Figures revealed by the comparison site, GoCompare, have shown that since 2016, the most prolific speed cameras have been predominantly located in Avon and Somerset; the top eight were policed by the Avon and Somerset police force.
The statistics have been obtained as part of a Freedom of Information request sent out to all 45 of Britain’s forces, although only 16 thought it necessary to respond, so how representative these numbers are is debatable. We also don’t know whether the different forces are using different trigger speeds.
However, statistics published one year ago also state that Avon and Somerset issued 95 tickets per 1,000 residents – second only to the City of London, so it would seem that they’re most likely at the top of the list.
148 Tickets
The most prolific camera, located on the M32, caught 22,350 speeders in the first five months of 2018, which equates to just under 150 motorists per day. Whilst Andy Williams from Avon and Somerset Police is insistent that they don’t want to catch speeders, you’d have to consider that even just a £100 fine per offence could typically net over £5,000,000 in speeding fines for the year.
“Speeding can have fatal consequences, it endangers the lives of others. We don’t want to catch speeders, we just want them to obey speed limits” states Andy Williams.
Between 2016 – 2018, a total of 386,969 speeding tickets were issued by the Avon and Somerset police, more than Bedfordshire, West Mercia, South Wales and Cheshire Police. You’d have to wonder just how that number is consistently higher than other forces – are they using lower limits than the rest of the country?
Top ten cameras
From the 16 respondents, these are the top ten cameras, their locations and the amount of tickets issued and when:
| Camera Location | Number of tickets issued | Year |
|---|---|---|
| M32 Severn Beach rail line overbridge to end of the M32 southbound | 22,350 | 2018 |
| M4 J19 – 20 westbound | 21,009 | 2016 |
| M4 J20 – 19 eastbound | 19,137 | 2016 |
| M5 J16 – 17 southbound | 19,088 | 2017 |
| M5 J17 – 16 northbound | 17,082 | 2016 |
| M32 Severn Beach rail line overbridge to end of the M32 southbound | 12,980 | 2017 |
| M5 J17 – 16 northbound | 12,176 | 2017 |
| M4 J20 – 19 eastbound | 10,833 | 2017 |
| M1 Bedfordshire | 10,339 | 2016 |
| A1081 Airport Way south-westbound | 10,024 | 2017 |
Strangely, the M32 camera caught just under 13,000 motorists in 2017, and yet after an increase in penalties, it has already caught more than 22,000 in the first five months of 2018.
Speeding and you
Although speeding offences are generally on the decline, the revamped and increased penalties (from April 2017) could see you being fined as much as £1,000 for an offence on a single or dual carriageway, and as much as £2,500 for a similar offence on a motorway. Regardless of road type, you could also be faced with 6 penalty points and anything up to a ban for serious breach of the speed limit.
Challenging a ticket issued as the result of a safety camera is almost impossible, and contrary to popular belief, minor details being wrong (such as the colour of the car) isn’t a defence that will stand up in court. The only ‘get out’ clause you could possibly use is if the Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) hasn’t been issued in time – it should be issued within 14 days of the offence.
With that said, you may not necessarily receive the NIP within that time, but providing it has been sent to the registered keeper, the prosecution will go ahead.
There is never really a defence for speeding, and although police numbers are on the decline, the rise of technology means that prosecutions for driving offences are on the increase – it’s estimated that 1 in 3 motorists are fined every year, and that the police forces are raking in around £25,000,000 each year from fixed penalty notices.
If you feel that a speeding conviction has been unfairly issued, there is still hope – around 1 in 10 speeding fines are cancelled each year, although between 2016 – 17, Greater Manchester Police raised that cancellation figure to almost 28%, a total of 33,893 speeding convictions were withdrawn.
A lecturer in criminology at Liverpool Hope University found that 241,165 fines were scrapped in the same period, and calls for the ‘zero tolerance’ approach have been dismissed as unworkable, thanks to the mistakes being made.
What do you think about the proliferation of safety cameras? Are the authorities too reliant on them? Do you think that some view it as an alternative to policing? Let us know in the comments.
“IT’S A LIMIT NOT A TARGET” campaign should be heavily publicised. We have been conditioned to adopt the “TARGET” mindset.
I agree entirely with the first part, but I don’t think we have been conditioned to see it as a target. The problem is that people,who constantly have their foot to the floor, (and there are lots of them), don’t understand the words, ‘Maximum’ or ‘Limit’. They just want to go as fast as they can and then moan when they get caught.
It’s not helped by the fact that modern cars are generally very fast, many will do speeds double or more of the 70 maximum. Perhaps a factory installed performance limit on them would be more use. I don’t mean setting the max exactly to 70, as this would be potentially risky, but maybe 85 to 90, and also increase acceleration times, so that people learned that they can’t hit the floor and cut other cars up. It would save a lot of people money on speeding fines and fuel, reduce accidents, or the severity of them, and make a contribution to reducing pollution as well.
If a car is doing say 34 in a 40 zone, there will be frustrated drivers following and wondering what is wrong with the driver in front. The mind set is to drive at 40. As a professional driver once said to me: “Let’s face it, 40 means drive at 40”
This is generally the opinion of the Institute of Advanced Motorists. During pre test supervised driving you are required to make safe and good progress this means drive safely and do not hinder other drivers by crawling along. Watch out for the bricks coming my way!
I have advanced driver training from Army instructors. A year ago I was interested in seeing if the Institute of Advanced Motoring could teach me anything. I WAS HORRIFIED at the dangerous nonsense they were expounding about how to drive a big and heavy 4×4!!! Racing up to road junctions. No use of engine breaking nor appropriate shifting through the gears to maintain controlled continuous momentum. Their philosophy was accelerate hard and break hard and (presumably) just pray there’s no oil or ice and that you don’t experience a break failure. The way I was taught (army style) everything is smooth and controlled, so you can easily emerge into traffic without any drama. The Institute are dangerous clowns.
Actually 40 means let’s drive at 37mph, because no-one bothers to calibrate their speedo, which reads generally 6 or 7% too high. Which is fine, because it allows me to overtake at the ACTUAL 40mph….
Reminds me of an old joke about the introduction of the 30mph speed limit: elderly chap on horse and cart, passing new speed limit sign – “Gee up, Neddy, and we might just about make it”.
Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! I don’t get it!!!!
Limits are generally set so low That maximum allowed is also the minimum that any competent driver should be travelling at
Correct, Michael. It is a Maximum LIMIT and not a target.
One of my dad’s older customers (my dad runs a garage) had great fun with two young police officers over this. A 30mph road. It was very icy, with snow on the ground. The driver had reduced his speed on approaching a roundabout. The police pulled him over to caution him that he’d be charged with obstruction if he didn’t maintain 30mph.
The police car then sped off, only to hit the next roundabout too fast. Losing control, the police car ended up stranded in the middle of the roundabout. My dad was called out to tow it in for repair. Meanwhile, the old driver drove SLOWLY around and around the roundabout, laughing and waving to the police.
I live in a village with a very steep hill, by having a time distance measure point, I have clocked cars over 80mph and motorbikes over 100mph, all in a 30 limit. I would love a camera, before someone gets killed, as for these random cameras for profit making …..ridiculous, there most be a set standard and conditions, as usual rip off britain.
Hi Mark, I’m often the 1st person on the country roads of a morning. I often come across spectacular crashes with upside down cars buried in the hedges, and marks all along the road where a car has skidded on its roof. Often too, there are people trapped inside. Why? Because the 30mph steeply sloping road was quiet, so the driver saw no reason he/she couldn’t do 50, 60, or 70. I see these idiots about once a month, and their cars are write offs. They always say, “It was perfectly safe. I was only doing xx mph when the car went out of control”. Not their fault, obviously.
Thankfully, I’ve only come across 7 fatalities.
IT’S A LIMIT NOT A TARGET should be given maximum ongoing publicity to alter the TARGET mindset.
Arond a hundred years ago, when these limits were introduced, they thought thirty mph was safe around town. I don’t suppose they thought thirty okay, thirty one death. Or is it now 29 okay, thirty death?
Interesting as the number of accidents is also up, clearly the focus on money collection via speed cameras is not improving road safety. Until the powers that decide how to improve road safety recognise that education is the only way to improve driving standards things won’t change. Of course there is no financial incentive to change!
Seems to me that cameras are placed to catch the unwary rather than improve safety. They tend to catch visitors rather than locals who know the road. I know some dangerous sections of road that would really benefit from a camera but there’ll never be one!
I do notice on my journeys that mobile sped traps are often placed at the bottom of a hill and sometimes driving safely on the previous level road can all too easily creep above the limit.
Yes, especially on cruise control, to hold 50 you need to be in 5th or 4th gear to help pull it back on deceleration
Or use your brakes (brain) – I use cruise control and have no problem despite having an automatic that has hardly any engine braking.
Northamptonshire. 01:25am. Travelling through the region, I took a wrong turn and ended up going through a village. Absolutely pitch black conditions, not a soul in site and a completely empty road. A Speed Camera flashed and I was blinded for a few seconds.
I Received the ticket and it explained I was doing 34mph on a 30mph road. Attend a speed awareness course or be fined and penalty points.
I attended. And all the officials could talk about was SAFETY CAMERAS. These cameras are for drivers safety and public safety.
I asked for someone in the team holding the course to explain to me just who this camera was protecting? Especially at gone 1am. I was told to sit down and shut up or be thrown off the course!
They really didn’t like to comprehend that Safety Cameras is their terminology for giving them their living holding courses that do nothing!
Drivers attend because it’s a way not to pay the fine, and more importantly, not see a rise in insurance premium for having a speeding offence on the license.
There is no defence to a speed camera. You were electronically caught speeding. SO CALL THEM SPEED CAMERAS!
The Nanny state has gone mad.
I fully agree with you, I also have been on a speed awareness course where the instructor would not let anyone disagree with anything he said or answer any awkward questions,when we went out driving the instructor who took us said that none of the other instructors agreed with this guy as they all felt that they should allow questions & give straight answers unlike this one odd ball. he was not liked buy anyone.
The Nanny State may have gone mad but I think it’ll need to accelerate somewhat to catch up with you.
A few little points that you and other will of course ignore : If the conditions were pitch black should you not be driving slower rather than faster? Of course you know that there’s NEVER anyone about at 1:25 am … Oops until someone appears that you didn’t see (remember your pitch black conditions and a village you don’t know and came upon by mistake?) and your reactions times are reduced by you going too fast. Are you REALLY bothered about what the camera is called as to me it looks like a feeble excuse to say ‘I’m a great driver who knows exactly what’s going on around me at all times (even when it’s too dark to see) so speed limits shouldn’t apply to me’. I agree that the speed awareness courses are of questionable benefit and only offer a way for drivers – who in most cases know EXACTLY what they’re doing – to dodge points and save money. Your moral stand about what the cameras are and should be called is admirable but I notice that the moral standpoint takes a little bit of a knock when it comes to just putting your hand up and admitting that you were not caught by any clandestine sting operation but by being rather naive and/or arrogant. Did Mr Morals take the points and put it down to experience? No he took the
By the way I love the ‘I was blinded for a few seconds’ line – what a poor victim you are. These cameras (whatever you call them) are rally, really dangerous and you should be compensated for your suffering.
(If you do decide to respond why not chuck in a couple of ‘Fake News’ claims so you can avoid having to put together any structured argument )
Thanks Iain. You have put it much better than I could.
I was caught doing 33 in a 30 zone, I do not consider that as speeding but exceeding the speed limit, I opted to pay the £100 and 3 points which are the only points received in53 years driving both HGV and cars, the course would have cost me £95 plus 25 mile journey and 4 hours in the classroom, my insurance was not increased either
Agreed! For ‘speed camera’ read ‘police money-making machine’. In our area the speed awareness courses are run by other agencies. Tragic as the loss of lives is, there will always be accidents on the roads and elsewhere due to human error- that’s life.
As stated above, there is a defence, it’s “necessity.”
That’s why I use a safety camera (or accident black spot) early warning device.
You don’t pay the fine but still have to pay for the course, the same price, you just don’t get the points on your licence & hope u don’t get caught again in the next 3 years
Here’s a suggestion,
All car manufacturers going forward are enforced to install the black box which monitors the drivers speed, braking and cornering. It will also record the types of road on which you typically travel, and the times of day and night. This builds a profile of the drivers performance and would provide a more balanced view rather than just a snapshot camera incident where a slight creep over the speed limit could have taken place.
The authorities could then legitimately fine, issue points, ban drivers or even link in with insurance premiums with solid evidence, surely a more balanced and fair system.
Unfortunately, this would require time but could be phased in and a requirement to have retro fit to existing cars.
Also the biggest hurdle would be that the number of so called legitimate motorists driving around on our streets are doing so without driving licences and particularly in the area I live in without road tax/MOT’s or insurance. Surely this is also another high risk to other road users which requires targeting as a priority?
Seriously brilliant idea! Add in number plate recognition to check insurance and radio chips in driver licences with high fines and the rest of us would pay lower insurance premiums and less tax.
Enforcement – just set petrol pumps to reject anyone without a valid black box reading so saving on police/court costs.
Ah but all the whingers would argue the right to privacy so sadly i will not live long enough to benefit.
“sadly”? You sure? C***!
So my (petrol) lawn mower and chain saw would need black boxes – and be taken to the petrol station – in order to get petrol for them? Get real, Philip!
1984 anyone?
Join the discussion. And its a private company that deliver the courses. Ask them where your “fine” goes.
Exactly the same circumstancies I got my solitary speeding ticket in over 50 years of driving. DId I whinge?
No I accepted that I had been caught in a moment of inattention. NB. Excess SPEED = NOT SAFE. The SPEED (Not Safety) Awareness course is to teach you why. Clearly lost on someone who is unable to understand why speeding through a village is not a good idea, especially in the “pitch black”.
If you were “Blinded” – I suggest a speedy visit to an optician -preferably before driving again.
There should be cameras at all traffic light junctions.To many people going through red lights lately.
I agree even cyclists think they have the right
Red herring. Cyclists might endanger themselves – drivers jumping lights kill people!
And motorists going through a green light kill cyclists going through a red.
That ‘s rubbish, a cyclist jumping the lights could cause a motorist to take avoiding action and subsequently being involved in an accident. The law is for cyclists as well as motorists.
Untrue, cyclists can kill pedestrians, as the guilty verdict of one doing so was widely reported in the press recently.
Not necessarily, I’ve been knocked over twice by cyclists, the first in one way St James’s Street Brighton by a cyclist riding the wrong way down, the second time by one who appeared from behind at speed on the footpath, both rode on quickly leaving me to pick myself up.
and cyclists jumping red lights kill themselves, who gets “done”?
Cyclists apparently have the right to do anything, anywhere.
Cyclists are the Freeloaders of the Road Network. Half ride with little to no lights after dark they are not insured for any damage they cause. They break every rule of the road, One Way systems, Ride on Foot Paths, Jump Traffic lights … YET it is the qualified, Taxed, Licence holding insured legal road user that have to pay for there mistakes time and time again
Alan, hardly any of our Vehicle tax revenue or fuel duty actually pays for the road network. The cyclist is probably paying more towards it in Taxes, whilst the pollution from your car is putting more people in hospital and therefore costing everyone in early death and the NHS burden
It’s mostly cyclists who jump red lights
Why is it 30 MPH. Why not 34 daytime and 29 at night. We can all read the clock, well no 50% of drivers cannot read the paper. As usual not tackling the problem. Speed is not the problem it is the person behind the wheel. Get rid of camera’s and speed bumps. What do you expect living in this Communist run country. Democracy what a laugh.
Your comment about. ‘Why not 34 daytime and 29 at night’ is quite a good idea.
However, your comment about ‘Communist run country’ is both unnecessary and untrue. (You wouldn’t get away with publishing this post in a Communist country). You have clearly never lived in a Communist country and if you look at road accident statistics worldwide you’ll see that the accident and death rates in those countries are significantly higher than they are here.
I’ve lived in a communist country. Can we please have some actual proof of your words rather than take your word for it? Some statistics, please on how it’s worse there than here. Sorry, but I don’t believe you…
As a doctor one of my jobs is to examine people making a claim as a defendant following injuries received in the accident. The overwhelming cause of accidents is driver innatentiveness. Speed rarely comes into it
As a former Police Officer Clark, one of my jobs was to sweep up victims of accidents. Not paying attention does cause accidents, add a little too much speed to the mix and injuries become deaths. Far too many people think their superb driving skills should exempt them from speed limits.
Did you have a mechanical digger to aid you or just a large broom? A somewhat unsympathetic posting
I don’t do it (thankfully) but I do know that when you do the kind of work Les has done you have to become hardened to it in order to continue doing it. Though it never becomes easy, especially if children are involved.
When YOU have had to deal with a serious/fatal injury traffic accident – and its family after-effects, YOU may possibly be able to make fatuous comments. Knocking on a door at 4 a.m. to inform a parent their child/partner/relative is dead – or in Intensive care is not an easy task …. especially when speed was the main cause of the tragedy.
But this is not what is being enforced is it? In general these are all about petty fines for being slightly over on motorways. Motorways being our safest roads and lowest risk… These fines are are not bourne of the stuff of mass carnage and loss of life as you so emotively and dramatically put it. Those sad events usually have far more serious causative factors than doing 78 in a 70 don’t they? Or 56 in the new and latest 50 limit where 60 was once fine for a century beforehand. And as for policing REAL causes of ‘always’ a risk and serious accident causal factors (drink/drugs/bald tyres/careless driving) well these don’t even figure much anymore as they dont drive the coffers much and take a bit more nous and application to address. Seems to be all about this simplistic crowing that we must just all comply with our ever decreasing and ever changing limits and all will be rosy… Such a disservice to motorists and road safety.
Oh so a few miles over the limit is ok? Why draw the limit? I only had one extra pint! Just the same as “I only fiddled a bit of my taxes/expenses/benefits” (NB – of course the latter is QUITE different isn’t it!?!) – sorry ALL are stealing/cheating.
The fact is that speed kills – speed limits are set according the type of road and conditions. The 30mph limit in towns is to allow drivers time to stop – faster would KILL more people.
“60 was fine a century ago”? How many cars could do that in 1918?
Does “Proper Policing” have ANY idea how much higher road casuaties were in the 1970’s before the 70mph limit?
As far as I am concerned, speed fines are a wonderful idea – let’s make all taxes voluntary!
And just how many times have you had to do that where the driver involved was sober, licenced, driving properly and safely but a few MPH above a posted limit (as the vast majority of camera prosecutions are)?
Prove that.
He doesn’t have to the argument is sound. Police Officers can (and often do) exercise good judgement and camera cannot. Snap. Fine.
Yes, it is a valid point and you are technically correct. I would not like to be the one to inform any family of a loss. But I have seen, attended, and been involved in the aftermath of vehicle accidents. And while speed was involved in many of these, it was rarely the prime cause. Inattention and negiligence in driving was. The police should be above kick-back reactions when dealing with these situations, as it generally aggravates a situation rather than calming it. And police should be striving for the truth of an event, not leaping on popular bandwagons of opinion.
So is your comment Diog, A somewhat unsympathetic posting.
No Doig, just reality. I do not know what is more saddening – the fact that you think like this or that yu felt the need to write it.
It’s a shame the police rarely practice what they preach.
I was following, for a while, a police Ford Focus Estate out of London Yesterday. The driver regularly exceeded the 30 mph speed limit with no blue lights.
Les I take it that constantly looking for cameras does not hinder peoples driving attention?
I know that sometimes my speed goes above the limit due to down slopes or going up hills even driving along a straight stretch of a motor way, and as I said constantly on the lookout for a camera does take my attention. But there is no defence to my speed going above the limit even for a short time…. Is there?
Defence? Yes it’s called “necessity” and you would have to prove it to the Magistrate.
It’s not easy, but they acquitted me.
While aproaching a speed camera on a motorway people speeding bang hard on the brakes cousing rear ends back down the way.
Even more so than that of constantly looking for cameras (which in theory shouldn’t be necessary if you’re not speeding!) there’s the danger of constantly looking at the speedometer rather than the road, and that of constantly looking for unexpected and well-hidden speed limit signs.
Can anybody honestly say, even if they never break the limit, that they don’t look at their speedo at least once if not many more times n the approach to a camera? These are supposed to be danger areas and we have everybody looking away from the road. What bright spark thought that one up?
If you can’t control your speed without constantly looking at your speedometer you shouldn’t be driving, and if you weren’t beaking the speed limit you wouldn’t have to worry about speed cameras.
The rest of the world shouldn’t have to adapt to the lack of ability and selfishness of some drivers
Les, a very very small percentage of ‘speeders’ are people who think their superb driving skills should exempt them from speed limits, the remaining 99% of us are safe drivers just funding the police service with inappropriate fines. I have been ‘caught’ speeding 3 x times in the last 20 years – 34 in a 30, 36 in a 30, and most recently 68 in a 70 – to qualify the latter, it was on the smart motorway section of the M5 near Droitwich, it was 6am in the morning, and there was very very little traffic around, why the Variable Speed Limit had been set at 60 is beyond me.
To catch out drivers and increase revenue
No Paul – Variable Speed Limits are set to slow traffic when up ahead there is congestion or some type of hazard. Otherwise you get a bottleneck and stationary traffic.
Carl: 3 times in 20 years – one would haev thougtht you would have learnt you road signs by now!
If not how about trying 29 in 30? It is maximum limit, not a minimum!
It is areal shame that the numerous road signs, especially on motorways refer to ‘extinct’ conditions and irrelevant situations.
How many times do you experience ridiculous restrictions? Frequently I would suggest. That means that the credibility of ALL signage is in doubt.
signed Bigbaz.. not a perfect driver but one with 61 years of experience with a variety of licence classes and an I.A.M. certificate.
Does anyone know where all this ‘Fine’ money goes?
So are the emergency services attending a crime, medical emergency or fire not driving safely when attending such incidents, when they are rushing to the scene ASAP? Of course they are, vehicle users are easy targets.
Fines are grotesquely unfair! As £100 to one person means not eating that month and to another its 2mins of houly earnings. Apart from the points which are tradable, its a very blunt instrument/ tax revenue for the most targeted on the least able to afford.
Or enough money to get them off. Beckham.
Yes! How did Beckham beat his ticket which was for a speed well above the Limit?
he said it was something like the NIP not being issued in the 14 days?!!
So you prosecute millions who are paying attention, setting their speed safely to conditions but happen occasionally to stray slightly above the random number prescribed by a vote hungry politician who has probably never driven the road in question and all too often against scientific evidence for safe limit setting practice. He is probably exceeding that limit because he is looking at the road and prevailing traffic conditions where he should be looking rather than staring at the dashboard.. All because another diver doing the same speed is looking at his phone and crashes so that makes it OK.
How is speeding paying attention? If you cannot judge your speed without “staring” at the dashboard, how can you look in your mirrors? If “millions” are being fined, then the rest of us are doing billions of journeys and not.
So glad Dave knows that the scientific evidence – perhaps he could tell us his qualifications?
NB. Hasn’t he noticed that using a phone is now illegal – after lots of arguing “I am perfectly safe to do so, because I am a good driver and take extra care” – the same argument used before drink driving laws.
Using a phone is NOT Illegal hands free use is perfectly acceptable , no different from chatting to another passenger
Not the same as talking to a passenger, a person on the other end of the phone can’t see the conditions you are driving in, and may say things which distract you more than they intend.
I did it to someone once accidentally, I mentioned in passing one of my friends suicide, forgetting that the person I was talking to also knew this friend through an entirely different route.
He called me back a few minutes later when he’d pulled over out of the busy traffic.
If I’d been in the car with him and realised he was driving in busy traffic i wouldn’t have talked about the friends suicide, even if I didn’t realise he also knew the victim.
Two words – revenue generation.
i thick he is telling the truth
The police being the major contributor to that crypto-statistic
” Far too many people think their superb driving skills should exempt them from speed limits.” Could you possible be including Police Officers who speed and break other traffic laws with impunity?
Speeding because of ‘inattentiveness’ (which is actually driving without due care & attention) is just as illegal. And lethal!
Sorry, but I have to disagree. Even if the cause was inattentiveness, speed is always a factor. If you are inattentive at 30 mph you will probably live, although you may suffer some injuries. If you are inattentive at 70 mph, you, or someone else, will probably die or suffer life changing injuries. I guess pathology is not your specialisation.
* inattentiveness
I hope he is a better Doctor than he is a speller
Are you really s doctor!? Basic ability to be able to spell would make you a bit more believable
I like your ability to be able to comment on others’ comments.
I have to ignore distractions, don’t even look at attractive women on pavements. What annoys me most are people slowing down to watch whats happened on the other side of the road tailgating and speeding. If the speed limit is set and I’m doing it why flash at me and drive up my ass?
It could be that your speedo is reading several mph low, like most do, and the driver behind is trying to travel at the limit. Check your speedo against a sat nav, and I’ll bet you find a difference of 3 to 4 mph.
Sorry DaveB but most Speedometers actually read about 10% HIGH so 30MPH indicated is about 27MPH To exceed the speed limit you would be travelling 33MPH indicated and as most Police Forces allow about10/15 % above the limit ( About 35MPH) you would be travelling at 38MPH indicated so no excuse for being caught.
That’s what he meant.
The police do not allow any leeway, a friend of mine got caught doing 32 in a 30 limit, the drivers awareness course as they like to call it confirmed this. Now the 20 mph limits are just ridiculous, people crawl along and they will get u for doing 21.
Actually I believe it’s 10% plus 4 mph so in a 30mph zone you would need to travel at 37mph to allow for Speedo descrepincy.
34 mph caught on camera in Hampshire. Driver awareness course £90:00 & 4 hours of sanctimonious lecturing to save 3 points on my licence! All of these cameras DO NOT prevent accidents and are purely revenue collection equipment. Therefore, to call them “Safety” cameras is misleading. I like many on here have exceeded limits 100s nay 1000s of times & NEVER had an accident or been the cause of one. I have driven HGV 1 vehicles, vans, cars and motor cycles over 47 years & still have a clean licence. Camera warning devices are legal – get one & stop funding these people.
I wonder how many accidents you caused by people having to swerve to get out of you way?
Philip, try reading the full post properly before commenting!
Speedometers rely on counting revolutions of the wheel, so any reading could be the same for various speeds (about +/-2% at the extreme), depending on your tyres. If your tyres are soft, or at the lower tread limit, or both, you are not travelling as fast as you would on hard, brand new tyres at the correct pressure, which have a bigger circumference, so travel farther in one revolution than soft, bald tyres. My satnav shows 30mph when my speedo shows 32 mph on new, hard tyres. When they show the same number, I know my tyres are soft and need pumping up, or the tread is almost down to the legal limit.
Mine is up to 3 mph slower than my satnav!
Are cars not now much safer than they were 20/30/40 years ago? Mine, a CR-V is full of safety. Not so, the white vans who pass +10 or 15mph,in the motorway outside lane when I am doing 70
White vans usually have to pull in to let all the German made luxury cars pass, and a few range rovers. Audi, BMW and Volkswagen drivers are very impotent people!
Because you’re probably hogging the fast lane instead of moving over. We know your type!
Please don’t call it a “fast lane”… It’s an overtaking lane, and if more people realised that it was supposed to be used for overtaking before pulling back over to the left, there would be far fewer frustrated people tailgating, headlight-flashing, under-taking, etc and all traffic would actually flow better.
Speed does come into it, because it gives everyone less time to get away with those moments of inattentiveness.
Last night I was driving From Cornwall to London. I have a Dash Cam. I saw too many near misses due to lack of attention. One person reversing back to the slip road he/she had missed. Cars and Lorries without proper working lights. All sorts of stupid stuff. Any slight lack of attention will cause a major fatal accident. Speed has nothing to do with it, it may make matters worse, but it does not cause the accident. … By the way I also have Cruise Control and it was set to 70 mph, I use it to save fuel, I get 60 mpg on an average run and I still get there on time thanks to Google Maps.
Please try & get your basic facts right – police forces do not get the fixed penalty money -the courts do. The police do get a percentage of any course fees however.
That’s why mobile speed cameras have virtually disappeared!
Wrong. The police get income from the cameras. They only lose that when the offender goes to court.
Exactly. The courts are a bank which is enabled by legislation under the legal system.
The council runs and funds the bank (court).
People claim it is a stealth tax yet it is there in the public eye for all to see.
According to Simon Moon from This Is Money: “I spoke to the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Transport who told me the income from speeding fines goes into what is known as the Treasury’s consolidated fund, which is a bit of jargon that really means the Government’s own bank account.”
How often are speed cameras enforcing reasonable limits? Generally limits are set by local politicians (councillors) who react to residents rather than motorists. There are numerous limits in Gloucestershire which are indefensible, yet must be enforced. Shouldn’t speed cameras display the limit they are enforcing as a matter of law?
I quite agree that limits throughout the country have been hugely reduced, often to absurdly low levels, presumably as a result of local politicians pandering to a few NIMBY residents whilst ignoring the interests of 30 million+ motorists who want to be able to drive at the reasonable speed they used to be permitted on those stretches of road.
Its well known that if a limit is set unrealistically low, most drivers will not respect it.
What about the pedestrians? The whole road is theirs. Most of them are crossing the roads, with earphones and nowhere they are paying attention. THE KINGS OF THE ROAD. And always the driver is at fault. And the pushbikes. The authoritys used milions to build their highways and they are still between the cars. When you ask them, they will break your mirror, scratch your car, and the best is they will tell you to F… Off
Dear Johnny, it must be great to live where you live! At the top of Hampshire where I used to live, you have to drive, pedestrians can’t get down the footpath because of all the parked cars ‘2 wheels on the kerb’ and the garden overgrowing from the other side of the kerb. And yes, that is why I moved.
I tried walking just to reduce the congestion for those that have to drive. Motorists are shooting themselves in the foot, I wouldn’t let my kids walk to school these days.
I believe the m32 has a 40mph speed limit, not being local to Bristol I do not know where the camera is but 40 on a motorway!
Yes we live in Bristol is completely nuts and we think just a way of making money we were told it’s something to do with the stupid bus lane they have put on the M32 no stranger is going to be aware of such a stupid idea
Strangers should read, and heed, the speed limit signs which are clearly visible.
Well done Mr Perfect 🙄
Hope you never miss a sign. But you never would because you are perfect…..
It is nominally a motorway, which is now misleading. Nobody expects a permanent 40 mph sign on a motorway – a temporary variable limit on a gantry, yes, but a permanent limit, no. If you see cones and yellow signs, you expect roadworks, and can expect a 40 mph limit (although it’s usually 50 mph in roadworks), but there are no such indicators. The Highways Agency should reclassify the bottom of the M32 to a dual carriageway (or a car park, which would be more realistic in the morning or evening). When the motorway ends, and you come onto an urban dual carriageway, you expect a lower limit.
Yes – 40 mph on a motorway is ridiculous. The M32 is not a “real” motorway, however; it’s a (dangerous) spur into Bristol city centre, and I think that it should be downgraded to an “A” road to stop people thinking that they have a “right” to drive at 70mph. On entry to Bristol, there should be a 50mph limit to halfway between J2 & J3, then 30 mph. On exit from Bristol the limit could be 60 mph from J3 onwards. There is a precedent for these differetial limits – on the M4 into and out of London, between Heston and Chiswick.
Caught once then slap them with a fine.
Caught twice, £1000 fine and take their licence off them for life.
Some people seem to forget that their licence is not a right and if they lose their job, oh dear how sad never mind. So, simply put for the F1 racing drivers on the roads, if you value your licence… don’t speed!
Absolutely. Could not agree more. Totally sick of people moaning and complaining about not being able to go fast enough on the roads. Living in a residential area where 20mph is the max speed limit – for the safety of residents – is almost totally ignored. In fact if the speed limit was 30 they would still be breaking it. It is not essential to get from A to B as fast as you possibly can. Long straight roads might seem safe but the speed and downright stupidity of drivers cause endless accidents – Gloucestershire roads are a good example. Why should other drivers be put at risk because some motorists are determined that they know best. Ooooh this road shouldn’t be 50 it should be 70 therefore I will ignore the speed limit and please myself. Ignorant, arrogant motorists who feel they can do as they please.
Well said Sara, and spot on. I live in a residential area with a 20mph, although it benefits the residents, it was placed to protect the school children. The 20mph zone covers 2 schools in the area, one a primary school and the other, a senior school. And you’ve guessed it, about 80% of motorists ignore the sign. I know this as I used to do ‘speed watch’.
In residential areas in the country.
Once upon a time children were taught road safety, there were even public information ads showing kids how to cross roads safely. That’s not a fairy tale.
Now they plant a speed camera instead. The onus is now on the motorist . We are told drive 30MPH or less because most people will survive being hit at these speeds. How ridiculous…..Shouldn’t we be educating people to cross roads correctly rather than constantly bashing motorists? How many people walk along the path and get to a road and just cross without looking. They’re in another world listening to music with noise isolation headphones, with not a care in the world. But plant another speed camera and when they do eventually get hit by a vehicle because they weren’t paying attention at least they will survive because the vehicle was only travelling at 30MPH.
What a crazy world in which we live. Educate people on how to cross roads. Bring back the green cross code man even Tuffty the squirrel teach people to take responsibility for their safety. Or we will soon have a speed camera on every road and have a 10MPH speed limit .
Nanny State comes to mind, and another, why do vehicle manufacturers build vehicles, e.g. 4×4, SUVs, luxury sports etc. and allow these dangerous machines to travel the roads of Britain with power plants that would be comparable to a truck? Quite often they have top speeds that they can’t even use on our normal roads. Why don’t they force manufacturers to restrict the power of vehicles and top speed on public roads? Instead they build these vehicles that are a danger to most people. Its obvious the wealthy are looked after while the poorer sections of society are made to suffer at their pleasurable gains. The wealthy can afford the inconvenience of the odd speeding ticket. Down with the class system!
How about caught a third time, a death sentence? Or maybe execute their whole family?
Its not speed that kills, that is the mantra of the simple. It is inappropriate speed. The police have zero interest road safety, their own statistics on deaths during car chases is witness to that. I was recently run off the road by a police car coming on the wrong side of the road at speed had it not been for my violent evasive action a head on collision would have ensued. It was the most blatant case of dangerous driving I ever saw. How many deaths are caused by heavy goods vehicles tailgating or dangerous manoeuvres? Extremely elderly drivers wandering all over the road at 35mph clearly unable to control the vehicle and before someone starts I am an OAP. There is no evidence to support the efficacy of these machines in reducing road deaths. They are positioned to catch people out, little more than entrapment. Police are too interested in political correctness and revenue earning cameras.
And taxi drivers who make sudden stops or u-turns, without indicating, or stop on double yellows or zig-zags at crossings, just to pick up a passenger?
They should put a speed camera in a trebuchet and fire it into the houses of parliament, we could detect the speed the MPs reach going about their daily motions, it would be for a worthy cause lol
I want to know where the extra revenue of millions of pounds is spent….perhaps a good idea would be to employ more police for ‘bobbies on the beat’. Hopefully this would help to decrease the crime rate in all the big cities!
Its certainly not spent on keeping the roads in good, safe conditions for driving.
And why is the government relentless in their pursuit of motorist revenue when large companies get away with massive tax avoidance.
Tax avoidance is legal, speeding is not. You can’t pursue companies operating legally without changing the law, and there are a myriad considerations with any change of law that affects companies operating from an overseas base, like Google, Amazon, Starbucks, Facebook, etc.
Got caught in Scarborough recently saying was doing 60 mph when was actually doing 53 by a detection van that was parked in a bus lane facing the wrong way Also everyone I know in Codnor Derbyshire have been caught doing 37mph…….kinda suspicious?
Why do car makers keep increasing the performance of cars, it’s not necessary for vehicles to do 150 mph when 70 is the maximum speed allowed! The latest electric vehicles have 0-60 of 3 or 4 seconds why not make the distance they can travel the focus and not the performance. The same for petrol and diesel vehicles !
Just my point too, it stinks of hypocrisy.
Where as speed camera’s catch motorists not paying attention to a change in road signs indicating a speed change, it’s police in cars who catch people with no licence, no tax or insurance ,high on drugs or drunk, speeding outside the camera zones.chris
The police are out of touch with reality the whole speed kills thing is unacceptable the real killer is lack of observation. The police know this which is why their patrol drivers can drive so fast anywhere they are taught observation in their test driving. May i also add the police motorcycle patrol drives produce a blue book of how to drive a must for every driver it can be bought at any good book seller. If you observe correctly you will know what speed is the most suitable for the conditions. Its no good having a 70 mph limit if its foggy or heavy rain!!
Have a good day.
This is a joke I assume. Speeding on the decrease, try driving on the A45 and A46 in Warwickshire and Coventry, my DashCam has a memory full of speeding and jumping RED Traffic lights. Just got back from Western Australia and Melbourne Victoria, there is no speeding there, why can’t we have the same in the UK. What a please to drive in those places.
Strange how most of the high count cameres are in the old Yate” police area (in & around Bristol. They had the worst reputation for speeding cases even 35 years ago, seems nothing has changed
Despite all the police denials, so called safety cameras are a cash cow, with too many mistakes to be considered fair, reasonable or just. Also, speed limits do not take account of different quality of vehicles. 100mph in a Suzuki Jimny or a Yank tank is totally dangerous, while in a Supercar it is only half the maximum speed and with its arodynamics is actually better than half that speed. Police are trained to drive safely at 140mph, do they not think that other motorists are similarly trained and capable
Dear Graham,
“Police are trained to drive safely at 140m.p.h.” ON THE PUBLIC ROAD. Are there any similar training courses to be had for other motorists for them to qualify as capable?
I suppose one could argue that training on a track would be akin to driving on the motorway where everyone is travelling in the same direction.., except other “track” users aren’t a mix of ’90 years old’ and ‘just passed a driving test’ and are anticipating other vehicles to approach and passing quickly.
“Police are trained to drive safely at 140mph” try telling that to the nurse who was hit by a police training instructor doing a training exercise on the A10 at Harston a few years ago.
Uh no – you can’t – BECAUSE SHE IS DEAD.
Speed cameras are a bit of a waste, except for collecting money – most of them don’t improve road safety. As the cameras have to have the yellow markings I see many drivers who brake sharply as they approach, drive through at the correct speed and the floor it as the get clear, only to repeat the process at the next camera – how is sharp braking and acceleration contributing to road safety?
Some areas have average speed zones and these are much better at regulating speeding and therefore contribute to road safety, but of course they don’t raise as much money as more -people comply with them.
Unfortunately nobody is the least bit interested in why you may have exceeded the speed limit. There are some genuine cases where the circumstances may justify no action being taken. If the camera shows you as being over the limit then that is the end of it as far as the authorities are concerned.
Go to court plead “mitigating circumstances” Magistrates are interested if you have a defence of “necessity.”
umm
It’s just one big Rip Off everyone should ignore any letters they receive that would put the system in one big mess
I disagree with the ignoring part.
In law, anything which not rebutted is accepted. If it is rebutted and no contract is entered into, then there is no statutory contract to prosecute.
If someone goes that route, they really need to know how to have the law applied to avoid a world of hurt. I know that through experience but doing homework and having ‘court’ action dropped is very empowering.
That said, it is not easy and fraught with danger which deters most people. The first tool they use is fear of consequences as the police do their best to discredit such action. Nonetheless, success is possible.
😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
Public roads aren’t speedways & speed limit reinforce this. The anomly here is all the examples given are major highways. Here in rural Dorset I’ve recorded 80 in this 30 village with 45-75 being normal, but the police aren’t interested. The detector van came 2 yrs ago, recorded these speeds & went away never to return, so the police know what’s going on but ignore it. They are paid to ‘police’ the roads but don’t.
The only alternative is cameras & I wish we had some here…….
Interesting to note that most of the speed camera locations are on some our safest roads.
The M32 speed averaging cameras at the end of the motorway were only put in mid-late 2017, which is why the 2017 figure is lower than 2018. Also most people don’t realise that the smart motorway M4 (J19/J20)/M5 (J16/J17) cameras are on *all the time*. Even if there is nothing up on the gantry signs, they are _on_. This is unlike the M25 and other older smart motorway systems were the cameras are only active if something is up on the gantry signs (i.e. limits or NSL sign).
Inappropriate speed can be dangerous. Leaving too small a gap to the car in front at any speed is far more dangerous. The current maximum speed limits were set in the late 1960s when cars had none of the safety features they have now. The brakes on a modern car are a multiple number of times better than they were then. People not keeping up with the rest of the traffic on motorways is lethal too as other drivers who get stuck behind them get frustrated and then do daft things.
but that’s where your flawed argument is law states that travelling along any road below the prescribed limit for that road is totally legal unless doing so is causing an obstruction on the highway, the question here should be who is at fault the driver, driving below the speed limit within the remit of the law or the frustrated petrol head who should have their licence immediately revoked who should never have been on the road in the first place and only passed their test by a fluke or extreme leniency by the examiner that day, or are you the kind of people that passed their driving test in the long distant past when there were fewer cars on the road without the technologies that aid law enforcement to bring prosecutions and basically able to do as you damn well please, (unless in them days the old jam sandwiches or panda was the vehicle behind you, then the speed got kerbed and driving skills improved no end) then as soon as they disappear out popped the idiot. It doesn’t matter what vehicle technological innovations there are a pedal to the metal situation even with modern braking systems is not going to save anyone, we as humans are not quick enough to beat time, the nanoseconds it takes to swap from accelerator to brake, is the killing time. Compulsory refresher test the way forward and 10 years or less age dependant eye tests. And best of all the most simple way any vehicle on uk roads should have a limiting device installed and instead of cameras every speed marker has an activator for said limiters to bring the vehicle to the prescribed limit. take the ability to speed away job done.
Slow drivers still need to drive with due consideration. Drive at the speed limit or pull over and let others pass, don’t drive NEAR the speed limit and encourage “the longest overtake in history.” If you’re not going to overtake, leave space between you and the car ahead for those who do want to overtake.
Don’t be a speed vigilante, that “nutter” in the car behind might just have his wife giving birth on the back seat!
The ONS stats for 2017 show that, of 126,977 road accidents in GB in 2017, just 7,568 were caused by exceeding the speed limit (according to police classification of cause), while 8,991 were caused by ‘travelling too fast for the conditions’ (ie, not actually speeding, just not being careful) and 6,680 by ‘following too close’ (also lack of care). The last of these is not always the fault of the follower, but of the bad driver who pulls out in front of him at too slow a speed. So often I see people on the motorway pull out, to overtake a lorry doing 50-60 mph uphill, without first dropping back and then accelerating up to 70 mph to match the cars that are approaching from behind at a suitable speed to make that overtaking manoeuvre, and they then have to brake hard, causing a hazard despite being within the speed limit and driving sensibly themselves.
It is a pity that Avon and Somerset Police who blatantly condone and support illegal fox hunting do not apply more technical resources for catching non-insurred drivers with ANPR cameras, of which there must be HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of fly-boy motorists driving around Bristol and surrounding area.
You need to watch out for speed camera on the A303 in Avon & Somerset area too as it’s a dual carriageway you would expect to be able to do 70mph but near Taunton on the way towards Devon/Cornwall it suddenly drops to 30mph without any warning
I travel the length of the 303 frequently and I must be the luckiest and most inatentative driver around not only have I never received a ticket on this stretch but I’ve never even seen this speed change.
It will have been obvious to any clued-up user of UK motorways over the last decade that the overall standard of driving on average has declined. There has been a marked increase in “sloppiness” – a good marker of which is the number of lane changes you can observe without the driver using their indicator to signal their intentions to the other nearby road users. To my mind, it’s this upsurge in general lack of awareness and basic competence that is behind the increased number of accidents. Yes, speed always adds to the consequences, but it’s generally not the root-cause. I’m not advocating relaxing speed restrictions, but I am advocating more driver education, with consequences if not properly applied.
“Speeding can have fatal consequences, it endangers the lives of others. We don’t want to catch speeders, we just want them to obey speed limits” states Andy Williams.” There seems to be an Orwellian misunderstanding that 69 is good 71 is bad. In practice the difference in the consequence of a crash at either of these speeds is statistically nearly nothing.
You need to watch out for the speed camera near Taunton controlled by Avon & Somerset on the A303 going to Devon/Cornwall too as it’s a dual carriageway you would expect to be able to do 70mph but it drops suddenly near there to 30mph without any notice.
My day nav when I use it warns me in advance about any change of speed limit must have saved us loads of tickets
It is said that “… around 1 in 10 speeding fines are cancelled each year”.
Can we know the top 10 reasons for those cancellations, please?
In and around Birmingham there have been many many reductions in speed limits recently. For example there are a lot of dual carriageway 30mph limits and many 20mph limits in suburban areas. Enforced slower journeys of course lead to lower gears being needed and thus more pollution, and obviously keeping cars on the road at slow speeds for longer means more congestion.
Join the discussion…
Join the discussion…Yes Richard I agree, also, the 30 mph speed limit on the M5 roadworks between West Brom and Oldbury is all about revenue and has nothing to do with road safety for drivers or the maintenance workers (there’s non on the southbound side anyway). If safety was an issue to the authorities they would BAN the huge hi-tech distracting, blinding/dazzling signs from the sides of the motorway, they are lethal at any speed, but I guess they raise money too .
I hope my comments are not derogatory but I have to say a few sailient points.
As a retired LEO (US) since returning to the UK I have been appalled by the standard of driving. Especially on the Motorways Lane disaplin or the lack of! If I am going to an Emergency/999 or police open day which I saport to brake down the them and us syndrome.
When I leave home I activate both my camera and radar systems (checking accuracy first)
E.g: on joining the Motorway I always note practically the carriageway is empty. The overtaking lane (lane2) has plenty of vehicles and lane 3 is just as full. My speed radar often registered speeds in eccess of 90mph fastest recorded 126mph.
When joining the Motorway most motorists go immediately into lane 2 or 3 because the CARRIDGEWAY is no longer referred to . Even UK Law Enforcement refer to lanes 1 2 or 3.
Note on speeding: if your vehicle has a cruise control USE IT. Most people I know don’t as they (Don’t like it!) please drive within the law because you don’t just kill your self and family it’s the impact on others like the Emergency and police that have to drag the bodies of the dead and dying as a result of your actions.
I agree with you about the use of cruise control, I find it most useful. However on the issue of cars being in L2 and 3 as you come on to the motorway, that’s exactly where I’d expect them to be having moved over (if safe) to allow you to access the road. I do that if at all possible then move back into L1 when it’s safe.
Using a radar detector is illegal in the UK .
Cruise control uses more fuel and is very often pointless on busy motorways.
I have travelled on the Motorways and have endeavoured to keep to the legal speed limits only to be overtaken by cars which speed by me and when I come to the beautifully painted chevrons although I allow the gap between me and the other car that same gap has become a magnet for the overtaker to use as a temporary gap to allow the car tailing them to get past them. Had the car I had been behind had cause to stop suddenly my time lapse would have been less and the likelihood ids the overtaker would have hit him and I would more than likely had an accident. Not speed but lack of thinking of others.
I often wonder what is being learnt on the driving test. I believe motorway driving is still obligatory.
It stinks,Just cash cows.police numbers cut,can’t find policeman when needed,more drunk drivers getting away with it because they know mobile unit numbers have dropped ,cameras catch speeders,but can’t catch drunk drivers,snitch is more important?
If they can’t catch a drunk driver how are they going to catch a snitch? Even Harry Potter had a hard time, and he had a broomstick that went way over 70mph….
What gets me is the I can be going along at the speed limit, and the car in front of me notices a speed camera and slows down to way below the speed limit – like 20mph in a 30 zone. To me this indicates that they just do not know how fast they are going under normal circumstances. Its another indication of lack of awareness and attentiveness
SteveM …. Thats true and why cameras actually can increase accidents . The BBC published such facts a few years back but it was taken down after a few days . Motor Cycle news asked for the article under the freedom of information act ….. BBC said sorry we have lost it . But the evidence was clear speed cameras can increase accidents where there was not a problem before
I believe speed cameras are being used largely as cash cows. Whilst most motorists are responsible there will always be those who display a couldn’t care less attitude and they deserve to be caught. As for zero tolerance where motorists get caught for going 1 mph over a speed limit I think that proves the point. I don’t know the current situation but years ago speedometers had a 10% +/- tolerance built in which meant in a 30mph zone you had a tolerance up to 33mph before you would be prosecuted. At 40mph it was 44 mph etc. If that is still the case how can motorists be prosecuted for going 1mph over any limit?
I know a 10/11 mile stretch of road from Keighley to Halifax where there are 10 or 11 roadside cameras on EACH side of the road with speed limits varying between 30 & 50mph. I very much doubt that this can be justified on the grounds of the number of serious/fatal collisions.
Apparently the 10% tolerance doesn’t apply since a change in the law in April 2017. I didn’t know either.
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/806313/Speeding-fines-2017-UK-10-percent-allowance-rule-explained
Thanks for clarifying that point, I wondered if it had become law.
Dear Ric,
Not quite true.., they were allowed to over read by up to 10% but never under read, so one could be showing 30m.p.h. but actually be travelling at 27m.p.h. But you could never inadvertently exceed the speed limit.
I’m all for controlling speeding but i just wish the motorway limit was higher. In a built up area you should be hung drawn , and quartered tho.
If you don’t want to get caught speeding, don’t exceed the limit. It’s quite simple.
For the first time ever, I find myself in agreement with certain cameras. Lancashire have begun widespread use of average speed cameras which means that a momentary lapse of attention can be corrected without penalty.
I also believe that every gantry on managed motorways should have active cameras since they are genuine safety cameras. All others should be scrapped for the money making scheme that they are.
Does anyone know what percentage of fines are generated by average speed cameras? I stick to 50 mph on the M4 and regularly get overtaken by HGVs doing 60. I will admit this is in the early morning so perhaps the cameras cannot see in the dark?
Because HGVs have accurate tachographs you will be overtaken by one if you are doing 50 according to your speedo. Proof this is the fact that you say they’re doing 60 – they are speed limited to 56 mph.
I wonder what some of the posters on here who say they’ve attended a speed awareness course actually were doing for the few hours they were there. Clearly not bothering to pay attention to the course; for fear of learning something that might challenge their cherished beliefs perhaps?
The issue of where the money goes from speeding fines is a complete red herring. In order for a speed camera to be put up there has to be a history of serious accidents in that particular spot. If people are usually speeding there, QED there will be a greater risk of serious accidents, hence the speed camera. NOT because it’s the best place to generate money.
Speed cameras have to be signposted and warnings given – if they are not then they can be challenged. Which makes drivers’ assertions there were no warnings given (as if there should be a moral right to remind offenders not to break the law before catching them at it and prosecuting them) clearly untrue – if you weren’t paying attention and ignored the signage then you weren’t driving attentively and perhaps should be prosecuted with something more serious than merely speeding??
I find it astounding people still think they should be allowed to drive at whatever speed THEY think is safe as if the general public’s advanced driving skills and good judgement can be relied on to protect other road users from their overweening arrogance.
Obey the law and respect speed limits and you won’t get caught by speed cameras and fined or banned. It’s not rocket science.
Nonsense. Clearly you do not drive for a living and have not attended a social reorientation session. They are bull****. No one attending does not know that the faster you go the worse an accident. No one attending comes away thinking “Gosh! Who knew?” They are there to generate revenue in the guise of social concern. Similarly speed cameras are often placed for profit, hidden in foliage on wide bends where maybe one random historic accident provided the excuse and of course since the installation no further accidents prove the camera is a working safety success. Believe it if you want but I know it is all about money.
Paul L, You are incorrect. In theory a camera cannot be sited unless the history is there. In practice ,it’s totally different.As a retired police officer I know of at least 3 speed cameras in my area, sited where there has never been an accident, serious or otherwise. A fourth was removed after a legal challenge established it had no legal basis to be there.I wonder how many motorists paid up for nothing. As for respecting the speed limits, I suggest that “managed Motorways” have a lot to do with peoples attitude ,when a sign changes in a second from 50mph to 30 mph.you have little chance of avoiding a fine, however carefully you are driving. This is not sour grapes, by the way, as I have driven since 1966 and never had a ticket. The main cause of accidents is not speed, it is sheer bad driving, and the standard in this country is appalling.A new, updated, more stringent driving test is long overdue. Leicestershire turned all their speed cameras off a while ago, and the accident rate went down by a very large amount.
Only interested in raising money from motorists!
Between watching for speed cameras, mobile speed cameras, speed bumps, traffic calming (?) measures, pot holes, 20 mph restrictions and bus lanes I am not sure children and crossing pedestrians get the attention they deserve?
Driving slowly in a low gear and slowing for speed bumps then accelerating again is increasing air pollution inbuilt up areas. Air pollution is becoming a huge problem.
A Speed Trap Camera does NOTHING for the safety of ANY road.
The car it takes a picture of is an immediate danger, there and then.
Sending a letter to the owner a fortnight after, did NOTHING to keep the road safe for other users at that moment.
A fine MAY persuade the driver to be more alert or less stupid in the future, but it did not keep anyone safe. Not there and then, nor anywhere before or after.
In fact, it’s the proof that the road was not patrolled or designed properly.
Roads that need securing must have physical characteristics that dissuade from, or make impossible, speeding.
Only then the road is safe.
And – of course – better driver training. Having a driving license is not a God given right: I’ve seen some appalling driving that should have resulted in an immediate ban and a compulsory test resit.
If you fail 6,7, 8 times your driving test, doesn’t that say you are not fit for driving?
What is that, a lottery?
Where you try and find the examiner with a little more lax attitude to unleash you on the road?
I agree with you in part but not your conclusions. The camera itself obviously only fines people after the event but if its existence and the signage leading up to it are enough to make drivers slow down, then whether they are doing this from some damascene conversion to the evils of speeding or pure self interest in wanting to avoid a penalty, then it’s going to improve road safety.
A Transport and Road Research report found that only 3.4 per cent of accidents occur above the posted speed limit. Therefore, over 96 per cent of accidents occur below the posted speed limit.
The cause of most accidents is bad or inattentive driving, or not observing the 2 second rule.
Former motorcycle instructor and motorcycle Road Safety advisor to Hull and Swindon councils.
Tony, are you able to cite the study you quote or provide a link so others could read it? Sounds interesting
I will see if I can find the report. I have recently moved, so it may have been thrown out.
From https://trl.co.uk/sites/default/files/TRL440.pdf
“Finch et al (1994) showed that a reduction of 1 mile/h is associated with roughly a 5% accident saving across a range of road types. ”
and
“In total, company car drivers had 49% moreaccidents than ‘ordinary’ drivers, even when exposure differences and differences in demographic variables had been allowed for. ”
So – surely – the logical conclusion is not to ban speeding, but to ban company cars?