So you are going through and average speed camera zone......

[JonRB]

grayme said:

These drivers slowing for the average cameras are probably the same type that slow for the three GATSOs on the A505 dual carriageway between Baldock and Royston, down to 60mph (or slower).

Gatso cameras measure current speed not average speed. Slowing down before passing a SPECS camera is pointless but slowing down before passing a Gatso is not. Or am I missing something?

[ChocolateFrog]

plenty of cars wouldn't be recognised by the cameras. BFG cars for example.

[oldcynic]

JonRB said:

Gatso cameras measure current speed not average speed. Slowing down before passing a SPECS camera is pointless but slowing down before passing a Gatso is not. Or am I missing something?

Yes, you're missing something. It's NSL on a dual carriageway.

Of course if you don't know the road and prefer not to be caught out then you may well slow down despite being fairly certain of the limit.

[J4CKO]

ChocolateFrog said:

plenty of cars wouldn't be recognised by the cameras. BFG cars for example.

Big Friendly Giant ?

[Chris Type R]

oldcynic said:

Yes, you're missing something. It's NSL on a dual carriageway.

Of course if you don't know the road and prefer not to be caught out then you may well slow down despite being fairly certain of the limit.

Quite a few people aren't aware of what the white sign with a black line means and err on the side of caution.

Not my wife though, she had to do an awareness course recently as she'd forgotten (after 15 years of living in the area) about those cameras.

[jonm01]

s p a c e m a n said:

I live in a high specs area (A13,A127,M25) and have a few mates who just ignore them all, regularly 30mph+ over the limit through them. None of them have a ticket yet, fairly certain that we are the fools but I need my license for work so stick fairly close to the number in the circle.

I got a fine for doing avg 58 on the A127 so those ones will get you.

[V8forweekends]

DonkeyApple said:

I e always assumed that the speeders who slow down for each camera are just idiots whereas those who stick at a constant speed are in a car that cannot be traced back to them.

Or it's one of these -

http://news.sky.com/story/1137338/driver-not-banne...

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/consumer-new...

[danzman1991]

I always think it's the people who know the stretch of road well and know they're coming off on the next slip road before the next camera?

[mat205125]

JonRB said:

mat205125 said:

One thing I've always struggled with is where the average cameras take their readings from, without a marked line on the ground.

Any ideas?

SPECS doesn't measure your speed. It just measures that you passed it at a time. Then a precise distance down the road, another does the same. Speed is distance over time, and both the distance and time are known so average speed can be calculated.

I understand that part, however I've never been clear on where the start and end points are measured ..... how far away is the first camera starting the stop watch?

[Cemesis]

All the cameras work as start and end points (bar the very first and last). You are measured from the first one you pass and then the calculation is made against the next one you pass. Then another calculation against the next and do on.

[bigkeeko]

Here`s a bit of info I got from a someone in the Police. Not all the cameras actually operate. Where I live for example its only two out of the 14 that actually measure which end up in the issuing of fines.t`s on a single carriage A road and the rest are deterrents. Also, for the record, anyone I know or heard of being caught speeding it was at the section he stated. Apparently it is a cost thing but I am led to believe that the cameras can be alternated although here it`s been the same two for years.
This obviously means I`ll overtake and carry on much to the bewilderment of the other drivers.

Edited by bigkeeko on Tuesday 28th April 09:39

[Baz Tench]

I know someone who was done five times(!) in two weeks or so on the M1 stretch from Rugby to Northampton where there is a camera enforced temporary 50 limit.

I don't know what speed he was doing there, but I know he's travelled through other similar areas at a constant 60mph (indicated) and not been pulled up for it.

Me? I don't see the point in chancing it for the sake of an extra 5-10mph. I just sit in L1 and take it easy. The people who fly past do puzzle me.

[deltashad]

They are horrible looking things. Cost a fortune too. I know it doesn't matter so much down south but I hate anything ugly introduced to the landscape.

Will they replace police? On another note, I heard on USA radio yesterday they are going to introduce satellite monitoring systems in cars. I have this on my company car....
Its the next level.

[Europa1]

grayme said:

These drivers slowing for the average cameras are probably the same type that slow for the three GATSOs on the A505 dual carriageway between Baldock and Royston, down to 60mph (or slower).

Glad it's not just me mystified by the mentality of those people! Driving home from work yesterday, I was tooling along in the inside lane at an indicated 70 heading towards the first camera between Baldock & Royston; needless to say, a powerfully built hair product enthusiast in a black Audi A4 came steaming up alongside in the outside lane, then drops back to 60 or less (but stays in the outside lane) as we get to the camera.

[baptistsan]

Blib said:

Did that journey today. I drove up from London to Halesworth to pick up Mrs B's new Subaru Forester & then back down South again. On the way up everyone stuck to the 40 limit. However, driving home again, in one of the sections, I was passed by three really rapid cars in quick succession. They were each travelling well above the indicated limit.

I'd love to know whether they get nicked. But, I never will.

That A12 stretch is really starting to piss me off now. The 40 mph limit starts miles before you get anywhere near any kind of road workings, and the work is carried out at night anyway, so why it needs to be enforced during the day I have no idea. If it was restricted to 50 mph I think it would be less of an issue, 40 mph is just ridiculous.

2 weeks before Christmas the work was going to be complete by March. This then got extended to April, then to May, will it ever be completed? Don't get me wrong, the strips of new tarmac are lovely and smooth, so there is a positive in amongst all of this. Oh, hang on, that's right, some of it is already starting to crumble!!!

Just let it end!!!

[FurtiveFreddy]

Cemesis said:

All the cameras work as start and end points (bar the very first and last). You are measured from the first one you pass and then the calculation is made against the next one you pass. Then another calculation against the next and do on.

Any two cameras can be the start and end point, depending on how the system is configured and how many cameras are actually active.

As someone has said, not all the SPECS cameras you see are active. They are there to act as a visual deterrent.

So, let's say you have a stretch of road with 8 SPECS camera columns installed, numbered 1-8, enforcing a 50mph limit. In this example, we'll say camera 3 is the 'start' and camera 6 is the 'end'. The other cameras are not active for the purposes of this example.

So, you could be hoofing it along at 100mph, sail past cameras 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and then turn off the road just before camera 6. Result - no ticket (probably).
The system read your number plate when you passed camera 3, but you didn't pass camera 6 so it doesn't have the second time of day reading it needs to calculate your average speed.

Or you could join the road just before camera 3 not knowing what a SPECS camera is and trundle along at a steady 70mph until you pass camera 6. Result - ticket.

I suppose there may be some drivers who think they know which SPECS cameras are active or maybe actually do know because of some inside information and they could drive whatever speed they want to in a SPECS-enforced section of road, as long as they don't pass two active cameras at any point.

[Tyre Smoke]

So on this basis ^^^^ at night, the active cameras will be the ones that are illuminated?? Pretty big giveaway if you ask me. So you remember which is which for daytime if you pass often.

[Baz Tench]

M

FurtiveFreddy said:

Cemesis said:

All the cameras work as start and end points (bar the very first and last). You are measured from the first one you pass and then the calculation is made against the next one you pass. Then another calculation against the next and do on.

Any two cameras can be the start and end point, depending on how the system is configured and how many cameras are actually active.

As someone has said, not all the SPECS cameras you see are active. They are there to act as a visual deterrent.

So, let's say you have a stretch of road with 8 SPECS camera columns installed, numbered 1-8, enforcing a 50mph limit. In this example, we'll say camera 3 is the 'start' and camera 6 is the 'end'. The other cameras are not active for the purposes of this example.

So, you could be hoofing it along at 100mph, sail past cameras 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and then turn off the road just before camera 6. Result - no ticket (probably).
The system read your number plate when you passed camera 3, but you didn't pass camera 6 so it doesn't have the second time of day reading it needs to calculate your average speed.

Or you could join the road just before camera 3 not knowing what a SPECS camera is and trundle along at a steady 70mph until you pass camera 6. Result - ticket.

I suppose there may be some drivers who think they know which SPECS cameras are active or maybe actually do know because of some inside information and they could drive whatever speed they want to in a SPECS-enforced section of road, as long as they don't pass two active cameras at any point.

Id find it far less stressful to just stick to 50mph than try to work all that out and get through the roadworks maybe 5 mins sooner.

Then there would be the 'what if I got it wrong?' and 'Am I going to get something through the door?' type thoughts.

I know these cameras play up to people like me, but I'm a bit of a worrier...

Edited by Baz Tench on Tuesday 28th April 12:48

[Shoukie]

I've been driving through them for years with cruise control set at 58mph and still no ticket.

The frustrating thing to me is that most people's lane discipline is even worse in the average speed sections. You wouldn't just sit at 70mph in the right hand lane in normal conditions or spend 10 minutes overtaking another car, so why do they think it's ok to sit at 50mph in the right hand lane and never change lane?!

[Baz Tench]

Shoukie said:

I've been driving through them for years with cruise control set at 58mph and still no ticket.

The frustrating thing to me is that most people's lane discipline is even worse in the average speed sections. You wouldn't just sit at 70mph in the right hand lane in normal conditions or spend 10 minutes overtaking another car, so why do they think it's ok to sit at 50mph in the right hand lane and never change lane?!

O/T, but that's the only time cruise control is of any use to me. It bores the crap out of me in any other situation.