M6 Specs in roadworks

[targarama]

Just South of Knutsford on the M6 yesterday evening there was I cruising along at 40mph in the roadworks. Anyone with any sense sees the SPECS cameras and other cars doing dead on 40mph (and thus ought to suspect something if they knew nothing about SPECS).

So who were all these people bombing past at 50-60mph? Including a coach and a car/caravan! I was doing bang on 40mph on the GPS. No wonder they're raking in the money through tickets/fines. Too many id10ts on the road getting caught when they don't really have to be.

BTW, after the roadworks I resumed my 85mph cruise (roof off, nice evening kind of speed) and passed most of these vehicles so they gained nothing anyway. Dur!

[parrot of doom]

I wouldn't be surprised if some of those cars weren't licensed.

[timtonal]

I've been through that stretch several times recently and the only workforce I've seen were a group of 4 or 5 men and a tripper truck. Unless the rest of the workforce is invisible or they have employed an army of ants recently.

[smeggy]

targarama said:

So who were all these people bombing past at 50-60mph? Including a coach and a car/caravan! I was doing bang on 40mph on the GPS. No wonder they're raking in the money through tickets/fines. Too many id10ts on the road getting caught when they don't really have to be.

I would guess those you described might assume that these are point cameras (gatso/truvelo) or Trafficmasters. They may not even realise how these things work.

Whose fault is this? The camera partnerships!

If the partnerships really wanted to slow drivers to within the limit, they would erect signs at the start of the enforced stretch indicating
‘these cameras deduce your average speed over the enforced distance’, hence discouraging drivers to speed up between the cameras.

But they don’t

£erching!



Either that or the problem of cloned plates and unregistered keepers is far greater than anyone thought.

[whitney44]

Hi Smeggy - there are signs warning that average speeds are being monitored it just seems that many people dont look. They do slow down at the actual camera sites (and then speed up after). If they don't pay attention then they will get what is coming to them.......

[Rob-C]

And if you do stick to the speed limit, then you get what's coming to you - an Estonian truck driver hanging 18" off your back bumper.

[timtonal]

..or any truck or coach edging past you on the inside - the conditions these sorts of restrictions cause are potentially asking for a pileup to happen as you are travelling in a bunch of traffic with 3 lanes doing roughly the same speed.

I with they'd limit these schemes to a couple of miles - fix a stretch of road then move on to the next.

I avoid these roadworks wherever possible.

[xm5er]

smeggy said:

[ If the partnerships really wanted to slow drivers to within the limit, they would erect signs at the start of the enforced stretch indicating ‘these cameras deduce your average speed over the enforced distance’, hence discouraging drivers to speed up between the cameras. But they don’t

Whilst i agree with you in that clear signs should be there, I can assure you that lots of people wouldn't read them. There is a bus lane close to where I live that operates during rush hour. Its clearly sign posted as to the time limits but 90% of folk automatically pull out of it without bothering to read the sign, and that includes Panda car drivers and taxis who can drive in it at all times.

[smeggy]

xm5er said:

Whilst i agree with you in that clear signs should be there, I can assure you that lots of people wouldn't read them.

If the signs are clearly presented, then drivers who don't see these may also not see other hazards, so I would agree with others here that these drivers are fair game.

[smeggy]

whitney44 said:

Hi Smeggy - there are signs warning that average speeds are being monitored .......

Thanks for the clarification.

Are the signs really obvious or are they tiny little things? (like the ones used to indicate mobile speed enforcement)

[Gaffer]

What about the last SPECS camera that is a mile beyond the end of the roadworks?

Can you still get caught for that..?

Claire

[steshutt]

There is a sign on the last one , saying not in use.

[softtop]

not yet. you can speed up once the last but one has been passed and you can see the NSL in the distance before the next camera. When this moves, keep at 40.

There has been much talk about only one lane being live for a SPECS camera? Do you reckon you can speed on the inside lane?

[timtonal]

I'm pretty certain that Specs can only cope with traffic keeping in 1 lane. When the Nottingham system was set up there were markings sprayed on the points on the road that the cameras appeared to be aimed at - the outside lanes of the A610.

Also the M1 Specs near J21 have 2 per gantry - presumably to get the 2 lanes of traffic.

B.T.W try the M69 and the A5 to avoid this - the A5 is a particularly smashing bit though there's a small 50 limited bridge repair job on the '69!

[steshutt]

a friend of mine, who's company supplied generator's for some of the specs cameras when they first came out, told me that he spoke to some of the installation engineers and they said that you could hop lanes to avoid them, ie they only cover one lane. Never quite trusted it as fact, but that was what he was told.
They don't supply the generators any more, Bad publicity and they decided they had a conscience.

[streaky]

parrot of doom said:

I wouldn't be surprised if some of those cars weren't licensed.

And driven by murders, rapists, and other ultra-low life. Not that I disagree with the thrust of the argument - Streaky

[deckster]

smeggy said:

whitney44 said: Hi Smeggy - there are signs warning that average speeds are being monitored ....... Thanks for the clarification. Are the signs really obvious or are they tiny little things? (like the ones used to indicate mobile speed enforcement)

They're massive great big signs, same text size as a normal Mway road sign I'd guess. You'd really have to be driving with your eyes shut to miss them.

[d-man]

deckster said:

smeggy said: whitney44 said: Hi Smeggy - there are signs warning that average speeds are being monitored ....... Thanks for the clarification. Are the signs really obvious or are they tiny little things? (like the ones used to indicate mobile speed enforcement) They're massive great big signs, same text size as a normal Mway road sign I'd guess. You'd really have to be driving with your eyes shut to miss them.

Could be people that don't know how to recognise a SPECS camera don't believe them of course. You see speed camera signs, 90% of the time there is no camera. They might be in for a nasty shock though, always stick to a GPS indicated 40 through there after the gf got done in a 50 limit by SPECS on the M62 once

[smeggy]

Oddly enough, I just found out that a close friend reckons he may have got caught on the M6 last weekend. He only saw a sign saying 'SPECS camera' and guessed it was a point speed camera, so he had no idea that it averaged over a distance. He knows better now.
He’ll be sweating that out for a few days yet