Help! Speeding camera & hassle from another driver
Discussion
Driving through a fairly dodgy part of Huddersfield last night, on my way back to Derby, I got flashed by a fixed speed camera; my speedo was reading approx. 33/34ph at the time. At a *real* push it might've been 36mph for a second or two. Now, I'd normally be a bit annoyed at this as I drive the same road every week, and it seems a bit close to the 30mph limit to me (the camera's never gone off on me before). But, it would serve me right for speeding. However...
I was being hassled by another driver at the time - there was an old small white car (Citroen AX/Fiesta type thing) that was originally in front of me. It slowed down a lot, so I overtook. It then came up behind me, flashing it's lights and driving far too close. Being in a dodgy part of town, and in the Cerb, I was more than a bit worried about slowing down/stopping/etc. leaving me paying more attention to the other car than to my speed.
I have no points so far, really don't want any over this, never normally speed in 30/40 zones, and probably can't afford to insure the Cerb if my premiums go up. Could somebody help me out... what should I do?
1. What are the chances of the camera having film/being digital? (It was a standard yellow-backed camera, not a Truvelo, etc)
2. Should I wait and see if I get a ticket, or should I contact the police and explain the situation?
3. Surely this was a bit of a low speed for the camera to go off?
Thanks for your help...
I was being hassled by another driver at the time - there was an old small white car (Citroen AX/Fiesta type thing) that was originally in front of me. It slowed down a lot, so I overtook. It then came up behind me, flashing it's lights and driving far too close. Being in a dodgy part of town, and in the Cerb, I was more than a bit worried about slowing down/stopping/etc. leaving me paying more attention to the other car than to my speed.
I have no points so far, really don't want any over this, never normally speed in 30/40 zones, and probably can't afford to insure the Cerb if my premiums go up. Could somebody help me out... what should I do?
1. What are the chances of the camera having film/being digital? (It was a standard yellow-backed camera, not a Truvelo, etc)
2. Should I wait and see if I get a ticket, or should I contact the police and explain the situation?
3. Surely this was a bit of a low speed for the camera to go off?
Thanks for your help...
j_s_g said:
... It then came up behind me, flashing it's lights and driving far too close.
You might wish to write down as much as you can remember, just in case. Other than that, do nothing unless a NIP arrives (unlikely).
Most vehicles with 36mph on the speedo will be below the prosecution threshold.
If the wally was really close at the time of the flash your numberplate may not even be visible in the pictures.
Best Regards,
Paul Smith
Safe Speed
www.safespeed.org.uk
Just a thought... depending on your local newspapers view on cash cameras, you could write them a letter pointing out that if it had been a policeman and not a camera they would have got the Herbert in the white car and the world would have been a safer place.
I just know our local paper (which is having a bit of a crusade at the moment) would love that sort of story.
I just know our local paper (which is having a bit of a crusade at the moment) would love that sort of story.
Im sorry to say that they wont care about any other circumstances whatsoever from my experience.
I had a choice of slow down and kill a cyclist or speed up slightly and get a ticket. I chose the non-death option and even with the cyclist in the photo and everything else they still said that they would only revoke the ticket in "life or death" circumstances....
Fair enough, next time that situation arises (if ever) I will chose death since it gets me off a speeding ticket
I had a choice of slow down and kill a cyclist or speed up slightly and get a ticket. I chose the non-death option and even with the cyclist in the photo and everything else they still said that they would only revoke the ticket in "life or death" circumstances....
Fair enough, next time that situation arises (if ever) I will chose death since it gets me off a speeding ticket
Thanks for the feedback, everyone - I guess the general consensus is "sit tight". I was just wondering if it was worth pre-empting any mail in the post & phoning up/calling in somewhere to state what happened... The camera is the last of a series on this stretch of road - most people are very careful to drive through them at a reasonable speed, so it may well have got film in it. 
gh0st - that's ridiculous, must make your blood boil. If I get any points for this, I'm going straight to the papers, TV, etc. and will be pointing out Jack Straw's driver who got off for doing >100mph because of a "potential risk":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1039256.stm
You can't get much more of a potential risk than a car full of thugs trying to make you stop a very nickable car for no reason in a very dodgy area of town.
gh0st - that's ridiculous, must make your blood boil. If I get any points for this, I'm going straight to the papers, TV, etc. and will be pointing out Jack Straw's driver who got off for doing >100mph because of a "potential risk":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1039256.stm
You can't get much more of a potential risk than a car full of thugs trying to make you stop a very nickable car for no reason in a very dodgy area of town.
JSG,
Hold tight, the odds of a NIP appearing are pretty slim. I was in a similar situation to you last November (but without the other driver being a prat) and quietly poo'd my underwear for a month. (And did a google to find out what I was likely to be done for, and ended up on this site, and the rest is history.)
Hunt around this site, and see what other people have posted. However, if the NIP hasn't arrived on your doormat within 14 days (calender, not working) then you are OK. Only a small percentage of flashes leads to anything more then brown trousers.
Oli.
Hold tight, the odds of a NIP appearing are pretty slim. I was in a similar situation to you last November (but without the other driver being a prat) and quietly poo'd my underwear for a month. (And did a google to find out what I was likely to be done for, and ended up on this site, and the rest is history.)
Hunt around this site, and see what other people have posted. However, if the NIP hasn't arrived on your doormat within 14 days (calender, not working) then you are OK. Only a small percentage of flashes leads to anything more then brown trousers.
Oli.
j_s_g said:
gh0st - that's ridiculous, must make your blood boil. If I get any points for this, I'm going straight to the papers, TV, etc. and will be pointing out Jack Straw's driver who got off for doing >100mph because of a "potential risk":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1039256.stm
You can't get much more of a potential risk than a car full of thugs trying to make you stop a very nickable car for no reason in a very dodgy area of town.
Ah but you are forgetting what a very important person Jack Straw is and how laws only apply to normal people and not to the likes of him. Its one law for them and another for us.
j_s_g said:
gh0st - that's ridiculous, must make your blood boil.
Yeah, especially that I got done for 33 in a 30
If I still had the paperwork I would have scanned it and put it online but I dont have it.
10%+2MPH is bollocks. They change whenever they feel like it, or as Roadrage / Outlaw put it better "How can you obay the rules when they keep changing them!"
That, ghOst, is what makes me start 
(even though still got clean licence!)
Lancs by all accounts starts at 32mph (though have heard that people have been invited to their course at 31mph even!!)
Noted on the "Politics Show" yesterday that one of the reporters said "it was illegal for police to prosecute at less than 10%" - yet Lancs has been doing so for some time - if the invited to "Speed Course" are telling the truth - and I think they are since one chap at work showed me his NIP at 32mph --(first offence and under 35mph - so he will be invited to the Course!)
There seems to be too many discrepancies on prosecutions, tolerances allowed and, of course, the siting of these
scams!
Need audit of all scams, speed limits, standardisation of enforcement limits, etc, and activities of Chief CON-stables asap!
But will not hold my breath as all politicians are full of hot air!
(even though still got clean licence!) Lancs by all accounts starts at 32mph (though have heard that people have been invited to their course at 31mph even!!)
Noted on the "Politics Show" yesterday that one of the reporters said "it was illegal for police to prosecute at less than 10%" - yet Lancs has been doing so for some time - if the invited to "Speed Course" are telling the truth - and I think they are since one chap at work showed me his NIP at 32mph --(first offence and under 35mph - so he will be invited to the Course!)
There seems to be too many discrepancies on prosecutions, tolerances allowed and, of course, the siting of these
scams! Need audit of all scams, speed limits, standardisation of enforcement limits, etc, and activities of Chief CON-stables asap!
But will not hold my breath as all politicians are full of
hot air! How can you possibly get done for doing 33mph in a 30 zone when your speedo could legally have been reading 30mph at that speed, making you think you were legal??? I know for a fact that my speedo reads 3% low (as I've put bigger wheels on the car), adding 1mph for every 30.
Similarly, a speedo only has to be accurate up to 70mph, right? So... having a speedo read 71mph when you're actually caught doing 171 shouldn't be an instant jail sentence either!
Maybe not.
Does anybody know if there's anywhere I can find out if certain cameras (in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire) are active/contain film/have been responsible for convictions/what the trigger speed is? Curiously, I've seen cars pass through the other scameras on the same stretch of road at more like 38/39mph and not set them off.
Similarly, a speedo only has to be accurate up to 70mph, right? So... having a speedo read 71mph when you're actually caught doing 171 shouldn't be an instant jail sentence either!
Maybe not. Does anybody know if there's anywhere I can find out if certain cameras (in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire) are active/contain film/have been responsible for convictions/what the trigger speed is? Curiously, I've seen cars pass through the other scameras on the same stretch of road at more like 38/39mph and not set them off.
WildCat said:
one chap at work showed me his NIP at 32mph --(first offence and under 35mph - so he will be invited to the Course!)
Was that off a scamera or a real-life man-with-a-scam? I'll happily pay a fine/waste a day doing some poxy course that teaches me that staring incessantly at dials is safer than paying attention to the road and other traffic if it gets me out of having any endorsements on my (so-far untouched) licence.
Apparently he got done by PC Gatso (hiding behind a bus shelter) on the A6 somewhere in Chorley - near the hospital! Gather there are two around there near the hospital - one in direction of Chorley and one going up the A6 towards Preston and M65 roundabouts.
In fact, I have been told the A6 at that point is one Gatso (ca 7) after another - from Lyons Lane mini roundabout to M65 large roundabout in both directions, and they are all always live and fully loaded! Lancs is quite unpleasant by all accounts!
Does not matter whether talivan or fixed scam - they offer the course (just once) to all up to 35mph cut off. Jolly unfair if they cop you in a 40 mph zone - but from what we hear from our reps and people who live in the area - they do allow the 10%+2 at the higher speeds?
The course costs ca £85 and we know several who have attended it - most of our reps, in fact!
(And they are now ultra careful in Lancs - apart from the last bloke in previous post - but he is new to the firm!!!) It seems that their course consists of 3 hours playing "spot the hazard" and a 2 hour drive in the countyrside afterwards.
They did say the course was OK, and relatively pleasant though.
Do our reps drive any more slowly? Only in Lancs and North Wales! They all have the full range of "dodgy" gadgets now in any case! 
Do not know if your area has the course - know that 10 do run it - and they apparently vary in emphasis. Story of Kenneth Branagh in paper attending the Thames Valley one - reported that this was a "hazard perception" video for 2 hours! So no consistency in quality of courses either - if that is so!
In fact, I have been told the A6 at that point is one Gatso (ca 7) after another - from Lyons Lane mini roundabout to M65 large roundabout in both directions, and they are all always live and fully loaded! Lancs is quite unpleasant by all accounts!
Does not matter whether talivan or fixed scam - they offer the course (just once) to all up to 35mph cut off. Jolly unfair if they cop you in a 40 mph zone - but from what we hear from our reps and people who live in the area - they do allow the 10%+2 at the higher speeds?
The course costs ca £85 and we know several who have attended it - most of our reps, in fact!
(And they are now ultra careful in Lancs - apart from the last bloke in previous post - but he is new to the firm!!!) It seems that their course consists of 3 hours playing "spot the hazard" and a 2 hour drive in the countyrside afterwards. They did say the course was OK, and relatively pleasant though.
Do our reps drive any more slowly? Only in Lancs and North Wales!
They all have the full range of "dodgy" gadgets now in any case! Do not know if your area has the course - know that 10 do run it - and they apparently vary in emphasis. Story of Kenneth Branagh in paper attending the Thames Valley one - reported that this was a "hazard perception" video for 2 hours! So no consistency in quality of courses either - if that is so!
Interesting. The thought of just having to suffer a vid & a country drive appeals. However, firstly I bet West Yorkshire don't do it. Secondly, the chances of me not edging past 60 in an NSL whilst in convoy with a load of other speeding drivers are pretty slim - bet they take you on a route filled with loaded & armed scameras, too!
[quote=j_s_g]How can you possibly get done for doing 33mph in a 30 zone when your speedo could legally have been reading 30mph at that speed, making you think you were legal??? I know for a fact that my speedo reads 3% low (as I've put bigger wheels on the car), adding 1mph for every 30.
It is an offence for your speedo to read under by more than 10% ie if it says 70 you must be at least 63 and an offence if it reads more than 0% under. Ie if it says 70 you can't be any faster than 70.
On the assumption the measurement is correct at 33mph your speading will be showing less, unless you have a faulty speedo which in itself is illegal and doesn't prevent you being done for speeding
It is an offence for your speedo to read under by more than 10% ie if it says 70 you must be at least 63 and an offence if it reads more than 0% under. Ie if it says 70 you can't be any faster than 70.
On the assumption the measurement is correct at 33mph your speading will be showing less, unless you have a faulty speedo which in itself is illegal and doesn't prevent you being done for speeding
My wife has done the Lancs. course, and having already done a couple of 'drive and survive' courses at her work (and gained top marks for the whole of her multinational company) as well as competing at National level in sprints and hillclimbs, Co driven for me in loads of special stage rallies and being a parent to www.stuartgough.co.uk (check out the site!), found the course absolute drivel after getting done for 34mph.
The 'instructer' was more concerned about stopping at Asda for a cuppa than anything else. My wife HATES Asda and was forced to sit in peasants paradise whilst he buggered about for an nearly an hour. (No offence if you are a peasant or happen to like Asda!)
The 'instructer' was more concerned about stopping at Asda for a cuppa than anything else. My wife HATES Asda and was forced to sit in peasants paradise whilst he buggered about for an nearly an hour. (No offence if you are a peasant or happen to like Asda!)
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