You may have noticed a few stories circulating in the mainstream national press about a new 'stealth' speed camera that's apparently being rolled out over hundreds of miles of motorway. Seems the Daily Wail started the ball moving and the Telegraph followed up
later yesterday
HADECs not SPECs, got it?
Well, we've spoken to the Highways Agency to find out what's actually what.
Turns out this is not a 'new' system at all, but an upgrade to the current 'smart' motorway network. The clue is in the name, really - the new so-called stealth devices are HADECS 3 cameras, and believe it or not they're replacing HADECS 2. HADECS stands for Highways Agency Digital Enforcement Camera System.
HADECS is used to patrol sections of motorway where the speed limit is variable - you're probably familiar with these areas on, for example, the M1, M6 and M25. They enforce reductions in the limit not to catch people out or raise revenue (allegedly) but in an effort to keep the traffic flowing during busy times. This is the 'smart' motorway ideal.
And while the Mail has been making a fuss about HADECS 3 being used to enforce the 70mph maximum, this isn't anything new, either. The police already have the power to use smart motorway cameras to ticket people driving over 70 - they just don't necessarily choose to use them.
Given that 94.6 per cent of respondents to a 2011 Autocar survey admitted to driving over 70mph, the rumour that most police authorities don't use the cameras to enforce this limit due to the sheer amount of paperwork it would generate might have some merit. But digital advances are making this easier. And we gather you might want to take it easy around Birmingham...
Either way, even when the new cameras do start coming online in two years' time, it's really just situation normal. In fact, the design of the new system seems far less prone to accusations of becoming a SNAFU...
The 'stealth' aspect of the mainstream media stories entirely relates to the new cameras' colour - the HADECS 3 will be grey not bright yellow, leading the Alliance of British Drivers and others to suggest they will be more difficult to spot.
Which might be true if not for the reality that the current motorway cameras are not only also grey but tucked away on gantries. HADECS 3 will be mounted in plain sight on dedicated poles, complete with speed camera warning signs in accordance with current guidelines.
What's more, although they look similar to SPECS average speed cameras they are only 'spot' cameras, focused on a single point. So won't be measuring your speed over a distance.
It's not all good news for eagle-eyed motorists, though. The new system only requires a single camera to watch an entire motorway carriageway, whereas the present setup needs one on each lane. This means HADECS 3 will be more cost-effective to deploy, so we're probably going find they spread very quickly.
With PHers already discussing this and now some new info, why not join the discussion? Thread is here.