Average Speed Cameras - Really Proliferating or just Spin?
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm currently living in the Middle East, but coming back to Blighty in the coming year or so. I keep reading all sorts of stuff about the proliferation of Average Speed Cameras on UK motorways etc. When I left the UK in 2009, SPECS were only used on sections of motorway that were being worked on or in specific tunnels etc. Now I hear smart motorways have average cameras...
Last time I was on the M25 (Christmas last year), it had the same gantries and fixed cameras. I guess SPECS etc wouldn't work very well on a road which has lots of different sections with different speeds set according to traffic conditions.
So is it true? Or just spin?
Ta,
J.
I'm currently living in the Middle East, but coming back to Blighty in the coming year or so. I keep reading all sorts of stuff about the proliferation of Average Speed Cameras on UK motorways etc. When I left the UK in 2009, SPECS were only used on sections of motorway that were being worked on or in specific tunnels etc. Now I hear smart motorways have average cameras...
Last time I was on the M25 (Christmas last year), it had the same gantries and fixed cameras. I guess SPECS etc wouldn't work very well on a road which has lots of different sections with different speeds set according to traffic conditions.
So is it true? Or just spin?
Ta,
J.
They are increasing but far from common. The managed motorways do have them but it's not too silly provided you pay attention to the signs and don't go above 80 in the 70.
Lots of people (or what they are driving) have speed exemptions in certain areas so don't blindly follow the car in front, stick to the speed you are allowed to do and you will be fine.
Lots of people (or what they are driving) have speed exemptions in certain areas so don't blindly follow the car in front, stick to the speed you are allowed to do and you will be fine.
Edited by Truffs on Sunday 29th May 11:46
tapereel said:
It's not true.
There is no spin.
Ok good...so it's mostly just fixed point cameras then. I can deal with them. To be honest, I'm amazed Average Speed cams aren't more mainstream. I'm really glad they're not! Where as fixed cameras can always be anticipated/alerted by your favourite technology pal, average speed zones make suckers of us all. There is no spin.
If you live in London then there is a load of every type of camera everywhere. It really takes the fun out of driving, not that I tend to give it the stick except in NSLs anyway. If I drive in pretty much any other country in the entire world, there are about 5% or less of the number of cameras as in the UK and it is a whole lot more relaxing.
There are several roads on the western side of London which now have average speed cameras.
There are several roads on the western side of London which now have average speed cameras.
Average speed cameras are being introduced on some A roads as well as motorways though many drivers don't seem to have grasped the meaning of 'average' and speed between them but brake on seeing them. Have a read here for locations and camera types; the HADECS 3 (which are not average speed) are particularly hard to spot.
http://www.speedcamerasuk.com
http://www.speedcamerasuk.com
Truffs said:
They are increasing but far from common. The managed motorways do have them but it's not too silly provided you pay attention to the signs and don't go above 80 in the 70.
Lots of people (or what they are driving) have speed exemptions in certain areas so don't blindly follow the car in front, stick to the speed you are allowed to do and you will be fine.
Out of curiosity what cars other than the obvious blues and twos and "police car on police business" have a speed exemption? The only other vehicles I can think of with a camera exemption are those running fudged plates which are getting increasingly common on the couple of ASC roads I commute on.Lots of people (or what they are driving) have speed exemptions in certain areas so don't blindly follow the car in front, stick to the speed you are allowed to do and you will be fine.
Edited by Truffs on Sunday 29th May 11:46
Unless you are talking about van drivers, they are being caught on mass on the a9 still as a lot of them dont realise they are actually limited lower than cars due to archaic laws.
agtlaw said:
johnwilliams77 said:
Do they work? Never heard of anyone been caught speeding with these cameras
Yes. You should get out more.tapereel said:
It would be interesting to invest in camera equipment that doesn't work but I can't see a purpose for that. Maybe the police missed the legislation that requires them to pass statistics to johnwilliams77. I'll let them know.
Wow, what an utter 
you are. Simple question was all I asked. Guess things are tough at home?jezzaaa said:
tapereel said:
It's not true.
There is no spin.
Ok good...so it's mostly just fixed point cameras then. I can deal with them. To be honest, I'm amazed Average Speed cams aren't more mainstream. I'm really glad they're not! Where as fixed cameras can always be anticipated/alerted by your favourite technology pal, average speed zones make suckers of us all. There is no spin.
There are fixed, mobile and hairdryers everywhere. You will find yourself driving in an entirely different environment form the one of ten years ago, so be very careful.
J
johnwilliams77 said:
tapereel said:
It would be interesting to invest in camera equipment that doesn't work but I can't see a purpose for that. Maybe the police missed the legislation that requires them to pass statistics to johnwilliams77. I'll let them know.
Wow, what an utter you are. Simple question was all I asked. Guess things are tough at home?k-wit. Glad to help.caelite said:
Out of curiosity what cars other than the obvious blues and twos and "police car on police business" have a speed exemption? The only other vehicles I can think of with a camera exemption are those running fudged plates which are getting increasingly common on the couple of ASC roads I commute on.
Unless you are talking about van drivers, they are being caught on mass on the a9 still as a lot of them dont realise they are actually limited lower than cars due to archaic laws.
There are all sorts of agencies that are involved in policing that you would not expect their vehicles and/or drivers to be exempt but are. Policing can include telecoms device engineers for example. Then, there are the diplomats who are defacto uexempt because their legislation trumps the act. I know of a French gentleman who gets to drive a very unusual French car at unusual speeds these days if need be. There are also people who can speed who will not be prosecuted because it is not currently in the public interest to do so, some of the English multiple passport users fall into this group as do some people from outside of the U.K.Unless you are talking about van drivers, they are being caught on mass on the a9 still as a lot of them dont realise they are actually limited lower than cars due to archaic laws.
All in all it's important to remember what limits have been determined for you and applies to you and drive to it, within your training. Not blindly follow the car in front! Just because they don't have the lights on don't mean to say they are not on "business".
Edited by Truffs on Monday 30th May 14:02
johnwilliams77 said:
tapereel said:
Not really; just giving you a subtle hint you asked the question that could only come from a fk-wit. Glad to help.
Did I mention anything about the police requiring them to pass me info? Nok-wit. Glad to help.Shows how bright you are
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