View Full Version : Safety camera vans!!!!!!
maviczap
22-10-08, 01:40 PM
Just think I've got a ticket on the way as I passed a safety camera van parked on a bridge above a section of dual carriageway. Just got my licence clean after 4 years with no tickets! Plus it was the only section of road that my Zafira can get up enough speed to exceed the speed limit. The rest of the road is single carriageway,and it hasn't got the get up and go to overtake anything.
What bugs me is fair do's if I get a ticket, but what about all those drivers on mobiles and texting. Who's out there catching them?
I do a lot of mtorway miles and the number of people I see using mobiles at the wheel is scanda:mad
ThEGr33k
22-10-08, 01:41 PM
What bugs me is fair do's if I get a ticket, but what about all those drivers on mobiles and texting. Who's out there catching them?
You are right! WAY more dangerous than speeding imo yet they are almost always getting away with it!!! :(
maviczap
22-10-08, 01:46 PM
dual carriage way after slow single carriageway, clear sunny day, van sitting there just picking people off one by one. Easy money unlike people on mobiles who are difficult to catch and PROVE they were using their mob at the wheel.
Thats life unfortunately.
The mobile phone ban was never going to be as inforcable as speeding.
As with everything though....
a) some people are capable and safe whilst speeding.
as are
b) some people are capable and safe whilst on the phone
People will always agree and disagree with both of those statements.....frankly I couldnt care less about either.
Still hold out hope that they don't do anything to you.
SoulKiss
22-10-08, 02:15 PM
Thats life unfortunately.
The mobile phone ban was never going to be as inforcable as speeding.
As with everything though....
a) some people are capable and safe whilst speeding.
as are
b) some people are capable and safe whilst on the phone
People will always agree and disagree with both of those statements.....frankly I couldnt care less about either.
A = true, B = ********
A = true, B = ********
I rest my case ;)
SoulKiss
22-10-08, 02:19 PM
I rest my case ;)
You cared enough to post back :P
You cared enough to post back :P
I could careless about people speeding or being on their phones.........proving my point is a different matter haha :geek:
Two weeks, clocks ticking. . . . Fingers crossed.
What speed were you actually doing by the way.
My colleague is waiting right now.....although its a company vehicle so can take abit longer.
If it was busy then the chances they were capturing you at that precise moment are reduced a fair bit.
maviczap
22-10-08, 02:46 PM
Unfortunately this happens to me every four years. The last time before was in 2000. Both times in 2000 & 2004 I was clocked by fixed cameras, one in roadworks at 2 in the morning the 2nd at 23:00hrs. So I should know better.
But using a mobile at the wheel? Never!
maviczap
22-10-08, 02:48 PM
About 85 I think. Downhill with the wind. Yes, company tickets take longer. My first 2 were in company vehicles.
No the road wasn't that busy. Ho hum
85 in a 70?
I bet people were going faster......giving that your speedo was probably abit out and the 10% + 2 rule I wouldnt loose sleep over it.
85 in a 70?
I bet people were going faster......giving that your speedo was probably abit out and the 10% + 2 rule I wouldnt loose sleep over it.
+1
Shame you weren't nearby
They would have been more interested in you at 130 than him :razz:
;)
davepreston
22-10-08, 03:08 PM
thankfully no points yet (knock wood) there was always some other poor smuck in a zafira already pulled on the hard shoulder sorry but this might make you feel better if you were in the 2nd lane of the duel carrageway you could argue you were only doing that speed to safly overtake a vehicle in lane one as there is no speed limit for overtaking works better if you comment on the driver infronts iradic driving
Shame you weren't nearby
Pah thats what the small plates for 'innit' they would have to have binoculers to turn around in time to catch it lol
;)
yorkie_chris
22-10-08, 03:11 PM
thankfully no points yet (knock wood) there was always some other poor smuck in a zafira already pulled on the hard shoulder sorry but this might make you feel better if you were in the 2nd lane of the duel carrageway you could argue you were only doing that speed to safly overtake a vehicle in lane one as there is no speed limit for overtaking works better if you comment on the driver infronts iradic driving
Are you sure about that?
jimmy__riddle
22-10-08, 03:12 PM
there is no speed limit for overtaking
is that actually true?
I've never heard of it before, and not something I have read in the highway code.......google turns up nothing either......
jimmy__riddle
22-10-08, 03:22 PM
to me it seems unlikey thats true, and i certainly wouldnt rely on it
About 85 I think. Downhill with the wind. Yes, company tickets take longer. My first 2 were in company vehicles.
No the road wasn't that busy. Ho hum
If thats "about 85" on your speedo, its actually morelike 75-80mph.
Which you'd be fine with.
ALL speedos vastly over-read, and don't be thinking your TomTom Satv nav, or similar systems, read your speed any better. Just like police cameras, they need constent calibrating.....
Can't say I know of anyone who calibrates their Sat Nav, or even know they have to to get 100% accurate readings.
So 85mph on the speedo = sub 80mph on the road.
Likewise, exactly the same thing with bike speedos. I've certainly never had the current bike at a real 149mph............ That would be naughty and illegal anyway.. IF it did happen (in my dream), then its morelike 135 tops....
davepreston
22-10-08, 03:41 PM
it is up to the judges discresion if he belives you were trying to complete your journey in a safe and competent manner he will take this onboard and instead of givin you points and a fine we would find the case proved but abnonish the charges it depends on the judge but you have more chance with no previous speeding charges and that your not driving a pimped up wrx it all comes down to mitagating the curcumstances
davepreston
22-10-08, 03:42 PM
ps it worked for me in magistates court in northern ireland
"No speed limit for overtaking" :)
Oh my, how much fun could we motorcyclists have exploiting that little nugget? Find a nice stretch of dual carriageway ring-road, get 40 or so in a line at 70ish mph, and then just take it in turn to fly by as fast as you like before taking your place at the front of the queue :). Perhaps in a parallel world. That said, my dad once got a ticking off for crawling past a van which was doing 55mph at 60mph because the police car was behind him.
The 10%+X is a bit of a myth too isn't it? I hear it varies from county to county. North Wales will do you for a real 33mph in a 30 limit, whilst other areas would be more leniant.
Good luck to you anyway, hopefully you weren't going as fast as you fear.
What annoys me most about the vans is that they pick the widest, most open (read:safest) spots to go about their business. Why is there never a van down the town back roads with parked cars on both sides and everybody but me caning it down there at 40mph?
maviczap
22-10-08, 03:57 PM
No I'm not that lucky, 85 was based on deducting 10% for speedo error. Depending on when the camera went click of course, I did slow once I'd seen it, but too late i think.
maviczap
22-10-08, 04:02 PM
Yes, Sinbad i agree with your point about the vans only being parked in the widest, most open roads. Never down my street.
Even worse they stick the camera van out on Wednesday nights in the summer on the way into our bike meet, again on a piece of dual carriageway, just to catch out a few happless bikers out to enjoy themselves
"No speed limit for overtaking" :)
The 10%+X is a bit of a myth too isn't it? I hear it varies from county to county. North Wales will do you for a real 33mph in a 30 limit, whilst other areas would be more leniant.
Each road has a speed limit. That is the maximum speed you can travel whether you driving normally or overtaking.
ACPO guidelines i think state that Police Force should work on the 10% +2 but what they choose to do is up to each force.
Ch00
I wouldn't rely on the 10% + 2 if I were you. I'm currently defending a bloke who went through a camera at 46 in a 40 limit. Company identified him as the driver, and then the police sent a request to him to confirm that he was the driver. I'm not defending the speeding, that's unanswerable, but he isn't actually being prosecuted for it. Where I come in is, I'm defending the failure to identify the driver (s172) charge as my bloke never received any paperwork until the summons. The internal police report (disclosed as part of the advance information from the CPS) has a little gem tucked away 'First NIP not sent due to error' so I'm investigating that ATM. If convicted, it's 3 points mandatory, discretionary disqualification, and a Level 3 fine - ie up to £1,000. So, much more serious than the speeding. Bloke has a clean licence and has had for years, so no reason to gild the lily.
**
As re camera van - there's often one parked up about half a mile from me. It's in a spot where the road bends slightly left and goes downhill, so you can't see it until you come round the slight bend (downhill) and you're in its sights. They drive there in the van and a car, park up the van, and leave it with the camera running for a few hours and then come back. It's that cynical.
maviczap
22-10-08, 08:31 PM
Ed,
Yes the van was parked in similar circumstances, on a bridge, but round a slight bend and also downhill, so I didn't see it until too late.
you could argue you were only doing that speed to safly overtake a vehicle in lane one as there is no speed limit for overtaking works better if you comment on the driver infronts iradic driving
You could argue it, but any prosecution/judge worth anything would just laugh at you & make you look very silly. If a driver in front is driving erraticly, all you can legally do is pull over, phone the police to inform them, then wait a few mins & carry on as you were.
If you got away with it in NI, you were very VERY lucky!
The 10%+X is a bit of a myth too isn't it? I hear it varies from county to county. North Wales will do you for a real 33mph in a 30 limit, whilst other areas would be more leniant.
See, that's where you're spreading myth's. Yes, in general NW police will do you for 33mph in a 30 (my partner has been done for 34mph in the past).
However, it depends how you're caught. If it's a static camera, and you don't see it, I'd argue you need to work on your observations. If it's a car with an officer, then it's down to the officers mood & your reactions to him/her.
In the past, I've been let off doing 95 on an NSL'd B-road - purely because I could prove that my observations were 110% (I told the officer the numberplate of 3 cars I'd passed, and the phone number on the side of a skip). I've also got away scott free doing 3 figure speeds on the A5 not far from Betws-y-coed. Then there was the time I was doing 85, undertaking an unmarked car, on the 50mph stretch of the A55. He didn't even bother stopping me, just wound down his window & shouted.
But then, I've also been ticketed more recently for 57 in a 40.
In the past, I've been let off doing 95 on an NSL'd B-road - purely because I could prove that my observations were 110% (I told the officer the numberplate of 3 cars I'd passed, and the phone number on the side of a skip).
That doesn't make sense to me - I can't see any good reason to remember the no plates and how that counts as "good observations". Number plates are not a risk, the cars they are attached to are.
Good on you for getting off, but observations 110% and you didn't see the police car?
jimmy__riddle
23-10-08, 08:15 AM
That doesn't make sense to me - I can't see any good reason to remember the no plates and how that counts as "good observations". Number plates are not a risk, the cars they are attached to are.
Good on you for getting off, but observations 110% and you didn't see the police car?
+1 on the number plate thing, surely you dont want to spend your time think about the past cars number plates
That doesn't make sense to me - I can't see any good reason to remember the no plates and how that counts as "good observations". Number plates are not a risk, the cars they are attached to are.
Good on you for getting off, but observations 110% and you didn't see the police car?
It was a bike cop, hiding behind a van. He stepped out & waved me to stop. Still managed to easily stop from that pace in plenty of time (which probably helped a lot).
The whole point was, he considered my observations to be good because I'd seen & remembered the numberplates. Didn't tell him that I'd been through there a couple of hours previous.
I wasn't thinking about numberplates, just that I happened to remember them. It was easier remembering the phone number on the skip though, as a mate had dropped it off earlier in the morning & I know his works phone number. :)
JamesMio
23-10-08, 09:10 AM
There is no speed limit for overtaking......
I beg to differ your honour!
Luckypants
23-10-08, 10:24 AM
The 10%+X is a bit of a myth too isn't it? I hear it varies from county to county. North Wales will do you for a real 33mph in a 30 limit, whilst other areas would be more leniant.
My lad just got a NIP off Cumbria police for 45 in a 40. So they don't operate 10%+2....
Dave20046
23-10-08, 12:17 PM
Just think I've got a ticket on the way as I passed a safety camera van parked on a bridge above a section of dual carriageway. Just got my licence clean after 4 years with no tickets! Plus it was the only section of road that my Zafira can get up enough speed to exceed the speed limit. The rest of the road is single carriageway,and it hasn't got the get up and go to overtake anything.
What bugs me is fair do's if I get a ticket, but what about all those drivers on mobiles and texting. Who's out there catching them?
I do a lot of mtorway miles and the number of people I see using mobiles at the wheel is scanda:mad
What's a safety camera van?
They're not there for safety....
What's a safety camera van?
They're not there for safety....
+1
maviczap
23-10-08, 03:08 PM
Speed camera van, they're called safety camera vans here
Check it ot on this link if you haven't got one in your area.
http://lcjb.cjsonline.gov.uk/area6/images/mobilecameravan_400x322.jpg
Dave20046
23-10-08, 05:30 PM
my point <- here .................................................. ...................................you <- waay over here :p
JamesMio
24-10-08, 02:44 PM
My lad just got a NIP off Cumbria police for 45 in a 40. So they don't operate 10%+2....
Cumbria Police are pathetically strict - they run a No-Tolerance Policy down there, i.e. 31mph in a 30 / 61 in a 60 etc... - expect a ticket. They're THAT anal about it!
Cumbria Police are pathetically strict - they run a No-Tolerance Policy down there, i.e. 31mph in a 30 / 61 in a 60 etc... - expect a ticket. They're THAT anal about it!
I always understood that speedos were required to be accurate to within 10%, so they couldn't bust you for 61 in a 60, you'd need to be going 67. (most speedos overread by 10%ish) . The 10% + 2 was the leaway to get around the required accuracy of the car's speedo.
yorkie_chris
24-10-08, 03:01 PM
61 true mph though is still illegal. The 10%+2 thing is I believe, just a guideline.
Even with speedo error you'd still be indicating 67-68mph anyway which is a fair difference...
Bluepete
24-10-08, 03:21 PM
Speedo's cannot under-read. Ie, they must not show a lower speed than the one you are ACTUALLY travelling at.
That's one reason why manufaturers make them read so much higher than actual speed, to cover their backs.
My TomTom reads exactly the same as my calibrated traffic car. In my Skoda, an indicated 30mph on the dash equates to 26mph on TomTom. Similar under reads on the SV.
Would like to see some evidence of Cumbria prosecuting at one mph above the limit though!
busasean
24-10-08, 09:49 PM
still havent caught the little turds who burgled us whilst we were asleep in the house in August, never prosecuted the little *******s who stole my gf's car and rammed it into bollards and were caught running off, never even bothered coming out when we had our property broken into 3 yrs ago, and wouldnt even attend when a tosser pulled out into the side of my busa doing £2400 damage in August.but when it comes to bumbing up their PPI's and making money then you really cant hold back britains finest! ****ing lazy, spineless parasites they call traffic police and safety camera partnerships.
maviczap
25-10-08, 07:03 PM
When I tried to phone Essex Police to report a Range Rover driver who was using his mobile at the wheel, the switchboard operator said they couldn't take my info without an officer being present!!!!
If he could afford a RR, then why can't he buy himself a bluetooth kit!
I hasten to add I was in the passenger seat trying to make the report
maviczap
31-10-08, 12:45 PM
Got the info through the post today 83 in a 70mph zone. Wonder what that's going to cost? Bum :-(
sandman
31-10-08, 01:43 PM
probably £60 fine and 3 points
i was caught in a 60 doing 78 and received that
it shoudl tell you on the letter i would think
maviczap
14-11-08, 08:32 PM
Just got my penalty notice through and I can opt for a 4hr Speed awareness course as an alternative to other proceedings. So i prefer that to 3 points on my licence, costs the same a a fine too.
Just got my penalty notice through and I can opt for a 4hr Speed awareness course as an alternative to other proceedings. So i prefer that to 3 points on my licence, costs the same a a fine too.
PIA but I advise you to take it. You never know when you might need that 3 point cushion.
****ing lazy, spineless parasites they call traffic police and safety camera partnerships.
So you can understand why i was so pleased to get my bloke off a failure to identify charge when it was obvious that Cheshire Police had cocked up the NIP.
In defence of police officers, they don't make the rules. It's the nobs with no sense of reality who are to blame.
Gene genie
14-11-08, 09:18 PM
curious to know ed but have you ever been caught and convicted of speeding?
maviczap
14-11-08, 09:18 PM
Yep, i've gone for this option, much more preferable than 3 points.
But it was interesting that there was a £30 difference between one county and another.
In sunny Suffolk, it's £102, Essex £62 & Norfolk £70.
curious to know ed but have you ever been caught and convicted of speeding?
Yessir. On the 29 January 2006 I was camerad doing 61 in a 50 limit, on the A449 between Worcester and Kidderminster. Bang to rights. 3 points + £60 fine.
Gene genie
14-11-08, 09:34 PM
Yessir. On the 29 January 2006 I was camerad doing 61 in a 50 limit, on the A449 between Worcester and Kidderminster. Bang to rights. 3 points + £60 fine.
were there no loophole to exploit ed?:(
were there no loophole to exploit ed?:(
Nope, not even for a genius like me;) I thought I was in a 60. After all, it 's a rural dual carriageway. Poor observation tax again:(
Just think I've got a ticket on the way as I passed a safety camera van
Can we stop refering to them as Safety Camera Vans please. They are nothing more than Stealth Tax Vans. The safety aspect they harp on about is all bullsh1t. If they were the slightest bit interested in safety they'd spend the money made from these things on driver re-education and improving the diabolical roads we have to suffer.
Until they do so I shall continue to do my protesting by riding past every forward facing camera I can at above the posted speed limit.
Kilted Ginger
15-11-08, 12:34 AM
I find it quote interesting that so many people think speed camera. Vans and fixed cameras are referred to as money generators of stealth tax units. They are most definately an imperfect solution to a possibly over emphisied problem but any figures I've seen the installation and running costs always far exceed any revenue generated. So much so I think a couple of the southern councils have removed them all.
Do you honestly ever believe any figures the government - be it local or Westminster - decide to make public? Those they do are almost invariably proven to be complete and utter fabrications when challenged by experts.
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