M6 Smart Motorway & Speed Cameras
Discussion
I''d have expected this to be covered here already, I've searched but can't find anything so here goes.
Last night, M6 northbound, just south of Stafford about two / three miles prior to where roadworks begin. I'm doing an indicated 79/80 mph and got flashed. No speed restrictions on overhead gantry etc.
Now I'm not disputing that I was guilty or looking for loopholes, I was speeding and if I get caught then thats fair enough.
But I always thought that the speed cameras didn't operate if the speed restrictions on the gantry weren't operating and they were 'off' if the motorway was running normally (it was 11pm and fairly quiet). I'd also thought (naively perhaps) that there was a certain allowance / margin of error / 10% + 3mph rule. Seems that this might not be the case.
Anyone with any knowledge on this or shall I just spend the next few days waiting for the letter to registered keeper to fall through the letterbox.
Last night, M6 northbound, just south of Stafford about two / three miles prior to where roadworks begin. I'm doing an indicated 79/80 mph and got flashed. No speed restrictions on overhead gantry etc.
Now I'm not disputing that I was guilty or looking for loopholes, I was speeding and if I get caught then thats fair enough.
But I always thought that the speed cameras didn't operate if the speed restrictions on the gantry weren't operating and they were 'off' if the motorway was running normally (it was 11pm and fairly quiet). I'd also thought (naively perhaps) that there was a certain allowance / margin of error / 10% + 3mph rule. Seems that this might not be the case.
Anyone with any knowledge on this or shall I just spend the next few days waiting for the letter to registered keeper to fall through the letterbox.
SS2. said:
And there is some leeway - the standard threshold for enforcement being [limit + 10% +2mph] ie 79mph in a 70mph limit.
To be clear for the OP, this is the point at which enforcement starts, i.e. if your indicated 79 mph = an actual 79 mph speed then you may receive a ticket. The flash is one step closer but you might get away. An indicated 77 or so is far safer wrt enforcement.Thanks, I'm guessing slightly at an indicated 80, I was doing there or thereabouts. Saw the flash, glanced at the speedo and was showing 78/80.
Guess I'll just have to wait and see what comes. If I do get a NIP through the door, am I likely to have the option of a speed awareness course at that sort of speed or is it just a case of points and fine. Do they even offer them for motorway speeding?
First offence in over 20 years so I'm a bit unsure what to expect!
Guess I'll just have to wait and see what comes. If I do get a NIP through the door, am I likely to have the option of a speed awareness course at that sort of speed or is it just a case of points and fine. Do they even offer them for motorway speeding?
First offence in over 20 years so I'm a bit unsure what to expect!
If the threshold was set at 90 then that wouldn't have happened.Speed courses are generally offered at speeds up to limit + 10% + 9mph - so 86mph in a 70.
There are a couple of caveats about this though. One is that you shouldn't have done a course for the same offence in the last 3 years. The "Motorway" course is not the same as the standard "Speeding" course which is also different from the "Red Light" course, etc.. As you haven't had any motoring convictions in the last 20 years that shouldn't be a problem.
Next thing to bear in mind is that courses are only offered in England and Wales - so, again you should be OK. Most forces are members of a National scheme so if you don't live near where you get caught you can elect to do the course somewhere more convenient for you.
The final point is that assuming that you are eligible for a course you generally only get offered a course if you can take the course within about 4 months of the offence. This is to make sure that if you don't turn up for the course you can still be prosecuted.
There are a couple of caveats about this though. One is that you shouldn't have done a course for the same offence in the last 3 years. The "Motorway" course is not the same as the standard "Speeding" course which is also different from the "Red Light" course, etc.. As you haven't had any motoring convictions in the last 20 years that shouldn't be a problem.
Next thing to bear in mind is that courses are only offered in England and Wales - so, again you should be OK. Most forces are members of a National scheme so if you don't live near where you get caught you can elect to do the course somewhere more convenient for you.
The final point is that assuming that you are eligible for a course you generally only get offered a course if you can take the course within about 4 months of the offence. This is to make sure that if you don't turn up for the course you can still be prosecuted.
Am I missing something really obvious here? People are assuming that if there is no speed limit shown then it's basically autobahn rules?
If there is a type-approved mechanism to prosecute people sat there it seems to me incredibly foolhardy to assume that it is only active when there are actual variable limits shown.
If there is a type-approved mechanism to prosecute people sat there it seems to me incredibly foolhardy to assume that it is only active when there are actual variable limits shown.
To reiterate what V8RX7 has posted, I drive the M6 managed motorway frequently and drive at an indicated 90 in a modern car, when there is no sub-70mph restriction in place. I haven’t once been flashed or received any form of penalty. I did similar on the M62 from the Castleford side all the way over to Manchester the other week and haven’t received anything.
There is a large swathe of the M6 from J17 to after J13 that’s restricted to 50 permanently in the roadworks while they make this managed, but that is monitored by average speed cameras not ones that flash.
There seem to be a few of these posts that crop up, that never seem to get closed off from the person who claims to have been flashed.
There is a large swathe of the M6 from J17 to after J13 that’s restricted to 50 permanently in the roadworks while they make this managed, but that is monitored by average speed cameras not ones that flash.
There seem to be a few of these posts that crop up, that never seem to get closed off from the person who claims to have been flashed.
I see it quite regularly on that stretch but I always keep to within 10%+2 and for extra caution will roll off the throttle a little just before the camera. I actually got flashed by one of the cameras on the southbound approaching junction 10. The limit was set to 60 and I was comfortably within 10%+2 but it was someone in lane 4 who triggered it. I did wonder if I would also hear from them but nothing ever came so I'm confident that my approach works. Any higher and it's anyones guess what they are set to.
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