Tripod speed camera on motorway bridge?

[DickP]

Hi,

On the M6 this morning near Wigan there was a man in a black outfit with a tripod and what looked like a camera, and also a black Fiesta van next to them. Coming back on the same section an hour and half later the person was still there but packing away into the Fiesta van, now with visible white shirt etc.

Was this likely a speed camera?

Are the police forces introducing these more widely as they are less obvious than the van?

Are they supposed to wear high visibility and / or is the car supposed to display the speed camera symbol on the side?

Thanks!

[Quhet]

Probably some kind of surveying equipment rather than a radar gun

[DickP]

Hi,

I wouldn't have thought they would point it at the traffic though...

Didn't look like any surveying equipment I've come across (which, whilst not a Land Surveyor, I am a Surveyor by profession).

Will have to see if I get a polite letter in a few days time.

Thanks,

[mike-v2tmf]

Saw the same thing on the A130 last week, a few Police on a bridge with something on a tripod aimed at the traffic and a couple of unmarked cars flying about with discrete blue lights in the front grill/ rear windows

[V8 Bob]

Most likely ANPR looking fir no tax/insurance normally a couple of police cars parked up a couple of miles up road or on next slip road.

[covboy]

Required to wear Hi Viz - No
Cars to have signs - No

[Turbobanana]

Eddie Stobart spotter?

[Sheepshanks]

DickP said:

…. a man in a black outfit with a tripod and what looked like a camera,

That’s exactly how I got knabbed one summer evening on the A500 on Cheshire. He was standing off to the side of the bridge, with trees behind him and the sun behind those - so he was invisible until close up.

[CarCrazyDad]

Sheepshanks said:

DickP said:

…. a man in a black outfit with a tripod and what looked like a camera,

That’s exactly how I got knabbed one summer evening on the A500 on Cheshire. He was standing off to the side of the bridge, with trees behind him and the sun behind those - so he was invisible until close up.

But they're there to PREVENT speeding , apparently .... !

[DickP]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will find out. GPS speed was indicating roughly 77mph so could be within the discretionary tolerance (if they feel inclined to use it?).

covboy said:

Required to wear Hi Viz - No
Cars to have signs - No

So they could in theory hide inside a roadside bin as well in that case? Or jump out from behind a bush?

In my opinion, if it were about safety (i.e. known blackspot for collisions), then having a visible presence should take priority over hiding from the public. Great way for damaging relations, do you agree?

[singlecoil]

CarCrazyDad said:

Sheepshanks said:

DickP said:

…. a man in a black outfit with a tripod and what looked like a camera,

That’s exactly how I got knabbed one summer evening on the A500 on Cheshire. He was standing off to the side of the bridge, with trees behind him and the sun behind those - so he was invisible until close up.

But they're there to PREVENT speeding , apparently .... !

They are, the idea is that those who are inclined not to comply with speed limits get caught and fined etc, and are thereby prevented (if they have any sense) from speeding again.

[CarCrazyDad]

singlecoil said:

CarCrazyDad said:

Sheepshanks said:

DickP said:

…. a man in a black outfit with a tripod and what looked like a camera,

That’s exactly how I got knabbed one summer evening on the A500 on Cheshire. He was standing off to the side of the bridge, with trees behind him and the sun behind those - so he was invisible until close up.

But they're there to PREVENT speeding , apparently .... !

They are, the idea is that those who are inclined not to comply with speed limits get caught and fined etc, and are thereby prevented (if they have any sense) from speeding again.

Lol

If they wanted to stop speeding they would put up big signs saying "SPEED CAMERA IS 1 MILE AHEAD, SLOW DOWN"

Not hide behind a bush or bridge support or in the shadows

Getting a letter through the post 2 weeks later asking for £100 doesn't help , it just frustrates the drivers, where as either a talking to at the side of the road or signs of obvious upcoming enforcement would slow people down (the small speed camera signs not with standing as they are obviously a permanent fixture which are often ignored!)

Then again no Police officer would pull over a driver doing 80 MPH on the motorway
But it's an easy fine for a Camera ! :-)

[unident]

CarCrazyDad said:

Lol

If they wanted to stop speeding they would put up big signs saying "SPEED CAMERA IS 1 MILE AHEAD, SLOW DOWN"

Not hide behind a bush or bridge support or in the shadows

Getting a letter through the post 2 weeks later asking for £100 doesn't help , it just frustrates the drivers, where as either a talking to at the side of the road or signs of obvious upcoming enforcement would slow people down (the small speed camera signs not with standing as they are obviously a permanent fixture which are often ignored!)

Then again no Police officer would pull over a driver doing 80 MPH on the motorway
But it's an easy fine for a Camera ! :-)

Think about what you’re proposing. Either every single piece of road in the whole country will need to be manned 24/7 with speed enforcement, or you’re saying that everywhere that doesn’t have these great big signs, dozens of police cars etc is completely free rein to do whatever speed you want.

You won’t have to wait two weeks for a letter either. Ya usually a couple of days. They have up to two weeks to get it to you (give it take a bit for the pedants)

[Pica-Pica]

CarCrazyDad said:

Lol

If they wanted to stop speeding they would put up big signs saying "SPEED CAMERA IS 1 MILE AHEAD, SLOW DOWN"

Not hide behind a bush or bridge support or in the shadows

Getting a letter through the post 2 weeks later asking for £100 doesn't help , it just frustrates the drivers, where as either a talking to at the side of the road or signs of obvious upcoming enforcement would slow people down (the small speed camera signs not with standing as they are obviously a permanent fixture which are often ignored!)

Then again no Police officer would pull over a driver doing 80 MPH on the motorway
But it's an easy fine for a Camera ! :-)

I think you will find that where there are (or the potential to be) speed cameras, there are signs already. That is, of course, in addition to the speed limits signs or inference (street lights, road type etc).

[Sheepshanks]

singlecoil said:

They are, the idea is that those who are inclined not to comply with speed limits get caught and fined etc, and are thereby prevented (if they have any sense) from speeding again.

While I don't want to agree with that, it's true in my case - I've seen tripod mounted cameras around Cheshire quite a bit, but have also seen them on the M42 and M40.

I got away with murder for years, then got caught twice in fairly quick succession, once by the tripod and the other by an unmarked car, but thankfuly only got fixed penalties.

I was in Court territory with the unmarked car but he "let me off", and the tripod one I was doing 85 when I could heve been much faster. Driving as part of my job it made me realise I could get caught every time I went out so I backed off a lot.

[singlecoil]

unident said:

CarCrazyDad said:

Lol

If they wanted to stop speeding they would put up big signs saying "SPEED CAMERA IS 1 MILE AHEAD, SLOW DOWN"

Not hide behind a bush or bridge support or in the shadows

Getting a letter through the post 2 weeks later asking for £100 doesn't help , it just frustrates the drivers, where as either a talking to at the side of the road or signs of obvious upcoming enforcement would slow people down (the small speed camera signs not with standing as they are obviously a permanent fixture which are often ignored!)

Then again no Police officer would pull over a driver doing 80 MPH on the motorway
But it's an easy fine for a Camera ! :-)

Think about what you’re proposing. Either every single piece of road in the whole country will need to be manned 24/7 with speed enforcement, or you’re saying that everywhere that doesn’t have these great big signs, dozens of police cars etc is completely free rein to do whatever speed you want.

You won’t have to wait two weeks for a letter either. Ya usually a couple of days. They have up to two weeks to get it to you (give it take a bit for the pedants)

I concur. It baffles me why this argument comes up again and again, is it not bloody obvious that warning of speed cameras in every
area where they are operating is going to do nothing to prevent speeding in every other area.

[CarCrazyDad]

I'm not getting into a debate about the pedantry of signs already being displayed or how long letters take to arrive or whether the limits are OK or not

It's very obvious that in the majority of cases "enforcement" is purely about raising revenue and NOT about improving safety

Hiding in a bush / behind a tree or bridge with a laser gun / hiding them in horse boxes etc / is not about safety , obviously. To argue it is is non-sensical







For YOUR safety
Not for money or revenue
Nuh uh!

[Sheepshanks]

A couple of those pics look in built-up areas and we can't see much context in the third one, but both on mine where on roads and in conditions where much higher speeds would have absolutely fine - that's how I got caught, I drove to the conditions, not to the limit.

I realised that where I see a decent bit of road, they see a revenue opportunity. Pisses me off, but I'll lose my job if I lose my licence so I obey, more or less, the limits now.

[singlecoil]

It's interesting how the same set of facts, placed before different people will produce different interpretations based on their pre-existing biases.