Speeding through average speed camera zones - What gives?

Speeding through average speed camera zones - What gives?

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skip_1

3,477 posts

196 months

Saturday 27th February 2016
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sicasey said:
Timbola said:
because areas where roadworks are undertaken are dangerous, hazards are more likely, generally with narrower lanes, and workmen may be present.
No sign of man nor shovel on the M1 last night for many miles.
The 50mph limit applies as the lanes are narrow compared to standard. Therefore the limit applies even when no work is going on.

skip_1

3,477 posts

196 months

Saturday 27th February 2016
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TeaNoSugar said:
A colleague of mine was caught on the section between J28 and J25 of the M1 while the widening and new gantries were going in a few years ago. He was recorded averaging just over 60mph as far as I remember.

I drive from J34-J26 and back 3 days a week. Speed limiter always set to 57mph. Thats fast enough to keep me out of the way of the HGVs, and in the last 3 years while those works have been ongoing I haven't had a ticket. I wouldn't want to risk any more, but do see the odd car barrelling through overtaking everything else, I just assume they're not legit and don't give a f***.

On a related note, does anyone know exactly why all the new "Extrudakerb" central barriers were ripped out a few months back after only being in place for a year or so??

EDIT: I'm thinking of the yellow cameras in the roadworks, not the smart-motorway gantries (they're not average speed cameras are they?)
Also, on the M1 near J27 there are some new cameras which are cantilevered off the outside of the new gantries, so overhanging beyond the hard shoulder. Are they a new speed camera as well, or something else entirely??

Edited by TeaNoSugar on Thursday 11th February 12:09
The wrong material was delivered from the quarry for the concrete mix, and imperfections were becoming visible in the concrete. This wasn't noticed until the end of that section of works!

skip_1

3,477 posts

196 months

Saturday 27th February 2016
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Bonefish Blues said:
Moominator said:
Bonefish Blues said:
Exactly this. I use long stretches every day and the differentials are significant.

By the same logic, I guess it would be OK to sit at 70 in L3 because speed limit?
In roadworks you are being artificially slowed for the safety of the work force. So in my mind if everyone is limited to the usual motorway minimum what's the rush? 4mph? Are people that angry and impatient over 4mph?

Some people should have a word with themselves.

Then you get the gung ho dash down and under then slot in front dangerously into one space crowd. Undertakers should be punished before middle laners. BTW I'm NOT a middle laner. In certain situations I don't see the point of rigid-stazi rule of men who live in coupe 3 series.

Edited by Moominator on Saturday 27th February 15:26
Why not simply live by the maxim "keep left unless overtaking", if we all do, then everyone gets along famously - I'm not aware of its inapplicability in areas where speeds are "artificially slowed for the safety of the workforce" any more than at the gift of those in 3 series coupes.
And for the triple post: Didn't these type of roadworks used to be labelled 'stay in lane' many years back?

Moominator

38,038 posts

217 months

Saturday 27th February 2016
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Why not just drive carefully through average road works and look out for each other?

On the M62 at night you could easily say 'what road works'? Then you'd miss the blokes running across the carriageways carrying the huge signs across carriageways in the pitch black.

(Yes it does happen - more than it should)

Blakewater

4,356 posts

163 months

Sunday 28th February 2016
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skip_1 said:
And for the triple post: Didn't these type of roadworks used to be labelled 'stay in lane' many years back?
Sometimes on smart motorways the matrix signs will say, "Congestion, stay in lane," when lowered speed limits are in force as, theoretically at least, lane changing causes wave braking. You can see it here on the M62.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.7304642,-1.73168...

Vipers

33,091 posts

234 months

Monday 29th February 2016
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Blakewater said:
skip_1 said:
And for the triple post: Didn't these type of roadworks used to be labelled 'stay in lane' many years back?
Sometimes on smart motorways the matrix signs will say, "Congestion, stay in lane," when lowered speed limits are in force as, theoretically at least, lane changing causes wave braking. You can see it here on the M62.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.7304642,-1.73168...
So what road does that sign indicating, seems a bit ambiguous.




smile

xRIEx

8,180 posts

154 months

Monday 29th February 2016
quotequote all
Vipers said:
Blakewater said:
skip_1 said:
And for the triple post: Didn't these type of roadworks used to be labelled 'stay in lane' many years back?
Sometimes on smart motorways the matrix signs will say, "Congestion, stay in lane," when lowered speed limits are in force as, theoretically at least, lane changing causes wave braking. You can see it here on the M62.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.7304642,-1.73168...
So what road does that sign indicating, seems a bit ambiguous.




smile
The slip road is "stay in lane" anyway (chevrons bordered by solid white lines) for 50 or 100m or so, and the 'smart' motorway ends a couple of hundred metres further down it anyway, so it only really applies to the M62.

theboss

7,094 posts

225 months

Monday 4th April 2016
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DaveCWK said:
You can do a true 56 through the ones on the M3, every day for years, and you won't get fined.
To someone religiously sticking to 49/50 on their car speedo of indeterminate accuracy, it probably would look like those passing at 56 do know something they don't.

I suspect the units for prosecution are 10% + 2 + A little bit more due to being 'average'.
I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has actually been prosecuted for travelling at 57 in a SPECS 50.
After stating earlier in this thread that I'm one of the ones who does an indicated 59-60, I can confirm that I've just picked up a NIP for 57 in a SPECS 50. Must have taken my eye off the ball that one time - SAC here I come.

sam_jw

124 posts

103 months

Monday 4th April 2016
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May get some stick for this, but personally I drive through avg. 50 mph sections of motorway at 65-70 (when traffic allows) pretty regularly. Yet to receive a ticket of any kind.

Innowaybored

896 posts

113 months

Monday 4th April 2016
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Last night loads of cars seemed to barrel through on the M1 restricted sites.

One of the most annoying/dangerous things was a car transport lorry. Clearly on the limiter and over taking other lorries in Lane 2. I was in lane 3 and he was wobbling all over the place. I reduced my speed and I am glad I did because the next minute he was taking up half lane 3 briefly. Would have wiped me out.

I see the need for average speed cameras when work is being done or when the "smart" motorway signs are in operation but at 1am in the morning I would have prefered not sitting in with the lorry drivers and dodgy cars.

I set my cruise at 55mph as due to wheel size and calibration I will be doing around 50mph.

Blakewater

4,356 posts

163 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
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sam_jw said:
May get some stick for this, but personally I drive through avg. 50 mph sections of motorway at 65-70 (when traffic allows) pretty regularly. Yet to receive a ticket of any kind.
One of my work colleagues was on the M62 in the average speed camera 50mph section around Leeds when they were still doing the smart motorway work up there. Everyone was passing her and there were no roadworks or narrow lanes on the bit of motorway she was on at the time. She got fed up of being the only one sticking to 50mph, assumed everybody else knew they could get away with going faster and so she let her speed creep up. A few days later she got an NIP in the post. Maybe everyone else who passed her did, maybe it's pot luck whether or not the cameras pass you. It's not something I choose to gamble my money and driving licence on.

Do those of you who aim for 65-70mph really achieve it for mile after mile, or is it just short blasts of speed between getting caught up in slower stuff so the average is really 50mph?

Edited by Blakewater on Tuesday 5th April 00:06

Captainawesome

1,817 posts

169 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
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Moominator said:
sicasey said:
So basically; all of the drivers you see driving at, for example 70 in the average 50 zone, are getting fines/points?
The permanent section (1 junction) on the M60 catches over 400 a month apparently. I can see why its an average section as its a dangerous blind sweeping bend.

I too am frustrated- daily you'll see people nailing it. Are they drunk, don't have a licence or think swapping lanes between cameras 'works'?

Talk about being a gambler.

I was almost sideswipped and my family killed when a truck driver was impatient with me doing 50mph spot-on last year in the average zone. He undertook me at speed then immediately swung right into my lane to 'get me out of the way' so he could continue scything through foolish law abiding drivers.
Have you read the government legislation for average speed cameras??? I believe that they cannot prosecute you if the images are in different lanes. They will try to and numptys like you just pay without asking questions. baa baa

Captainawesome

1,817 posts

169 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
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"The cameras were designed to catch motorists who simply slow down in front of a camera, and then drive above the speed limit until they reach the next one.
But, under Home Office rules governing the camera equipment, prosecutions are only valid if a driver is filmed in the same lane at the start and finish of each section by a linked pair of cameras.
The Home Office admitted yesterday that the hi-tech SPECS cameras - produced by Camberley-based Speed Check Services - are only approved to be used one lane at a time.
That means a three-lane motorway would require three separate sets of cameras - one for each lane. If drivers leave the speed-camera zone via a different lane to the one they entered in, they cannot normally be prosecuted.
The camera's manufacturers - Speed Check Services (SCS) - confirmed that drivers could escape prosecution by lane-hopping but discouraged it on 'safety' grounds."



V8LM

5,255 posts

215 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
quotequote all
Captainawesome said:
Have you read the government legislation for average speed cameras??? I believe that they cannot prosecute you if the images are in different lanes. They will try to and numptys like you just pay without asking questions. baa baa
Have you? Thought not.

Vipers

33,091 posts

234 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
quotequote all
Having just driven south from Aberdeen first time for over a year and encountered the average speed camera signs, that didn't bother me, what I thought was bad was the road works as the M6 joins the M1, loads of repeaters for 50, no worries there, but just a single NSL sign when it ended, easily misses if a truck was passing you at the time.

During the drive to London, didn't encounter anyone speeding, they were all well behaved. In London it reminded me of formula 1.




smile

Europa1

10,923 posts

194 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
quotequote all
Captainawesome said:
"The cameras were designed to catch motorists who simply slow down in front of a camera, and then drive above the speed limit until they reach the next one.
But, under Home Office rules governing the camera equipment, prosecutions are only valid if a driver is filmed in the same lane at the start and finish of each section by a linked pair of cameras.
The Home Office admitted yesterday that the hi-tech SPECS cameras - produced by Camberley-based Speed Check Services - are only approved to be used one lane at a time.
That means a three-lane motorway would require three separate sets of cameras - one for each lane. If drivers leave the speed-camera zone via a different lane to the one they entered in, they cannot normally be prosecuted.
The camera's manufacturers - Speed Check Services (SCS) - confirmed that drivers could escape prosecution by lane-hopping but discouraged it on 'safety' grounds."
Good luck with that.

jshell

11,306 posts

211 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
quotequote all
Captainawesome said:
"The cameras were designed to catch motorists who simply slow down in front of a camera, and then drive above the speed limit until they reach the next one.
But, under Home Office rules governing the camera equipment, prosecutions are only valid if a driver is filmed in the same lane at the start and finish of each section by a linked pair of cameras.
The Home Office admitted yesterday that the hi-tech SPECS cameras - produced by Camberley-based Speed Check Services - are only approved to be used one lane at a time.
That means a three-lane motorway would require three separate sets of cameras - one for each lane. If drivers leave the speed-camera zone via a different lane to the one they entered in, they cannot normally be prosecuted.
The camera's manufacturers - Speed Check Services (SCS) - confirmed that drivers could escape prosecution by lane-hopping but discouraged it on 'safety' grounds."
You need to remove 'awesome' from your name after posting that out of date BS.

S11Steve

6,375 posts

190 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
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It's fine - just coat your reg plates with hairspray, and it becomes invisible to the cameras.

I read it on the interwebs, it must be true.

GC8

19,910 posts

196 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
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Moominator said:
The permanent section (1 junction) on the M60 catches over 400 a month apparently. I can see why its an average section as its a dangerous blind sweeping bend.

I too am frustrated- daily you'll see people nailing it. Are they drunk, don't have a licence or think swapping lanes between cameras 'works'?

Talk about being a gambler.

I was almost sideswipped and my family killed when a truck driver was impatient with me doing 50mph spot-on last year in the average zone. He undertook me at speed then immediately swung right into my lane to 'get me out of the way' so he could continue scything through foolish law abiding drivers.
Whilst that is not acceptable, there are a couple of points that you should consider. It is unlikely that you were doing 50mph (and every HGV driver knows that their limited top speed is below the threshold for prosecution). Even if you were, you should not have been obstructing the outer lane, which is the only lane that he can use to overtake you. The speed limit and his possible infraction is between the driver and The Man, not you: you should not block the overtaking lane irrespective of the prevailing limit.

In my experience, restricted sections of motorway are full of self righteous / selfish / ignorant car drivers who block every lane at 46mph.

Keep left.

Bluedot

3,657 posts

113 months

Tuesday 5th April 2016
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I always think they could make the most of those overhead gantries by flashing up the reg numbers of cars that have just been caught speeding going through the average speed sections biggrin