/fine/points on licence.
Tucson, Your comments do not apply in Dorset. The camera partnership sent a *** accusing a BT van driver of doing 51 mph in a 30 limit. After a bit of fuss he obtained the photo and the lines on the road showed he was only doing 13mph. The partnership explained that this was a very rare phenomena of reflected radar. This was a red herring of course, as they didn't explain why they were not carrying out the manual check required on every photo and if the driver hadn't appealed they would have presumably been quite happy for an innocent person to be convicted.
Dorset Camera Partnership have announced that they are lowering the threshold limits on all fixed and mobile cameras to a 'secret' level which must be below the ACPO recommendation of 10% + 2mph. Make no mistake about it there is big money at stake, and with the number of fixed cameras and mobile speed traps, coupled with ever decreasing speed limits and targeted enforcement they will get everybody at some time.
I take your point Rayc but I am sure you (and many other readers of this forum) will agree that there are a great many people who regulary exceed a given speed limit yet moan and whine when caught.
I have no sympathy whatsoever for those people but do accept that the system is not always being correctly or fairly applied and I am fully aware of ACPO and its guidlines but sadly they are just that ....... guidlines. When speed enforcement/detection/prevention etc etc is being carried out by the Highways Agency or Local Authorities I dont think they take a great deal of notice of ACPO.
Perhaps it might be useful to remember that the kinetic energy involved in a moving car is related to the speed squared. This means that increasing speed from 70mph to 80mph involves an increase in energy of around 30%. At 85 mph your energy has increased by nearly 50%. Speed limits are there for a reason - to stop people getting killed. Stop moaning about taking a few minutes longer to make your journey and think about the implications if you should be unlucky enough to have an accident. Jon
I like these law abiding people that say don't speed. Show me someone who hasn't done more than 70mph on the motorway either by design or by accident and I'll show you someone who is probably riding a pushbike in the slow lane!
jon ,a good point well made, however since the speed limits were set cars have changed. Things such as crumple zones,side door beams,steel roll cages ,seatbelts and fuel shut offs are all standard features as well as ABS, EBD, ESP, brake assist,airbags.Changes in tyre technology and even the materials used to make the road have greatly reduced breaking distances meaning that our motorway speed limits are now out off date.
Damian
Moderator
- Mar 14, 2005
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The crux of the matter is simple, Speed, or Safety as they prefer to call them, Cameras are here to stay, in increasing numbers, as are mobile units. We all KNOW we should not speed, but the majority of people DO, even if only by a few mph. With the greater accuracy of todays cars speedos, there is no "give and take", and cameras do not have the ability to "allow" more than is pre set into it. Therefore, if you exceed the stipulated speed limit and get caught doing so, you have no one else to blame but yourself. Arguments about being "distracted" from the road and "not noticing "limit signs are without doubt the most ridiculous excuses going. If you have something better to do when driving than to have your WHOLE attention on the job of steering your potential killing machine, then for goodness sake,STOP and attend to whatever it is.
It has been estimated that over the next ten years , 2 out of 3 drivers will lose their licences for being caught doing excessive speed, which on the 3 point per catch scale, means more than 3 times.
It has been estimated that over the next ten years , 2 out of 3 drivers will lose their licences for being caught doing excessive speed, which on the 3 point per catch scale, means more than 3 times.
I think we all agree camera's are a good thing if used in the right places, and not, as money making gizmo's. I also agree with LOL and Brian's comments and have uttered the same things myself. I would also like to point out another SAFETY issue that was forced upon drivers of HGV and it has had the opposite effect,and that is the limiter now fitted by law. When one vehicle tries to overtake another we all see the problems that entails, and two lanes become go-slow area's and other road users darting for spaces in the outside lane with the resulting road rage tactics often the norm. But it must be right because the people upstairs say so!
I honestly think that we are now reaching the point where the whole country will grind to a halt soon.
Yes, of course, speed cameras, in the right places, and with the right reasons, are acceptable. No, they are not, when they are used solely as a means of collecting revenue on open stretches of road, and motorways, where there is no realistic danger.
I firmly believe that if we were all to drive at the set speed limits, then we would soon have no business or industry left in this country. Orders would go abroad, and firms would go out of business.
What's next? The return of the man with the red flag walking in front of every vehicle?
I also firmly believe that if they had tried this on in say France, most of these cameras would by now be buried in undergrowth, after being 'removed' by the irate population.
We all speed, and we all take the consequences if we get caught, but it's gone way too silly now in the UK.
Yes, of course, speed cameras, in the right places, and with the right reasons, are acceptable. No, they are not, when they are used solely as a means of collecting revenue on open stretches of road, and motorways, where there is no realistic danger.
I firmly believe that if we were all to drive at the set speed limits, then we would soon have no business or industry left in this country. Orders would go abroad, and firms would go out of business.
What's next? The return of the man with the red flag walking in front of every vehicle?
I also firmly believe that if they had tried this on in say France, most of these cameras would by now be buried in undergrowth, after being 'removed' by the irate population.
We all speed, and we all take the consequences if we get caught, but it's gone way too silly now in the UK.
All we need to put this argument to bed is for our dear, honest elected representatives to pass legislation that keeps the points on the license but stops the fines. Then we would all know it was about safety and not money spinning. Shouldn't hold your breath though - when was the last time our esteemed MPs did what the people wanted? (Not just the current lot but any of them!)
Somebody's not been to France recently! They are springing up there as fast as here but they have got some backlog to catch up with us. Incidentally, Michelin sell a map (all good bookshops etc) with all FIXED speed cameras shown on it. Or, if you use www.viamichelin.co.uk and download a map/route you have the option of including these cameras! The downside is they use a lot of manned radar...you're stopped and fined on the spot. Points are coming in later throughout the E.C.
Hopefully Keith will soon reach 12 points, and another idiot driver will be taken off the roads.
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