Setting off camera on a bicycle

[mjb1]

If they figure out who you are, then you're likely to get done for not displaying a rear number plate, no tax, no MOT, no insurance. You'll also be done for not having a license, unless you can produce your cycling proficiency certificate.

In reality, a cyclist may not be big enough to trigger - Gatsos are capable of determining object size from the reflected beam, hence how they can detect a lorry and apply a different speed limit.

[mrmr96]

mjb1 said:

If they figure out who you are, then you're likely to get done for not displaying a rear number plate, no tax, no MOT, no insurance. You'll also be done for not having a license, unless you can produce your cycling proficiency certificate.

Jokes are meant to be funny.

[AlexiusG55]

mjb1 said:

If they figure out who you are, then you're likely to get done for not displaying a rear number plate, no tax, no MOT, no insurance. You'll also be done for not having a license, unless you can produce your cycling proficiency certificate.

In reality, a cyclist may not be big enough to trigger - Gatsos are capable of determining object size from the reflected beam, hence how they can detect a lorry and apply a different speed limit.

Surely a big man on a pushbike isn't much smaller (if at all) than a small woman on a 125cc motorbike, who presumably would trigger a Gatso. And I thought the different speed limits were applied based on number-plate recognition- though in that case they wouldn't trigger for a bike as there's no plate.

I have occasionally wondered what would happen if you strapped a number plate (from a car registered to you) to your back before cycling past the camera- mainly in order to try and get the photo for bragging purposes. Presumably you'd want to use a square one to avoid extra drag...

[mrmarcus]

get a moped (a proper one like a Honda p50 with the pedals that will have a numberplate) and see what results. when it gets to court, argue that their camera must be faulty as a p50 doing this speed is crazy talk.

[mrmr96]

AlexiusG55 said:

I thought the different speed limits were applied based on number-plate recognition

SPECS maybe, but Not for gatso's or truvelos.

[carreauchompeur]

MrGman said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9e-txPOoEw

I bet the SCP camera processing team have a "Wall of Fame" for photos like this.

[Guybrush]

If it could be done easily with a bicycle (i.e. for me that would be downhill), then I'd make it my duty to set it off as much as possible. Wasting the time of people in that industry would be a fun thing to do.

[Rostfritt]

mrmarcus said:

get a moped (a proper one like a Honda p50 with the pedals that will have a numberplate) and see what results. when it gets to court, argue that their camera must be faulty as a p50 doing this speed is crazy talk.

When I was 17 I got done for 42 in a 30 on a restricted 50cc moped. Didn't fancy trying the 'Honestly it is not capable of that speed' defence. An easy thing to find out would be if bicycles set of red light cameras.

[mat777]

I wonder what would happen if a speeding pushbike overtook a legal-speed car on a gatso and triggered it?

[james0]

Bugger all as the two pictures would show the push bike to be speeding not the car.
I have set off a 'guilt' 30 reminder sign on my downhill bike, downhill of course. Very satisfying.

[Rostfritt]

mat777 said:

I wonder what would happen if a speeding pushbike overtook a legal-speed car on a gatso and triggered it?

The pictures would show that and the markings on the ground will prove the car wasn't speeding.

[jith]

oldsoak said:

Adrian W said:

There's one near where I live, on a steep him, cyclists get it to flash for sport

I'm not inclined to believe you...or him for that matter....

I have just started training on a new hybrid bike. I haven't cycled for a few years and I cannot believe how quick this new bike is; it's utterly tremendous. It has 32 gears and will effortlessly achieve 40 MPH.

No problem setting off a camera, believe me!

J

[MatthewO]

Once set off a camera on a pedal bike at the bottom of an immense hill - took a hell of a run up and a cerebral edema to do it, but chuffed nonetheless.

[yellowjack]

james0 said:

Bugger all as the two pictures would show the push bike to be speeding not the car.
I have set off a 'guilt' 30 reminder sign on my downhill bike, downhill of course. Very satisfying.

Those 'guilt' reminders are great fun. There are two of them on my regular 20 mile route. Both are at or near the start of 30mph limits for villages. One of them can be relied upon to flash up "30" when I pass it at anything above an indicated 32mph (cycle computer), but the other one doesn't always pick up on my prescence, despite the fact that I'm almost always nearer 35mph when I pass it.

The drill is: get up to a decent speed on approach. Look behind, and hope the road is clear. Stomp on the pedals to ensure you hit required speed. If 'it flashes' have another look behind. If there are no cars behind you, you can be sure it was all down to you. Raise a fist in a TdF style victory salute, whilst trying to carry some of the hard-won speed up the next (inevitable) hill.

There was another one, that flashed the speed you were doing, and alternated that with an appropriate 'smilie'

ie: 27/ or 34/

I found that one by accident, rounding a bend into the village, when it smiled at me. So I turned around and had another go. Only to 'calibrate my bike computer' you understand. I'm still looking, but I haven't yet found a Gatso in a suitable situation to go play with it, but if I do find one you can bet that I'll be out 'experimenting' in the area regularly!

[rs1952]

yellowjack said:

Those 'guilt' reminders are great fun.

Sorry to spoil some of your fun, but some of those "guilt" VAS's ain't always telling the truth.

There is one on the old A4 to the west of Chippenham that I have set off on my push bike doing no more than about 12mph

On another occasion, I was going down Tog Hill on the A420 towards Bristol, and a lorry was making heavy weather of coming up (clouds of black smoke and no, it wasn't a Sentinel steam wagon). I wondered if it would make it to the top as it was doing somewhere between 5 and 10mph and, as I looked around, the "SLOW DOWN" VAS was flashing at it.

[yellowjack]

rs1952 said:

Sorry to spoil some of your fun, but some of those "guilt" VAS's ain't always telling the truth.

Yah big spoilsport

[AyBee]

I just wish you could send off for the pictures, would look great framed on my wall

[cptsideways]

To set them off successfully every time apart from the right speed you also need a metal "tea tray" in a rucksack as gatso units are Radar based


We spent many weeks trying this out in Guildford many moons ago.


Also tennis balls & footballs wrapped in tin foil work quite well

[funkyrobot]

gazza285 said:

Either the drug squad or Team Telekom would be round.

Team Telekom? That's old skool.

[wst]

yellowjack said:

I found that one by accident, rounding a bend into the village, when it smiled at me. So I turned around and had another go. Only to 'calibrate my bike computer' you understand. I'm still looking, but I haven't yet found a Gatso in a suitable situation to go play with it, but if I do find one you can bet that I'll be out 'experimenting' in the area regularly!

I imagine things that can't be 'read' by ANPR have to manually be read... if enough people set a Gatso off on pushbikes do you reckon it'd be uneconomic to run it, and they'd remove it?

Now to find a group of hardened criminal cyclists that believe they are above and beyond the law, and have huge pistons to crack on to 60mph or so to get rid of the cameras on the A505...