Camera Vans

[DJC]

Hi

I am worried that I might have been caught. I was travelling on the A623 towards Bradwell in the peak district. There was a camera van on the opposite side of the road with the front of the van facing me. Do you think he would have caught me as I went past.

Thanks,

Daniel

[Pericoloso]

How fast were you going ?

What's the speed limit ?

My crystal ball is good but not THAT good.

[Helicopter123]

DJC said:

Hi

I am worried that I might have been caught. I was travelling on the A623 towards Bradwell in the peak district. There was a camera van on the opposite side of the road with the front of the van facing me. Do you think he would have caught me as I went past.

Thanks,

Daniel

Were you, ahem, 'making progress' at the time?

[DJC]

Pericoloso said:

How fast were you going ?

What's the speed limit ?

My crystal ball is good but not THAT good.

I drive a classic mini so the speedo over reads. Its a 50mph road and the needle was hovering around the 60 mark

[HTP99]

Might have done, might not have done, it's too late to worry now.

[DJC]

Helicopter123 said:

Were you, ahem, 'making progress' at the time?

I had just pulled out of a junction quickly and its downhill so i'm worried that my speedo got carried away a
bit

[DJC]

HTP99 said:

Might have done, might not have done, it's too late to worry now.

Can they still get you going in the other direction on the other side of the road

[BertBert]

DJC said:

I drive a classic mini so the speedo over reads. Its a 50mph road and the needle was hovering around the 60 mark

So what do you think your speed actually was? If they are following the 'guidelines' then at (a real) 57 you are in line for the NIP. If your speedo over-reads badly, that's probably about 10% so you were doing around 54. Probably more like 5% so if it said 60, you'd be doing 57...

My crystal ball says you got away with id

[spookly]

DJC said:

HTP99 said:

Might have done, might not have done, it's too late to worry now.

Can they still get you going in the other direction on the other side of the road

They can get you in either direction, usually captured from the rear of the van..... so you have to be not observing things very well to get caught from the side approaching the van, as that would mean you'd failed to see the van at all or slow down before the area they can catch you - which would be well past the rear of the van.

The lens on the cameras is fairly long, and they often have it trained way down the road to catch the approaching traffic at distance before they are seen. It also takes time to get the camera zoomed/aimed to another point if you just blat past. So you're likely safe.

I once passed a camera van uphill in a 50 mph limit; I was doing a speed appropriate to get to a flight departing in 20 minutes when I'm still 3 miles from the airport. Never heard anything from it.

[chunder27]

Camera vans are getting more and more people.

Mainly for a few reasons.

They are placed in a stretch of road that has seen incidents.

But, they are not placed where the incidents were, they are placed where they have the highest likelihood of making money, ie near the 30 or 40 sign, this might be a mile away from the incidents that allowed them to place the van there.

As in my case, I was done exiting a large roundabout on a piece of very wide road with no pavements, nothing around at all, but bang to rights the exit was 30.

The incidents took place further up near a crossroads and a bus stop.

But putting a camera van there doesn't make as much money, it would catch people speeding in a hotsopt, unlike the exit of a roundabout with no dangers anywhere.

They are NOT mobile Gatso's, they are placed where the incidents happen, they are far, far more ruthless.

[eskidavies]

By the time you’ve hit the middle pedal when YOU seen the van you’re done ,that camera got hell of a distance on it ,I was looking at it and talking the operator at the royal welsh show ,he invited me to look through the lense ,a mini you say reading 60 I doubt it ,don’t worry about it ,my 65 plate transit over reads in comparison to sat nav ,indicated 80 ,sat nav 75/76

Edited by eskidavies on Saturday 11th August 19:22

[HTP99]

chunder27 said:

Camera vans are getting more and more people.

Mainly for a few reasons.

They are placed in a stretch of road that has seen incidents.

But, they are not placed where the incidents were, they are placed where they have the highest likelihood of making money, ie near the 30 or 40 sign, this might be a mile away from the incidents that allowed them to place the van there.

Couple near me; first one is on the A3 North bound between Ripley and the M25, it is in a dip just after a bridge so it isn't noticed till too late; you'll ways notice a drop in speed leading up to that area (locals in the know), there was a spate of accidents at the next junction, however these were never caused by excessive speed, they also only happened on a week day morning in rush hour, they were caused by idiots cutting into to the long queue to get onto the Cobham sliproad, right at the last minute and getting whacked up the arse by a lorry as the back of their car was invariably hanging out into lane 1 and sometimes lane 2. Also this camera is only there on a Saturday or Sunday, when the road is quieter and free flowing and the only chance you'll ever get to speed as a weekday is too congested.

2nd one is near a school, however it is never there when it is either school drop off or pick up, this is because its busy and congested and you'll never get a chance to get any speed up, I've not heard of any accidents there; ever!

[Short Grain]

I tend to drive with the Sat Nav on all the time nowadays. Quick glance at the screen confirms the speed limit where ever I am and seems to work as no tickets for the past 9 years or so. It's a built in VW Sat Nav and seems to be fairly accurate!

Only 'make progress' when I'm sure there are no vans likely and tend am fairly vigilant looking for likely spots for vans. I also like to give cheery wave when passing a van doing the posted limit!

[anonymous-user]

Short Grain said:

I tend to drive with the Sat Nav on all the time nowadays. Quick glance at the screen confirms the speed limit where ever I am and seems to work as no tickets for the past 9 years or so. It's a built in VW Sat Nav and seems to be fairly accurate!

The op should check what the sat nav is reading at 60 on the clock.

[mygoldfishbowl]

Short Grain said:

Quick glance at the screen confirms the speed limit where ever I am

I kid you not. Someone maybe along soon to call you "Irrational".

[lyonspride]

The camera's are manned, they have to point then at you for a speed reading, their websites claim they can catch cars in all directions, but they don't tell you that the front/side cameras are like CCTV and only there to catch bikes (which don't have front plates).