Speed camera got me i think

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steve184

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How long does it take to get a speeding conviction through for these if they have caught you??

I was driving through som roadworks today which changed from 70 to 40 but i didnt slow down quite fast enough and i was still doing about the 50 mark when i went through a speed camera zone - as i was going through it i realised damn i've not slowed down enough and as i looked through my rear view i saw two flashes from the camera! Thing is there were about 4 other cars around me spread across two lanes - how would they know which car was speeding???

I'm sure i read somewhere that when a camera goes off, unless there is one solitary vehicle in view the results have to be scrapped as they can't prove which car set the camera off with the excess speed (or indeed all or a number of them)

Anyone know?
 
50 in a 40? The letter has to come through your door within 14 days (it can be a bit longer actually - as long as it was posted within 14 days). Any longer and you can tell 'em to feck off. It'll probably be with you by the end of the week though.

(Theres a point at which you'll get a court appearance - 66 in a 40 is the cut-off for a summons. If its court then they have 6 months)

They can tell who's speeding by comparing the number of lines that the car has passed through between the 2 photos. Hence they can catch more than one car at a time.

Good luck!
 
but what i'm saying is there were a few cars around me and they themselves obscure the lines etc, it could be difficult to tell.

I am really kicking myself! I guess theres also a change that there was no film in the camera but knowing my luck there probably was!!

Might have even been less 47 or something cant remember now but it wasnt much over - i bet i was right on the threshold of it going off or not - how do you know it has to come within 14 days???
 
I know its 14 days because I've dealt with that issue several times - after 14 days you can send a letter back to point this out to them and you get a letter back stating they'll be taking it no further.

I would doubt that the lines would be obscured - your car can only be in one space at the point the photo is taken and they'll just compare the two. They can even catch you if you're overtaking a bus/lorry (on a dual carriage way of course as you can't be prosecuted if you're flashed head-on by a Gatso).

Yes, it could be out of film. Lets hope! You'r best to forget about it to be honest. Worst case is that you get 3 points and £60 fine. Most insurance companies these days accept that you'll get 3 points at some point and won't increase your premium. If you've already got 9 points then ignore what I just said!
 
oh yeh i've been told that before by an insurance company that 3 points makes no difference - i have had points before but not since 1998. I'm currently clean, although possibly not for long! Damn!
 
Don't see how they can tell which car was speeding to be honest if there are 2 or 3 cars in the frame in different lanes. How can you tell which one triggered the money grabbing piece of sh1t ? sorry meant the camera.

Mark
 
When the first flash is triggered (doesn't matter who triggered it) then each car will be level with one of the lines on the road. A certain time later a second picture is taken. Each car will then have passed a certain number of lines on the road. Therefore they can calculate the exact speed of each car in the picture.
 
hmmmmm yes... well looks like im bolloxed then! if only points made prizes!
 
markwiggy said:
Don't see how they can tell which car was speeding to be honest if there are 2 or 3 cars in the frame in different lanes. How can you tell which one triggered the money grabbing piece of sh1t ? sorry meant the camera.

Mark
Click to expand...

Edit: ******. Marms beat me to it!

Its not a case of which car triggers the camera necessarily.

The lines on the road are a set distance apart. Because two photographs are taken of the speeding vehicle (0.5 seconds apart), it is possible to compare the two photographs and work out how far it has travelled in the interval using the check marks on the road.

1 car or 3 cars, they can all be 'done' if they're present in both photos by working out distance travelled over time.

Makes me glad I'm in Scotland - you can't miss our cameras :)

 
In my eyes, GATSO's are pointless in what they are promoted as, Safety Cameras.

All they do is momentarily cause traffic to slow as they pass the camera and then they speed up again. This kind of speed camera surfing is actually dangerous.

The only truly effective speed cameras are the SPECS cameras. These measure your average speed between two cameras. The two cameras can be spaced miles apart. In my view, this is the only viable safety camera and the only one suitable at reducing speed in an accident blackspot area.

All the others are purely money makers.
 
marms said:
In my eyes, GATSO's are pointless in what they are promoted as, Safety Cameras.

All they do is momentarily cause traffic to slow as they pass the camera and then they speed up again. This kind of speed camera surfing is actually dangerous.

The only truly effective speed cameras are the SPECS cameras. These measure your average speed between two cameras. The two cameras can be spaced miles apart. In my view, this is the only viable safety camera and the only one suitable at reducing speed in an accident blackspot area.

All the others are purely money makers.
Click to expand...

As GATSOs can only be placed at points on a road where the have been a certain number of fatal or KSI accidents during a certain period of time, where as SPECS are generally used on stretches of road works on major roads or motorways, I would suggest that GATSOs are in fact there to slow traffic at specific points on a road, whilst SPECS cameras are less justified, though they obviously achieve the objective of slowing traffic where ever they are placed as a precautionary measure...

I cannot think of any road with a GATSO on it that doesn't have signs warning of the fact (though I am sure there may be some)...so if you don't slow down or pay enough attention, then it is tough really...

However one thing for sure is that the majority would still rather take their chances with a traffic cop...
 
However one thing for sure is that the majority would still rather take their chances with a traffic cop...
Click to expand...

The great thing about a traffic cop is that they can exercise judgement according to the circumstances and that they are multi-tasking.

A so called safety camera can only do one thing - take a photograph of a vehicle exceeding the speed limit. Providing that car is registered with the DVLA then a fine can be issued. If the vehicle is not properly registered then there's not a lot that can be done.

With the increasing rare breed, the traffic cop, they can spot and if necessarily stop a vehicle for all sorts of reasons, drink-driving, driving whilst under the influence of drugs, faulty or no lights, bald tyres etc. All genuine safety reasons. If the driver has no licence and/or the car is not registered, taxed and insured the driver can be punished and the car taken away and destroyed.

Cameras are also no use at all in attending other crimes, accidents or a million and one other things that a traffic policeman can do.

It was a very sad day when many police forces decided to use more and more cameras and have less and less traffic police.
 
DiscoPanda said:
Click to expand...

That's the camera on the A96,about 300 yards before the Bridge of Dee roundabout approaching Aberdeen.
My brother-in-law got done by it a few weeks back.
Dead embarrassed he was,seeing as it sticks out like a sore thumb.
 
From the Maidstone and Medway Safety Camera Partnership website. The lines are there as a second check, not as a primary calculation of your speed....

http://www.kmscp.org/index.html

Gatso
The cameras in the familiar yellow housings use radar to detect the speed of passing vehicles. The camera is activated when a vehicle crosses a radar beam at excessive speed. It takes two photographs (on 35mm colour film) of the rear of the vehicle at an interval of 0.5secs. A series of short white lines are painted on the surface of the road five feet apart as an independent way of verifying the speed reading on the film. Because two photographs are taken of the speeding vehicle it is possible to compare the two photographs and work out how far it has travelled in the interval using the check marks on the road. Using a simple formula, the viewer of the film can verify the speed given by the camera. The secondary check marks are there to safeguard the motorist against a faulty or false camera reading.

A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) form is sent to the registered keeper within 14 days of the offence. The form asks if you were the driver of the vehicle and gives you the opportunity to say whether it was someone else driving, if it was a hire vehicle or the vehicle was owned by someone else at the time of the offence. If it was any of these, a new NIP will be issued to the person you have identified.

A Conditional Offer of a Fixed Penalty form may also be enclosed - this offers you the chance to pay a £60 fixed penalty fine and have your licence endorsed with 3 penalty points instead of going to court. You may wish to contest the allegation at court, which is your right. However, if magistrates find you guilty you may have to pay court costs of several hundred pounds, plus up to the maximum penalty of £1,000 and receive 6 penalty points on your licence.

If your licence already has 9 points and/or your speed was excessive, you will not receive a Conditional Offer. Instead a file will be prepared and your case will be dealt with directly by the Magistrates' Court.

The registered keeper has 28 days to respond to the forms.

If you fail to respond to the NIP a summons will be issued and you may be required to attend a magistrates' court in the district where the speeding or red light running offence took place, where they will deal with the case as above.
 
As stated before,those lines are a secondary check and you should be glad of it.
I once set off a speed camera near my work,but neither I nor the bloke in the lane next to me were speeding.
I called the cops to complain,they called me back to say they'd checked the calculations using the lines and confirmed the camera was faulty.
'The camera never lies' is true,but the radar might !
 
Well if that website is legit, I've been cloned! Watch this space.......
 


Although apartently my mini that is in a shed and has been for a couple years now was speeding in cornwall 4 days ago.. hmmm.... Picture is definatly me too.. ha..
 
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*** I'll lock this as its growing arms and legs.
 
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