How to avoid getting caught with SPECS speed camera's
Discussion
Hi everyone,
I think this is well worth knowing dont you think. Good for me seeing as they have just put these camera's on my local road (A127 in Essex)
Now would you all like to know how not to get a fine with the SPECS system? read on
This is what they dont want you to know.
Story done by the Dailymail.
Drivers can avoid speeding tickets...by changing lanes
By RAY MASSEY
Last updated at 22:3
A massive flaw in a new generation of speed cameras means motorists can avoid fines and points on their licence simply by changing lanes.
The Home Office admitted last night that drivers can avoid being caught the by hi-tech 'SPECS' cameras which calculate a car's average speed over a long distance.
The astonishing loophole means that millions of speeding drivers around Britain could escape a £60 fine and three points on their licence. The hidden blind-spot - revealed today by the Daily Mail - raises questions about the supposedly foolproof hi-tech camera system which is increasingly used on Britain's roads.
Although designed to improve road safety, the loophole means that drivers may actually increase the risk of accidents by continually switching lanes.
Police chiefs were last night forced to urge drivers not to exploit the shortcoming by trying to evade the cameras.
The flaw affects the controversial SPECS cameras. Unlike standard Gatso cameras which individually flash a car as it passes, these cameras measure a driver's average speed between two fixed points - which can be many miles apart.
If this average speed between cameras is higher than the speed limit, the driver gets a fine through the post and three points on their licence.
The cameras were designed to catch motorists who simply slow down in front of a camera, and then drive above the speed limit until they reach the next one.
But, under Home Office rules governing the camera equipment, prosecutions are only valid if a driver is filmed in the same lane at the start and finish of each section by a linked pair of cameras.
The Home Office admitted yesterday that the hi-tech SPECS cameras - produced by Camberley-based Speed Check Services - are only approved to be used one lane at a time.
That means a three-lane motorway would require three separate sets of cameras - one for each lane. If drivers leave the speed-camera zone via a different lane to the one they entered in, they cannot normally be prosecuted.
The camera's manufacturers - Speed Check Services (SCS) - confirmed that drivers could escape prosecution by lane-hopping but discouraged it on 'safety' grounds.
Sets of the cameras have been installed at 27 sites around the UK at a cost of between £180,000 and £1.5 million per site, according to Geoff Collins, SCS?s sales and marketing manager.
Fourteen of the sites are permanent while another 13 are temporary at road works, where their presence has mushroomed in recent years. Sites that run for longer distances cost more because they need more cameras.
They include permanent cameras around Nottingham, a 20mph zone around Tower Bridge in London, the M8 between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and at roadworks on the M6 in the West Midlands, the M25, the A1(M) and the M1 in Hertfordshire, the A2 in Kent, and the M56 in Cheshire.
The SPECS cameras work by measuring the time a vehicle takes to pass between two number plate reading cameras set up to 6.2 miles apart.
A computer works out the time it takes to cover the distance, and then calculates the average speed.
If this is higher than the speed limit, a colour photograph taken by a third digital camera is stored for enforcement purposes. Multiple sets of the cameras are installed on stretches of road to make 'enforcement zones'.
But under Home Office 'type approval' rules, each individual set cannot be linked to any of the others. So cars are timed only between sets of number plate readers 'paired' for the same lane.
Most of the time each number plate reader in a pair will be directed at the same single lane of traffic and will therefore not detect lane hoppers, according to Mr Collins. He said:' If it?s configured to monitor one particular lane, then it wouldn?t pick up a lane changer.'
He added: 'There are configurations when (a speeding vehicle) would not be picked up, if it?s gone from lane one to lane three between cameras.'
The company's technical director Graeme Southwood said that when the devices were approved by the Home Office in 1999, they passed strict tests for use in one lane at a time. But there was not enough time or finances to extend Home office approval tests to cover the cameras' use over two or three lanes at a time. This has created the loop-hole.
He still claimed - without spelling out any detail - that this loop-hole was not actually foolproof and that some of those who attempt to use it will still face a speeding prosecution.
link to story but the dailymail.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-410539/Drivers-avoid-speeding-tickets--changing-lanes.html
I think this is well worth knowing dont you think. Good for me seeing as they have just put these camera's on my local road (A127 in Essex)
Now would you all like to know how not to get a fine with the SPECS system? read on This is what they dont want you to know. Story done by the Dailymail.
Drivers can avoid speeding tickets...by changing lanes
By RAY MASSEY
Last updated at 22:3
A massive flaw in a new generation of speed cameras means motorists can avoid fines and points on their licence simply by changing lanes.
The Home Office admitted last night that drivers can avoid being caught the by hi-tech 'SPECS' cameras which calculate a car's average speed over a long distance.
The astonishing loophole means that millions of speeding drivers around Britain could escape a £60 fine and three points on their licence. The hidden blind-spot - revealed today by the Daily Mail - raises questions about the supposedly foolproof hi-tech camera system which is increasingly used on Britain's roads.
Although designed to improve road safety, the loophole means that drivers may actually increase the risk of accidents by continually switching lanes.
Police chiefs were last night forced to urge drivers not to exploit the shortcoming by trying to evade the cameras.
The flaw affects the controversial SPECS cameras. Unlike standard Gatso cameras which individually flash a car as it passes, these cameras measure a driver's average speed between two fixed points - which can be many miles apart.
If this average speed between cameras is higher than the speed limit, the driver gets a fine through the post and three points on their licence.
The cameras were designed to catch motorists who simply slow down in front of a camera, and then drive above the speed limit until they reach the next one.
But, under Home Office rules governing the camera equipment, prosecutions are only valid if a driver is filmed in the same lane at the start and finish of each section by a linked pair of cameras.
The Home Office admitted yesterday that the hi-tech SPECS cameras - produced by Camberley-based Speed Check Services - are only approved to be used one lane at a time.
That means a three-lane motorway would require three separate sets of cameras - one for each lane. If drivers leave the speed-camera zone via a different lane to the one they entered in, they cannot normally be prosecuted.
The camera's manufacturers - Speed Check Services (SCS) - confirmed that drivers could escape prosecution by lane-hopping but discouraged it on 'safety' grounds.
Sets of the cameras have been installed at 27 sites around the UK at a cost of between £180,000 and £1.5 million per site, according to Geoff Collins, SCS?s sales and marketing manager.
Fourteen of the sites are permanent while another 13 are temporary at road works, where their presence has mushroomed in recent years. Sites that run for longer distances cost more because they need more cameras.
They include permanent cameras around Nottingham, a 20mph zone around Tower Bridge in London, the M8 between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and at roadworks on the M6 in the West Midlands, the M25, the A1(M) and the M1 in Hertfordshire, the A2 in Kent, and the M56 in Cheshire.
The SPECS cameras work by measuring the time a vehicle takes to pass between two number plate reading cameras set up to 6.2 miles apart.
A computer works out the time it takes to cover the distance, and then calculates the average speed.
If this is higher than the speed limit, a colour photograph taken by a third digital camera is stored for enforcement purposes. Multiple sets of the cameras are installed on stretches of road to make 'enforcement zones'.
But under Home Office 'type approval' rules, each individual set cannot be linked to any of the others. So cars are timed only between sets of number plate readers 'paired' for the same lane.
Most of the time each number plate reader in a pair will be directed at the same single lane of traffic and will therefore not detect lane hoppers, according to Mr Collins. He said:' If it?s configured to monitor one particular lane, then it wouldn?t pick up a lane changer.'
He added: 'There are configurations when (a speeding vehicle) would not be picked up, if it?s gone from lane one to lane three between cameras.'
The company's technical director Graeme Southwood said that when the devices were approved by the Home Office in 1999, they passed strict tests for use in one lane at a time. But there was not enough time or finances to extend Home office approval tests to cover the cameras' use over two or three lanes at a time. This has created the loop-hole.
He still claimed - without spelling out any detail - that this loop-hole was not actually foolproof and that some of those who attempt to use it will still face a speeding prosecution.
link to story but the dailymail.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-410539/Drivers-avoid-speeding-tickets--changing-lanes.html
That Story was.. Last updated at 22:32 15 October 2006
I remember this but also remember they've sorted it out now so you'll be nicked, don't speed in specs areas! Get yourself a decent camera detector, my PoGo Drive calculates your average speed in the specs zone and much more, I wouldn't leave home without it!
I remember this but also remember they've sorted it out now so you'll be nicked, don't speed in specs areas! Get yourself a decent camera detector, my PoGo Drive calculates your average speed in the specs zone and much more, I wouldn't leave home without it!
ks. Specs2 is due out imminently and does away with this limitation. Magic919 said:
drew9781vuss said:
the best way to advoid speed cameras is i take it most of u lived in aus and most of us are from aus either way as im from aus i drive on my australian license dont have a problem with cameras..if u no what i mean
Until now I'd understood Australians spoke English.
Easy answer is don't speed!
Aren't SPECS usually there for a reason (unlike GATSO'S)? If there are men working in the next lane to you, shouldn't one be a little more conservative for their safety?
There's a set on my daily drive, but they don't bother me, i just set the cruise control and relax.
AND THEN DROP TO 2ND GEAR AND FLOOR IT! after the last one, obviously
Aren't SPECS usually there for a reason (unlike GATSO'S)? If there are men working in the next lane to you, shouldn't one be a little more conservative for their safety?
There's a set on my daily drive, but they don't bother me, i just set the cruise control and relax.
AND THEN DROP TO 2ND GEAR AND FLOOR IT! after the last one, obviously
the_ferret82 said:
you could just take your front number plate off
Or ride a motorbike!!!
Wolfracer, All speed cameras are there for a reason. Yep, to make money for a lying, thieving government!!!
Apparently the next generation Specs system will be capable of following you along different roads not just lanes, so even if you turn off you're doomed
i drove around with no number plates on my car for more than two months before getting caught. used to reverse the car down the drive so didnt ever see the back the plate was right at the bottom anyway. the front plate was off for pictures for a mag shoot.
completely unintentional got a fine for failure to display £30!
completely unintentional got a fine for failure to display £30!
wolfracer said:
Easy answer is don't speed!
Aren't SPECS usually there for a reason (unlike GATSO'S)? If there are men working in the next lane to you, shouldn't one be a little more conservative for their safety?
There's a set on my daily drive, but they don't bother me, i just set the cruise control and relax.
AND THEN DROP TO 2ND GEAR AND FLOOR IT! after the last one, obviously
Aren't SPECS usually there for a reason (unlike GATSO'S)? If there are men working in the next lane to you, shouldn't one be a little more conservative for their safety?
There's a set on my daily drive, but they don't bother me, i just set the cruise control and relax.
AND THEN DROP TO 2ND GEAR AND FLOOR IT! after the last one, obviously
They only put them there because the biker guys meet at a local pub and race down the road, its a dual carridge way. But no road works.
essexhsv said:
wolfracer said:
Easy answer is don't speed!
Aren't SPECS usually there for a reason (unlike GATSO'S)? If there are men working in the next lane to you, shouldn't one be a little more conservative for their safety?
There's a set on my daily drive, but they don't bother me, i just set the cruise control and relax.
AND THEN DROP TO 2ND GEAR AND FLOOR IT! after the last one, obviously
Aren't SPECS usually there for a reason (unlike GATSO'S)? If there are men working in the next lane to you, shouldn't one be a little more conservative for their safety?
There's a set on my daily drive, but they don't bother me, i just set the cruise control and relax.
AND THEN DROP TO 2ND GEAR AND FLOOR IT! after the last one, obviously
They only put them there because the biker guys meet at a local pub and race down the road, its a dual carridge way. But no road works.
Doh
just realised i've seen some on a normal road in Northants, where there are no road works.
Even so still like the blast at the end of the limit, it's like coming out the pit lane!
Hah. The current Specs system CAN deal with lane changes. Each camera can also cover multiple lanes as this was required from the Government from the initial tender - it's just it is quite expensive to implement (most Specs systems are/were 800k/mile) so there are gaps in the coverage.
Each camera is separate and all the info is fed back to a central database to work out fines.
Theres no link between the cameras themselves so if you get spotted on camera 1, bypass camera 2 and camera 3 but get caught on 4 then you can still be got.
So you may get past one but could you guarantee that you'd find all the holes everytime?
AFAIK no single defence against a SPECS conviction has ever been successful.
Also don't try the super speed approach that can work with older Gatsos. SPECS are rated such that even a Bugatti would be caught.
The ONLY method of getting through specs is by taking off the front number plate.
Some specs systems use dummy cameras like gatsos so this also works - they used to fit simple dummies and you could spot them with IR cameras easily. However the dummies now still have the (cheap) ir floodlights just no camera or DB link.
Each camera is separate and all the info is fed back to a central database to work out fines.
Theres no link between the cameras themselves so if you get spotted on camera 1, bypass camera 2 and camera 3 but get caught on 4 then you can still be got.
So you may get past one but could you guarantee that you'd find all the holes everytime?
AFAIK no single defence against a SPECS conviction has ever been successful.
Also don't try the super speed approach that can work with older Gatsos. SPECS are rated such that even a Bugatti would be caught.
The ONLY method of getting through specs is by taking off the front number plate.
Some specs systems use dummy cameras like gatsos so this also works - they used to fit simple dummies and you could spot them with IR cameras easily. However the dummies now still have the (cheap) ir floodlights just no camera or DB link.
Yep - Specs can't catch bike with no front plate (and it's not a legal requirement for bikes).
However the BiB *do* police these areas (like the A14 for example).
Specs has been the only proven method of slowing down traffic. the problem is (or bonus depending on the point of view) is that the implementation and running cost is so high and the income from fines ironically soo low as they are too effective that they are very slow to implement the cameras.
It's kinda like the Ebola virus for speeding traffic - it's kill the problem to quickly to be really dangerous
However the BiB *do* police these areas (like the A14 for example).
Specs has been the only proven method of slowing down traffic. the problem is (or bonus depending on the point of view) is that the implementation and running cost is so high and the income from fines ironically soo low as they are too effective that they are very slow to implement the cameras.
It's kinda like the Ebola virus for speeding traffic - it's kill the problem to quickly to be really dangerous
ads_green said:
Yep - Specs can't catch bike with no front plate (and it's not a legal requirement for bikes).
However the BiB *do* police these areas (like the A14 for example).
Specs has been the only proven method of slowing down traffic. the problem is (or bonus depending on the point of view) is that the implementation and running cost is so high and the income from fines ironically soo low as they are too effective that they are very slow to implement the cameras.
It's kinda like the Ebola virus for speeding traffic - it's kill the problem to quickly to be really dangerous
However the BiB *do* police these areas (like the A14 for example).
Specs has been the only proven method of slowing down traffic. the problem is (or bonus depending on the point of view) is that the implementation and running cost is so high and the income from fines ironically soo low as they are too effective that they are very slow to implement the cameras.
It's kinda like the Ebola virus for speeding traffic - it's kill the problem to quickly to be really dangerous
Then the whole point of this system is for the big brother (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) intelligence gathering.
global-i said:
ads_green said:
The ONLY method of getting through specs is by taking off the front number plate.
What if you are on a motorbike you dont have a front number plate, so you get away with it???????Gassing Station | HSV & Monaro | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff