young driver insurance specialists?

[ARWadsworth]

That is the speed limit I use when passing a camera.

It is only guidance though not a law.

[dennis]

They can take action for +1 if they want to. The error on speedos is +10% -0% so you can never blame the speedo.

[dennis]

What about them? They are speed traps run by the police and are not safety cameras. The police can use hidden cameras or any other measures they decide to. That's why you shouldn't be stupid enough to rely on speed trap alerts.

[dennis]

Its always illegal though.. even if you are driving a police car! They don't always prosecute though.

[ARWadsworth]

The speed camera detector on my dashboard and the false number plates I sometimes use mean that I never have a problem with speeding tickets.

[John Williamson]

Are the bomb squad not still allowed to legally pass a red light, then?

[John Williamson]

As they draw under an amp, it won't be the capacity, but the quality of the supply that matters, and old cars often have noisy electrical systems that generate sizeable spikes, which could conceivably upset the operation of the units. Either that, or the fitters don't fancy getting their hands too dirty.

[Andy Burns]

If you travel south on the M1, have you noticed they've begun fitting the HADECS cameras on the gantries over the four-lane section J28-J25?

[Andy Burns]

Most cars do tend towards the +10% end of the range, but my present car is never more than +/- 1 digit out of agreement with my GPS

[dennis]

[John Williamson]

The permitted error for speedos *when they are first fitted* is +10% -0% at 30 mph, and they must not under-indicate at any speed. There is no requirement to check their accuracy after initial fitment. Tachographs have to be within 2% at 62mph.

The 10% +2mph is in ACPO guidelines,to guard against complaints of incorrectly calibrated police equipment.

[Andy Champ]

I was just coming into some houses when a car coming the other way pulled out in front of me flashing his lights frantically. WTF? I thought... which put me off completely so I didn't slow down as usual into the houses. And into range of the van.

[dennis]

I tend to find that I slow down when unexpected things are happening. It sounds like you were driving too fast to cope with the environment you were driving in. just as well it wasn't a soft target that you were in range of.

[Bob Eager]

Oh god, you've gopt dennis started....

[John Stumbles]

How does that work then? Speed camera detector picks up the radar so you pull over, attach false numberplates and then speed safely past the camera? ;-)

[ARWadsworth]

No, I had not noticed. However I have not pased beyond Jct 30 for a few months. Variable speed limits will probably be operational over most of the M1 in the next few years.

They actually seem to work quite well (I have used the M42 ones a lot)

[ARWadsworth]

No. The pillocks that failed my MOT due to number plate damage on my car (a water mark behind the sticker) managed to install a number plate with two of the numbers the wrong way around. I just cannot be arsed to get it swapped.

No use for forward facing GATSOs.

[Steve Walker]

The only thing I have against variable speed limits is that I find them stressful. I'm pretty good at keeping my speed constant where possible, but on motorway journeys it is possible, when in a block of moving traffic for some time, to not notice if the traffic speeds up a bit. So where there are variable speed limits and the related enforcement cameras, I feel constantly under pressure to keep checking my speed and it makes for a very uncomfortable and tiring drive.

Just as an aside. On sections of motorway with variable limits, do the cameras switch to 70 when the road is de-restricted or do they switch off? I've always assumed that they switch to 70, but am not so sure with the speeds of some other vehicles.

SteveW

[Andy Burns]

I've been trying to find out, I *THINK* the cameras are inoperative except when the signs display a speed below NSL. The closest I can see is from the consultation response document ...

"The VMSL will not cover the enforcement of the national speed limit. The national speed limit will only be displayed as an aspect signal on the AMIs at the end of a section where the national speed limit has been reduced. This will inform the public that the sequence has ended and the national speed limit applies. When no restrictions are in place, the signals will not show any speed limits, and thus indicating that normal motorway regulations and enforcement regimes will apply."

[ARWadsworth]

Now Steve Firth once commented that they may still work, but at a much higher speed setting than 70mph. ISTR he mentioned 90+ mph.

I certainly know from my travels around the country that they are not set for less than 90mph, which is my usual cruising speed on a quiet motorway.