Camera... flash... now what??

[dyzio]

Coming back from work as usual, around 5:30pm a stretch of a dual carriageway is ending with a 40 restriction and a speed camera.
When the white stripes on the tarmac ended, I saw 2 flashes (F$&*K).
So I've checked my speedo - it said 35.
I'm also 100% sure that I wasn't doing more than 40 before the camera.
I know that many scenarios are possible:
- somebody behind me,
- somebody from the opposite direction has triggered the camera - yes, I've seen this happened on this camera.
What worries me is:
- what if I get my picture in 2 weeks and I'm 100%sure I wasn't speeding!

Cheers

Firstly, don't worry until you get the letter. If you get the letter, ask to see photographic evidence. You can use the marks on the road in the photos to check what speed you were doing and clear your name.

If you are sure that you weren't over the limit however, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. You probably won't hear a thing.

Useful site for speed camera stuff: www.pepipoo.com

[dyzio]

Thanks Bear!
If I remember correctly saw the flash after I've passed the white lines and the site that you mention says that you use them to calculate your speed, so I should be ok.

I hate Gatso's

Probably no film in it anyway. If it's going off at 35 on a 40 the film roll'd be finished pretty quick. If indeed there's even a camera in it - 7 out of 8 cameras are dummy boxes, ie: they have a radar and a flash (cheap) but no camera (the expensive bit)

If you get a Notice of Intended Prosecution within 14 days* contest it stating that you remember the camera flash, you knew the camera was there and you deliberately drove through it at 5mph below the speed limit and could not believe it when it flashed. Ask for the photographic evidence and that the speed be calculated from the road markings as you are sure that you were not speeding and the camera calibration is out. Road markings are 2 metres apart and the two photo's are at 1/2 second apart.

* if the vehicle is registered properly with DVLA and in your name and the NIP doesn't come in 14 days, your off scot free anyway. If its a company vehicle, hire vehicle, etc, then they have 14 days to notify the registered owner, they name you as the vehicles user and you get the NIP asking you who was driving, this can take any length of time. They can take longer than 14 days if they have had reasonable difficulty in locating you (registered at wrong address, etc)

Even if you were doing more than 40 mph before the camera - the camera takes 3-4 hundred radar checks of your speed as you pass through the radar beam once past or approaching the camera from the front. It doesn't measure what speed you were doing beforehand if you approach from the back. If there is a variance of more than 2mph during the radar checks it aborts the measurement - so if your well over the limit and hard on the brakes in panic because of a camera, stay hard on the brakes past the camera and throughout the road markings. Most people release the brakes at the camera, look at the speedo and hope for the best at a constant speed.

Before I get slated for saying I hate Gatso's, I love the average speed cameras! Whilst I don't particularly enjoy being forced to drive at the speed limit by a big brother nanny state, I don't mind too much with these. They cover a stretch of road and measure average speed along the whole stretch, so you have little choice but to stick to the limit throughout. They are usually well signposted and easily visible, so everyone knows they are there. Because of these two things, very few people speed through them. Because nobody speeds, nobody gets caught. If nobody gets caught, there's no money to me made from fines, so point in placing them in places designed to catch people out. The perfect system! Enforces the law, is fair to the motorist and can only have one purpose. Promoting road safety, rather than raising cash!

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

* if the vehicle is registered properly with DVLA and in your name and the NIP doesn't come in 14 days, your off scot free anyway. If its a company vehicle, hire vehicle, etc, then they have 14 days to notify the registered owner, they name you as the vehicles user and you get the NIP asking you who was driving, this can take any length of time. They can take longer than 14 days if they have had reasonable difficulty in locating you (registered at wrong address, etc)

Just a quick clarification. They have 14 days to send the nip, not for you to get it, with the postal issues an important point

find a name and address in south africa....................

Originally Posted by rigor

Just a quick clarification. They have 14 days to send the nip, not for you to get it, with the postal issues an important point

Nearly, but still not quite true. They have to send it so that it will arrive within 14 days under normal postal conditions. If it is delayed in the post and doesn't arrive in time then only under those conditions is it allowed to be late. So really they need to have it posted with 12 days. See below if you can be bothered....

Service of summons or notice of intended prosecution
In circumstances in which an oral notice is not given at the time, then either a summons or a written notice of intended prosecution must be served within 14 days. In reckoning a period of 14 days, the day on which the offence was committed is ignored. A notice sent by post must be despatched so that in the normal time of postal delivery it will arrive within 14 days. If it is so posted but is held up in the post and is delivered outside the 14 day period, it will be deemed to have been served in the 14 day period; consequently the driver can still be convicted.

[harvy]

Has it recently been reduced to or temp reduced to 40? if so get a pic showing the roadsign before the camera just in case... Sometimes they change the speedlimit on the road but somehow forget to adjust the camera. If you argue it then they remember, otherwise people just pay the fine and carry on...

Also Average speed cameras... only take a picture from the front... has anyone seen/got a number plate on the front of their bikes???

Also have a look at the FAQ's on www.honestjohn.co.uk i believe faq 6, 7 and 8 are the ones you need!

until the NIP arrives i wouldnt loose sleep though...

Originally Posted by harvy

Also Average speed cameras... only take a picture from the front... has anyone seen/got a number plate on the front of their bikes???

Very true, but until I find a job that lets me ride my bike all day, I'll just have to carry on sitting behind a forward facing numberplate.....

Do couriers make decent money?

Might be worth getting back there and taking some picture of the 40 sign, they might have changed the limit and forgotton the sign, much easier to prove this with a photo.