New tactic with speed camera van.... (1 Viewer)

[Bobby22]

There is a speed camera van that sets up outside our house on a regular basis. Recently as much as twice a week.

We live on a main road with 2 lanes going in each direction. There is staggered islands along the road that allows people to park in the central part of the road.

This speed camera parks here and for years has been catching speeding drivers in the oncoming direction.

Today, when i returned, the van was set up in the same position but the camera was set to the nearside presumably catching traffic driving away from it.

I have always been wary of this setup but this is the first time that the van outside our house has used this tactic.

Drivers beware.

 

[Tea Bag]

Hi.
There was a police car used to play the same trick many years ago,sitting between the "Armco" Barriers on the A1,between Grantham and Colsterworth Island,you could only just see him in a lorry,in a car you stood no chance. The CB paid for itself on that stretch.
Tea Bag

 

[Yorick]

You should be pleased that the police are trying to stop folk speeding past your house.

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[sdc77]

There is a speed camera van that sets up outside our house on a regular basis. Recently as much as twice a week.

We live on a main road with 2 lanes going in each direction. There is staggered islands along the road that allows people to park in the central part of the road.

This speed camera parks here and for years has been catching speeding drivers in the oncoming direction.

Today, when i returned, the van was set up in the same position but the camera was set to the nearside presumably catching traffic driving away from it.

I have always been wary of this setup but this is the first time that the van outside our house has used this tactic.

Drivers beware.

Surely that should be
"Drivers stick to the speed limit"
?

 

[EX51SSS]

Hi.
There was a police car used to play the same trick many years ago,sitting between the "Armco" Barriers on the A1,between Grantham and Colsterworth Island,you could only just see him in a lorry,in a car you stood no chance. The CB paid for itself on that stretch.
Tea Bag

Oh dear, that's so last century @Tea Bag. In fact it's sooooooooo last millenia.

 

[JJ]

Drivers beware.

Drivers keep under the speed limit...

JJ

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[Landy lover]

I understand some can actually operate in both directions - as the equipment has become more sophisticated it is easier to locate on the van - particularly ANPR

 

[EX51SSS]

Drivers keep under the speed limit...

JJ

And in that case you never get concerned with vans in strange positions or whether or not it's a safety camera vehicle


Just sayin (no g)

 

[GWAYGWAY]

When they do that the vehicle going away from them are a long way to the left of the camera. The HYPOTENUSE effect is therefore in action, as the vehicle speed is not accurate by quite a margin. The speed recorded is that if the long arm of the triangle (Hypotenuse), formed using the true distance covered and the width of the road. Depending on the speed given it is possible by calculation to get the true speed of the vehicle and it might be a cause to have the ticket dropped if it is worked to be below the speed given.
Work it out on paper if you do not believe me.

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[Chris]

When they do that the vehicle going away from them are a long way to the left of the camera. The HYPOTENUSE effect is therefore in action, as the vehicle speed is not accurate by quite a margin. The speed recorded is that if the long arm of the triangle (Hypotenuse), formed using the true distance covered and the width of the road. Depending on the speed given it is possible by calculation to get the true speed of the vehicle and it might be a cause to have the ticket dropped if it is worked to be below the speed given.
Work it out on paper if you do not believe me.

My head hurts so much I think I would just pay the fine.

 

[pappajohn]

Anyone who knows the scarborough to whitby road may be surprised to see a camera van pointing at the northbound lane at the Harwood dale turnoff dip, a couple of miles south of the Flask inn.
They sit in the layby/entrance to the short section of the old road a couple of hundred yards past the bottom of the hill on the seaward side.

This, to my mind, is a simply revenue maker as its on open moor.
A quick look at the speedo showed 61mph but as they allow a very small margin i heard nothing.
Had it been a fixed camera i would now have 3 points.

 

[Lenny HB]

You should be pleased that the police are trying to stop folk speeding past your house.

My thoughts too.

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[MR. FUSION]

There is a speed camera van that sets up outside our house on a regular basis. Recently as much as twice a week.

We live on a main road with 2 lanes going in each direction. There is staggered islands along the road that allows people to park in the central part of the road.

This speed camera parks here and for years has been catching speeding drivers in the oncoming direction.

Today, when i returned, the van was set up in the same position but the camera was set to the nearside presumably catching traffic driving away from it.

I have always been wary of this setup but this is the first time that the van outside our house has used this tactic.

Drivers beware.

There is a speed camera van that sets up outside our house on a regular basis. Recently as much as twice a week.

We live on a main road with 2 lanes going in each direction. There is staggered islands along the road that allows people to park in the central part of the road.

This speed camera parks here and for years has been catching speeding drivers in the oncoming direction.

Today, when i returned, the van was set up in the same position but the camera was set to the nearside presumably catching traffic driving away from it.

I have always been wary of this setup but this is the first time that the van outside our house has used this tactic.

Drivers beware.

Sounds like Paisley road west..........there used to be some brave people that kept a fairly recent motorhome in one of the central reservations on that road....... personally I wouldn't!

 

[Silver-Fox]

Is the vehicle marked up with Police on it?

Ask the person inside if he is a police officer as if he isn't he shouldn't be in there

IMHO these are used more as cash generators than safety vans.

 

[scotzsue]

Sounds like Paisley road west..........there used to be some brave people that kept a fairly recent motorhome in one of the central reservations on that road....... personally I wouldn't!

Neither would I !

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[138go]

When they do that the vehicle going away from them are a long way to the left of the camera. The HYPOTENUSE effect is therefore in action, as the vehicle speed is not accurate by quite a margin. The speed recorded is that if the long arm of the triangle (Hypotenuse), formed using the true distance covered and the width of the road. Depending on the speed given it is possible by calculation to get the true speed of the vehicle and it might be a cause to have the ticket dropped if it is worked to be below the speed given.
Work it out on paper if you do not believe me.

Brilliant .. So the vehicle travels a greater distance along the line to the camera than on the road itself .. Problem you always have though is after waiting 14 days for the paper work you can never remember if you were over or not. It would be worth the calculation if you were just over.

..

 

[Brian and Jo]

I got nicked a couple of weeks ago for the first time in 42yrs doing 58 in what I thought was a 60 limit in one of our vans but it turned out to be 50mph so am now waiting to go on a speed awareness course on March the 29th to avoid the points on my licence.the cost of the course is £85.00
Brian &Jo

 

[sdc77]

Is the vehicle marked up with Police on it?

Ask the person inside if he is a police officer as if he isn't he shouldn't be in there

IMHO these are used more as cash generators than safety vans.

What are you in about? If it's a police vehicle and he works for the police it doesn't matter if it has police on it or not.
And .. a cash generator or a muppet catcher.
As it's only catching people who are speeding then what's the problem?

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[DanielFord]

When they do that the vehicle going away from them are a long way to the left of the camera. The HYPOTENUSE effect is therefore in action, as the vehicle speed is not accurate by quite a margin. The speed recorded is that if the long arm of the triangle (Hypotenuse), formed using the true distance covered and the width of the road. Depending on the speed given it is possible by calculation to get the true speed of the vehicle and it might be a cause to have the ticket dropped if it is worked to be below the speed given.
Work it out on paper if you do not believe me.

Most people don't know basic trigonometry, so it's easier to say that reading in a straight line is more accurate than at an angle, which will record an artificially low speed. Add that to the 10% + 2 margin, it gives you a lot of leeway, if you don't take the Mickey!

 

[DanielFord]

You should be pleased that the police are trying to stop folk speeding past your house.

But they don't stop them, there isn't a speed camera EVER that has STOPPED a car speeding. The car goes past at speed, if the driver believes they are at the correct limit, they will never slow down.
All the camera vans do is send out a NiP up to 14 days later. No offence is ever prevented with camera vans!

 

[Old Barrian]

As it's only catching people who are speeding then what's the problem?

This.

I quite agree. I don't want to come over all 'holier than thou' but if you don't speed you don't pay. And before anyone accuses me of pomposity, of course I've exceeded speed limits but the point is that I try to obey them. Inevitably, I do on occasions fail through poor signposting or lack of attention but if I do get caught, I like to think I will accept it with good grace.

That said, I'll probably now get caught in the morning and be hopping mad by lunchtime!

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[DanielFord]

This.

I quite agree. I don't want to come over all 'holier than thou' but if you don't speed you don't pay. And before anyone accuses me of pomposity, of course I've exceeded speed limits but the point is that I try to obey them. Inevitably, I do on occasions fail through poor signposting or lack of attention but if I do get caught, I like to think I will accept it with good grace.

That said, I'll probably now get caught in the morning and be hopping mad by lunchtime!

So you'd happily pay a £60 fine and take 3 points because you drove into a 30 limit at 40 because the signs were missing, or inadequate, or hidden, or deficient in someway would you? Because I sure as hell wouldn't!

 

[Silver-Fox]

What are you in about? If it's a police vehicle and he works for the police it doesn't matter if it has police on it or not.
And .. a cash generator or a muppet catcher.
As it's only catching people who are speeding then what's the problem?

If some one is using a police vehicle that person has to be a police officer otherwise said person is impersonating a police officer. Last time i looked that was an offence

Unless you know different

 

[pappajohn]

Is the vehicle marked up with Police on it?

Ask the person inside if he is a police officer as if he isn't he shouldn't be in there

IMHO these are used more as cash generators than safety vans.

Not always the case.
Many police forces employ safety camera partners and are authorised by the police force who employ them.
Their vans are marked, usually with the safety camera partnership livery and the force they are partners to, but not marked POLICE, and are manned by authorised civilians.

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[Old Barrian]

So you'd happily pay a £60 fine and take 3 points because you drove into a 30 limit at 40 because the signs were missing, or inadequate, or hidden, or deficient in someway would you? Because I sure as hell wouldn't!

No, not at all. If the signs were not properly in place according to the relevant legislation, of course I would appeal. But I think we've all probably missed a less that ideally sited sign (albeit legally correct) and got confused over the actual limit. If in doubt, I tend to slow down but even then I might not slow enough.

 

[DanielFord]

This.

I quite agree. I don't want to come over all 'holier than thou' but if you don't speed you don't pay. And before anyone accuses me of pomposity, of course I've exceeded speed limits but the point is that I try to obey them. Inevitably, I do on occasions fail through poor signposting or lack of attention but if I do get caught, I like to think I will accept it with good grace.

That said, I'll probably now get caught in the morning and be hopping mad by lunchtime!

And I know you are going to say that all the signage in the whole of the UK is fine, so here is an example. This road here:
https://goo.gl/maps/GE1ZkSoGsHP2
In the image, you can clearly see the 30 sign on the left, but not the one on the right. From the position one is coming from a national speed limit into a 30 mph limit. I can confirm, since I drove that road this morning, that the sign on the left is also totally obscured by foliage. What makes me mad, I know that the 30 limit exists, and I slow down, but rather than trim the hedges, the scamera partnership prefer to lay in wait around the bend!

[Edit to add]
The signage is illegal in this shot, since a transition from one speed limit to another requires 2 visible signs on the left and right of the road. thus in this picture the 30 limit does not exist, thus anyone who receives a ticket on this road has a valid legal position to appeal.

Just saying, if you happen to have driven over 30 through West Meon!

 

[pappajohn]

Just thinking back to the first speed 'trap' i ever saw....i say trap as it wasnt a camera, it was a crude laser beam only.
Two black boxs, one each side of the road.
Depending how long the beam was broken when passing through indicated you were exceeding the limit but not by how much.
Second copper further down the road stopping, and presumably cautioning , speeders.
HGV & COACHES were stopped and cautioned if they APPEARED to be speeding as obviously the beam was broken far longer than a car indicating a much lower speed.
This particular trap was set up outside my work place so i had plenty of time to observe.
This would have been mid to late 70s.

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[Old Barrian]

Oh no! I'll never argue that all signage in the UK is textbook clear. That was my point - perhaps not clearly made - that if the signs are properly sited, one has to live with the consequences of speeding but in a case like this where one could easily demonstrate that that signage was inadequate, then of course a speeding ticket should be contested.

 

[DanielFord]

Oh no! I'll never argue that all signage in the UK is textbook clear. That was my point - perhaps not clearly made - that if the signs are properly sited, one has to live with the consequences of speeding but in a case like this where one could easily demonstrate that that signage was inadequate, then of course a speeding ticket should be contested.

And how many of the drivers that were NiPP'd (yes the camera van was present and correct) this morning will appeal do you think? I'm guessing less than 50%, quite a good return from those hedges I'd say?

 

[Yorick]

But they don't stop them, there isn't a speed camera EVER that has STOPPED a car speeding. The car goes past at speed, if the driver believes they are at the correct limit, they will never slow down.
All the camera vans do is send out a NiP up to 14 days later. No offence is ever prevented with camera vans!

If it's there every week, folk will get wise and slow down.

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