M5 Smart Motorway Cameras
Discussion
I fear i know the likely outcome, but wanted to post just in case a chance exists that what happened, may not lead to a negative outcome.
Was cruising up the M5 this afternoon at around 75-80mph (on speedo) when one of the gantry's lit up with 50mph as i was approaching. As i was in steady flow traffic, i couldn't slam on my brakes as would likely have caused an accident so went with the flow.
The inevitable then happened as several vehicles including mine went under the gantry at probably around 60-65mph & the camera to the side went off like fireworks on bonfire night & flashed for about 10secs. No idea exactly how many vehicles were caught, but it was certainly a few across at least 2 if not all the lanes.
As an aside, those bloody gantry's were incorrectly displayed for most of the M5/M6 saying congestion ahead (no congestion anywhere on my 200 mile journey), however it was only the one on the M5 that activated as i was approaching.
Please tell me their's a grace period of a few secs when the speed limit is activated & hat even with the grace period, the camera's will still flash, but won't proceed to a NiP?
Was cruising up the M5 this afternoon at around 75-80mph (on speedo) when one of the gantry's lit up with 50mph as i was approaching. As i was in steady flow traffic, i couldn't slam on my brakes as would likely have caused an accident so went with the flow.
The inevitable then happened as several vehicles including mine went under the gantry at probably around 60-65mph & the camera to the side went off like fireworks on bonfire night & flashed for about 10secs. No idea exactly how many vehicles were caught, but it was certainly a few across at least 2 if not all the lanes.
As an aside, those bloody gantry's were incorrectly displayed for most of the M5/M6 saying congestion ahead (no congestion anywhere on my 200 mile journey), however it was only the one on the M5 that activated as i was approaching.
Please tell me their's a grace period of a few secs when the speed limit is activated & hat even with the grace period, the camera's will still flash, but won't proceed to a NiP?
covboy said:
I assume as there was no accident no-one in the steady flow of traffic braked for the sign?
No congestion at all, however the inappropriate gantry speeds saying congestion ahead seemed to be throughout my journey.All the vehicles close by (ahead & alongside) did slow when the gantry lit up, but none if any had dropped to 50mph as they like me would have been unable to in time without slamming on. The camera flashed pretty much continuously for about 10secs, so impossible to know who was in the firing line as must have been at least 10 vehicles in the same situation as me.
w8pmc said:
No congestion at all, however the inappropriate gantry speeds saying congestion ahead seemed to be throughout my journey.
__All the vehicles close by (ahead & alongside)__ did slow when the gantry lit up, but none if any had dropped to 50mph as they like me would have been unable to in time without slamming on. The camera flashed pretty much continuously for about 10secs, so impossible to know who was in the firing line as must have been at least 10 vehicles in the same situation as me.
OPs own words.__All the vehicles close by (ahead & alongside)__ did slow when the gantry lit up, but none if any had dropped to 50mph as they like me would have been unable to in time without slamming on. The camera flashed pretty much continuously for about 10secs, so impossible to know who was in the firing line as must have been at least 10 vehicles in the same situation as me.
Or maybe the congestion was ahead of you and the speed limit prevented you from catching it up.
In the many years of travelling through variable speed limits the ONLY time anyone drove into the back of me was when the traffic slowed without the limits being set, never happened as I slowed for a variable limit.
IJWS15 said:
OPs own words.
Or maybe the congestion was ahead of you and the speed limit prevented you from catching it up.
In the many years of travelling through variable speed limits the ONLY time anyone drove into the back of me was when the traffic slowed without the limits being set, never happened as I slowed for a variable limit.
Agreed, however 'close by' is hardly an accurate measure of distance & my reference was a car in front, behind & in the lane to my left, all within an acceptable distance of around 2 car lengths.Or maybe the congestion was ahead of you and the speed limit prevented you from catching it up.
In the many years of travelling through variable speed limits the ONLY time anyone drove into the back of me was when the traffic slowed without the limits being set, never happened as I slowed for a variable limit.
The key point is the gantry lit up as ALL the cars around were close to the gantry, so although everyone appeared to slow down (including myself) nobody slammed on & thus the speed of all vehicles around me would have been around 60-65mph. The next gantry was not illuminated so the traffic after all appearing to have been flashed, increased their speed back to NSL & all was good until a few miles up the road when it appeared almost every alternate gantry was set to 50mph with no congestion visible anywhere on my entire journey North.
However given the scenario i originally posted, these randomly lit gantries that followed were all visible & didn't change either on/off as i was close by.
w8pmc said:
Agreed, however 'close by' is hardly an accurate measure of distance & my reference was a car in front, behind & in the lane to my left, all within an acceptable distance of around 2 car lengths.
The key point is the gantry lit up as ALL the cars around were close to the gantry, so although everyone appeared to slow down (including myself) nobody slammed on & thus the speed of all vehicles around me would have been around 60-65mph. The next gantry was not illuminated so the traffic after all appearing to have been flashed, increased their speed back to NSL & all was good until a few miles up the road when it appeared almost every alternate gantry was set to 50mph with no congestion visible anywhere on my entire journey North.
However given the scenario i originally posted, these randomly lit gantries that followed were all visible & didn't change either on/off as i was close by.
I presume that is a typo. You're not really saying that 2 car lengths is sufficient gap at 60mph?The key point is the gantry lit up as ALL the cars around were close to the gantry, so although everyone appeared to slow down (including myself) nobody slammed on & thus the speed of all vehicles around me would have been around 60-65mph. The next gantry was not illuminated so the traffic after all appearing to have been flashed, increased their speed back to NSL & all was good until a few miles up the road when it appeared almost every alternate gantry was set to 50mph with no congestion visible anywhere on my entire journey North.
However given the scenario i originally posted, these randomly lit gantries that followed were all visible & didn't change either on/off as i was close by.
BertBert said:
I presume that is a typo. You're not really saying that 2 car lengths is sufficient gap at 60mph?
Apologies as meant to type roughly 2 seconds, but wrote 2 car lengths. Point being the traffic ahead, behind & to my left were not bunched up, no congestion ahead & all travelling at the NSL with safe distances, up until the gantry lit up & then all slowed (safely), but unable to drop to 50mph in a safe manner, hence the cameras went off like red carpet at the Oscars.w8pmc said:
unable to drop to 50mph in a safe manner
Maybe I'm due a parrot but how much braking force do you need to shave off 20mph from your speed once you see the sign? It's not really stand on the pedal, emergency braking levels that would cause everyone to pile into the back of you is it?Chris
ScoobyChris said:
Maybe I'm due a parrot but how much braking force do you need to shave off 20mph from your speed once you see the sign? It's not really stand on the pedal, emergency braking levels that would cause everyone to pile into the back of you is it?
Chris
Not strictly true as the gantry only lit up when i was roughly 20ft ahead of it (rough estimate). It certainly wasn't in my line of sight when it changed as had to double take looking upwards.Chris
BertBert said:
how long between the limit change and getting flashed?
See above.At 70-60mph with about 20ft distance, it really wasn't very far/long.
The camera flashed pretty much constant once it first triggered for about 10secs.
Best guess is the car in front of me or to my left was first to trigger it, so I'd have been the 2nd/3rd recipient of a flash.
A FOI request from AutoExpress revealed that there is a 60 second grace period after a limit is flashed up before the cameras start enforcing.
It doesn't say whether or not they would still flash, but it seems illogical to me that they would.
So, either you were mistaken about how long that limit was on the gantry for, or the cameras flash for no reason.
https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/lifestyle/cars/s...
It doesn't say whether or not they would still flash, but it seems illogical to me that they would.
So, either you were mistaken about how long that limit was on the gantry for, or the cameras flash for no reason.
https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/lifestyle/cars/s...
w8pmc said:
BertBert said:
how long between the limit change and getting flashed?
See above.At 70-60mph with about 20ft distance, it really wasn't very far/long.
The camera flashed pretty much constant once it first triggered for about 10secs.
Best guess is the car in front of me or to my left was first to trigger it, so I'd have been the 2nd/3rd recipient of a flash.
It didn't happen.
If the lights flashed it might have been cars in front of you that triggered it, it might have been some sort of reset process when the speed changed, it might have been no end of obscure reasons. What ever it was, it was nothing to do with you.
Also worth considering is that the 'thinking distance' at 70 mph is generally reckoned to be approx 70ft. This means that had you decided to do an emergency stop in the middle of the motorway, you'd have passed the gantry before your foot even got to the brake pedal,
Yellow Lizud said:
70mph is 102 ft/sec. As you only had to travel 20ft this means it took .2 (1/5th) second between the speed changing and the light flashing.
It didn't happen.
If the lights flashed it might have been cars in front of you that triggered it, it might have been some sort of reset process when the speed changed, it might have been no end of obscure reasons. What ever it was, it was nothing to do with you.
Also worth considering is that the 'thinking distance' at 70 mph is generally reckoned to be approx 70ft. This means that had you decided to do an emergency stop in the middle of the motorway, you'd have passed the gantry before your foot even got to the brake pedal,
I'm wondering why you say that? Why is impossible that the signs changed and 1/5th second later the car triggered the camera? Just curious as to the rationaleIt didn't happen.
If the lights flashed it might have been cars in front of you that triggered it, it might have been some sort of reset process when the speed changed, it might have been no end of obscure reasons. What ever it was, it was nothing to do with you.
Also worth considering is that the 'thinking distance' at 70 mph is generally reckoned to be approx 70ft. This means that had you decided to do an emergency stop in the middle of the motorway, you'd have passed the gantry before your foot even got to the brake pedal,
BertBert said:
I'm wondering why you say that? Why is impossible that the signs changed and 1/5th second later the car triggered the camera? Just curious as to the rationale
Because, apart from common sense,Durzel said:
A FOI request from AutoExpress revealed that there is a 60 second grace period after a limit is flashed up before the cameras start enforcing.
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