Gatso's

rickquattro

rickquattro

Registered User
Joined
May 24, 2003
Messages
589
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
Rickenback, German Black Forest
I have just had a good run back up the A68, AKA "Bomb Alley", from Newcastle to Edinburgh. The Road Angel picked up the many Gatso's in my direction of travel, but...

I set off a couple on the opposite side of the road, driving towards them. They double flashed, but I think I was past the camera and off the road markings when the second flash went off.

Whats the wisdom on this one?

Shame about the camera overkill on the A68, its such a brilliant road....
 
[ QUOTE ]


Shame about the camera overkill on the A68, its such a brilliant road....

[/ QUOTE ]

One of the very best in the country. 25 years ago, I was a student at Edinburgh & my folks lived in Durham. Everything I know about driving, I learned on that road.
 
audi upgrades
[ QUOTE ]
if you drive towards them they cant fine you! I always set them off going towards just for the disco lights!

[/ QUOTE ]

NSD, how do you know this? I think the police have a whole series of pics of me, the length of the A68....Both ways... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angel.gif

Along with the A68, roads you should drive and get to the other end of (rather than "before you die"), would be:

A7 when its not a weekend or your on two wheels
A701/A702 early doors to name a couple in my area
A84/A85/A82, Doune to Fort Bill....

Scotland, a drivers theme park paradise.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/woohoo.gif

Rick
 
And I'll add A822/A826 Crieff/Gilmerton to Aberfeldy. Cracking road, brilliant scenery - watch out for bikes in the summer.
 
The A537 Buxton to Macclesfield road is awesome.

The bikers go absolutely mental on this stretch of road.

No speed cameras, but watch out for the Fed's hiding behind a dry stone wall!
 
[ QUOTE ]
The A537 Buxton to Macclesfield road is awesome.

The bikers go absolutely mental on this stretch of road.

No speed cameras, but watch out for the Fed's hiding behind a dry stone wall!

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that the Snake Pass road? If it is, awesome indeed!
 
[ QUOTE ]
The A537 Buxton to Macclesfield road is awesome.

The bikers go absolutely mental on this stretch of road.

No speed cameras, but watch out for the Fed's hiding behind a dry stone wall!

[/ QUOTE ]

if you ever get caught by a policeman who's hiding, take a picture from where you were driving from, proving that they were hiding. They are not allowed to do this, and if it goes to court, it will get thrown out.
 
Are you sure it's a gatso, not a front facing Truvelo camera? they use the strips in the road to measure speed then take a pic of the front of the car to help identify the driver?

If they were... your in for a lack of license I expect.

Either that or were there cars going the other way that could have set off the cameras as they are NOT set off going in the wrong direction if it's a Gatso...
 
I remember hearing that some partnerships had set their GATSOs so they could indeed be triggered by a vehicle travelling in the "opposite" direction - after all, the RADAR is still there for speed tracking, their secondary check (the road markings) obviously don't apply though; so while they can detect your speeed and flash (maybe not even taking a picture), the (required by law) secondary check isn't there; so they can't prosecute, but can set the cameras up to "scare" you into slowing down some.

I can't remember where I heard this though, that's the trouble, and to be absolutely honest it sounds like something I'd normally dismiss as an urban-myth, purely because I'd be crashing into a parked-car the first time it happened to me and claiming a shiny new Audi from the coffers of Lancashire Safety Partnership.

Any of the rest of you guys heard anything similar?

Regards,

Rob.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Are you sure it's a gatso, not a front facing Truvelo camera? they use the strips in the road to measure speed then take a pic of the front of the car to help identify the driver?

If they were... your in for a lack of license I expect.

Either that or were there cars going the other way that could have set off the cameras as they are NOT set off going in the wrong direction if it's a Gatso...

[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely, I know the road reasonably and they are all grey box on a stick type. Truvelo cameras dont visibly flash. These flashed twice, no other cars coming towards me passing the gatso at the same time. I was quite supprised at this as they hav'nt gone off like this before even when teased with a fast bike at silly speeds.

I thought also that they were supposed to be set up not to flash oncoming traffic.
 
in our gatso alley (5 cams in 3/4 mile) I watched an ambulance trigger a gatso (two flashes) face on which proves that they can go off when u approach them.

However I`ve also heard that the police cant get you facing the gatso.

But I`m not man enough to try it out..
 
[ QUOTE ]
in our gatso alley (5 cams in 3/4 mile) I watched an ambulance trigger a gatso (two flashes) face on which proves that they can go off when u approach them.

However I`ve also heard that the police cant get you facing the gatso.

But I`m not man enough to try it out..

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting... I'm wondering if that means there's no cameras in all the gatso's near me, because there are a few just entering NSL on the other side of the roads and I'm quite often going 20 Mph over the speed limit past the one on the other side of the road and I've never seen one flash at me!
 
One of my mates is an engineering manager on the roads and he says that the Gatsos will flash oncoming traffic and thinks that you can get done for it.

He's had quite a few meetings with traffic cops while working on new junctions, etc.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The A537 Buxton to Macclesfield road is awesome.


[/ QUOTE ]

Is that the Snake Pass road? If it is, awesome indeed!

[/ QUOTE ]

No ... the Snake Pass road (A57) goes between Glossop (near Stockport) and Sheffied, past the Ladybower Reservoir .... but this is an awesome road too.

The A357 is about 20 miles South of Snake Pass, but is still in the Peak District national park. The road is known as the Cat & Fiddle road after the pub which is at the half way mark.

Perhaps we should organise an A-S.net blast around these two roads sometime?

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/MexWave.gif
 
Sorry guys...

I will diffuse this once and for all.

Gastos can go off when hitting speed towards them. Its a radar after all. As someone metioned above the secondary measure and which is the crucial factor on dishing the ticket is to check the speed relation to the markers on the road. A gasto has two flashes for a reason. One to take you when you are in range (this is triggered by initial speed) and the second to see where about on the markers you are to give a difinitive "yes you were speeding".

This technique does not work when you are traveling towards the camera as the range finder is the second set of flash and the speed relation or "secondary" check is the first flash (remenber this is the reverse of the norm), completely back to front. 10 times out of 10 the second flash has not even got a pic of the car in the photo as the flash times etc are mathmatecly syncronised with the road markers. No secondary pic of the car no fine no proof.

I know I have not explained it to well but its the best I could do. I hope you get my jist.
 
And just to put your minda at ease I always (well not always but mostly) get a flash going towards a gasto if it is set up to flash oncomming cars, I never have once got a ticket and just to prove it I have been through them a 80MPH and recieved nothing.

Yeah my bad for speeding but hey sometimes you just dont know your speeding! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Yeah my bad for speeding but hey sometimes you just dont know your speeding! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Wouldn't expect anything less from a BMW Driver!!!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]


This technique does not work when you are traveling towards the camera as the range finder is the second set of flash and the speed relation or "secondary" check is the first flash (remenber this is the reverse of the norm), completely back to front. 10 times out of 10 the second flash has not even got a pic of the car in the photo as the flash times etc are mathmatecly syncronised with the road markers. No secondary pic of the car no fine no proof.


[/ QUOTE ]

Cheers mate, I got it on the third read through. I did'nt think that the second flash would count as I was almost past the post and I guess off the road marking lines too.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The A537 Buxton to Macclesfield road is awesome.


[/ QUOTE ]

Is that the Snake Pass road? If it is, awesome indeed!

[/ QUOTE ]

No ... the Snake Pass road (A57) goes between Glossop (near Stockport) and Sheffied, past the Ladybower Reservoir .... but this is an awesome road too.

The A537 is about 20 miles South of Snake Pass, but is still in the Peak District national park. The road is known as the Cat & Fiddle road after the pub which is at the half way mark.


/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/MexWave.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for that. I now realise I've driven both. About 10 years ago, on a short break in the Peak District, I set off from Buxton to drive to Macc about 2 in the afternoon. About 2 miles out of Buxton, it started to snow, but despite that (or maybe because of it) the drive to Macc put a smile a mile wide on my gub.
 
The mobile ones are the absolute pits. Reading around other sites, the name for the mobile units that usually sit on the motorway bridges is "Talivan's". They are not wrong.....

Rick
 
It's only gonna get worse, with the restriction on fixed camera's from Ladyman & Darling, mobile traps are the way forward for Camera Partnerships to make our dual carriageways & motorways "safer". Just glad I have Target protection as these guys can pick you off from 2 miles away.
 
This info may be old but my dad was in one of the first camera offices in the NW london traffic police garage, back in those days ('89) it was all run by policemen not civvies, what he told me back then was that they can be set to flash either way or both, but they only set them the "wrong" way when there was no camera in there. back then it was about 5 empties for each "live" one.

chas
 
[ QUOTE ]
It's only gonna get worse, with the restriction on fixed camera's from Ladyman & Darling, mobile traps are the way forward for Camera Partnerships to make our dual carriageways & motorways "safer". Just glad I have Target protection as these guys can pick you off from 2 miles away.

[/ QUOTE ]
My eyes have been opened in a few short weeks. I was happy that with an RA in the car for fixed and semi-permanent sites that I'd like a heads-up about, and utmost vigillance in spotting Talivan I should be OK unless I deserve it. Now however, I've decided an LRC is coming out of my next salary. I've been shocked at how many Sneaky Partnership sites I've spotted on my recent travels, often in places where perhaps the legislation may be met, but the driver really has NO chance whatsoever.

This was all brought to a head at around lunchtime today when on the way to work I came upon about three quarters of Lancashire Constabulary congregated just south of the Chorley exit on the M61. Luckily I was travelling south and it looked like they were only wasting their time and our money on the northbound carriageway. I came through the Chorley junction doing a comfortable speed (not ban territory), with very few other vehicles around, and thankfully everyone was maintaining pretty good lane discipline. My eyes scanned right for a second as I noticed some high-visibility markings... PLOD. A quick glance towards the bridge above and I quickly plumbed the depths with Brunel's finest. They had one Talivan with three tripods on top of the brdige, three Volvos sat in the hard shoulder underneath, and I guess the Range Rover I saw sat in the hard shoulder a couple of miles earlier containing plod reading some poor soul the riot act had come from the same spot. ...And yes, you guessed it, the bridge they'd chosen for this little exercise is a couple of hundred yards aroud a corner just after a reasonably steep hill levels-off on a beautifully smooth stretch of Tarmac. How can they expect people to have respect for them when this is how they spend their days? All the flashing I could muster wasn't enough to save a poor chap in a Focus I fear; he must've been doing well over a ton in the outside lane, having a whale of a time, singing along to his tunes. There's another iPod sale tomorrow morning then...

Sorry for being a bit OT; but the /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burningmad.gif of all this sort of thing is still quite fresh to me...

Regards,

Rob.
 
I wonder how the ruling really works on this. I had to roadtest a BT police 4x4 for vibration problems the other day and he said "dont worry about speeding, we need to go speeds of up to 90 mph so its ok for you to go that speed to test the vehicle" I thought to myself, yup,l go up to speeds of 120 mph from time to time too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Was tempted to speed through the nearly camera for a laugh /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif


oh, and yes, I'm afraid there is no comparison to Scottish v English roads, partly due to less volume of traffic though but mostly due to the engineers either doing it for a dare or being drunk /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
 
Gatso aren't type approved for forward facing pics.

Faction, sounds like you spotted a ANPR van. There out to get uninsured, untaxed, banned drivers etc thats why there is a fleet of plod with them.

Agree though the talivans are getting worse and it will get worse as more and more of us have GPS systems that can pick off the fixed camera's.
 
a 37mm spanner and some insulated wire cutters sorts out most gatsos, ( so i've heard... ahem).
 
[ QUOTE ]
a 37mm spanner and some insulated wire cutters sorts out most gatsos, ( so i've heard... ahem).

[/ QUOTE ]
Decent 24v cordless drill, decent 8mm bit, a few tins of expanding foam. That's the favourite method I've heard about so far /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Having said that though; I had a bit of a scare when I thought I might've been a couple of mph over the limit when my RA was going off for a temporary-camera en-route to see a mate in Ipswich a few weeks ago. I must say, I hadn't seen a camera or anything else around which would suggest one, and I certainly didn't see any flashes. I phoned ahead to my mate and he told me that they'd been dragged off by local farmers' tractors! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Rob.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

AndyMac
Super Gatso's
Replies
9
Views
764
Khufu
Khufu
ALPINE
gatso info please...
Replies
9
Views
1K
jojo
jojo
The911SC
What Gatso detector?
Replies
18
Views
1K
AndyMac
AndyMac
P
Shoot the Gatso
Replies
0
Views
696
porker968
P
J
GATSO Speeding and what to do
Replies
12
Views
1K
AndyMac
AndyMac
Top
Back