New style bike test - scrapped

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Has anyone here ever heard of anybody at all being prosecuted for an average speed camera offence? The British road system is plagued by the bloody things yet it's a mystery as to who exactly they are catching out.

I've got a load of friends and acquaintances who do many thousands of miles per year yet none of them have been done or ever heard of this either.

I'm intrigued as to whether the things are even live and able to detect speeding motorists or whether they are a big con designed to slow us down.

I had a mate who, when he first started driving, got caught in the temporary works ones on the M6. His reason being he didn't realise they were average, so he slowed to 50 past them but was doing 90 otherwise.

I regularly go through ones on the M1,M6,M25 at 60 and have never been caught *tapping desk hard*

A friend of mine who does a lot of miles claims if you change lanes with certain cameras, it doesn't track you, so can't average your speed.

Originally Posted by specialone

A friend of mine who does a lot of miles claims if you change lanes with certain cameras, it doesn't track you, so can't average your speed.

I had heard this because the cameras only see you enter a zone in one lane and can only track your progress if you stick to that particular lane. I make a habit of swopping lane as soon as I enter a zone and sticking in that lane for the duration and then swopping again after I enter the next. I regularly speed through each zone - but not to what I would call an excessive amount - say 70 in a 50 and only when there are no workers in sight... which is most of the time - and haven't been done yet. On the M4 by Heathrow I just ignore the variable speed limits altogether because I was told by a reliable source that the limit for the cameras is set at 85mph even when the signs say 50.

Originally Posted by brennan

His reason being he didn't realise they were average, so he slowed to 50 past them but was doing 90 otherwise.

A few years ago I didn't realise they were average and did the exact same thing.

Drove down the M1 to London at about 2am and drove back at around 5am. I was literally the only car, and was doing some very naughty speeds, hiting the brakes before each camera. Didn't get caught.

Originally Posted by Lozzo

On the M4 by Heathrow I just ignore the variable speed limits altogether because I was told by a reliable source that the limit for the cameras is set at 85mph even when the signs say 50.

Why though?

You never hear of anybody being caught, because nobody speeds through them.

What speed the camera pings at? When are they switched off and on? Who knows.

A software upgrade was released a good while ago that removed the swapping lanes vulnerability, but which sets of cameras have had the upgrade installed? I wouldn't try it through any newer ones.

I don't know of anyone that has been caught in them and I don't intend on being the first. Probably the mind set of most people driving through them.

Originally Posted by thulfi

Why though?

Because I can

Also, because if I am on the M25 I am inevitably in a hurry to get somewhere, and you don't get anywhere fast at 40 or 50mph when you can easily and safely do 75 or 80.

Originally Posted by Lozzo

the limit for the cameras is set at 85mph even when the signs say 50.

I meant why would the cameras be set at 85?

Because when the m-way is flowing nicely at normal times when there's a 70mph limit, 85 is about the right speed to set off a camera. The local council or police have decided anything above 85 is too much, anything between 70 and 85 may be excessive technically but is deemed allowable

Or (slightly related to what Loz says) the amount of tickets they would need to process in week one of a strict 80mph cap would bury all of the forces under the paperwork, and ban 50% of all drivers.