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Mobile speed camera question
I have a feeling I was caught speeding today by a mobile police van, but not sure.
I was coming through some roadworks at 30mph, at that point I hadnt see the van as there was a lorry in front of me (going a lot faster than me I might add). As the lorry turned off, I spotted the van and it was literally 100-200 metres in front of me, and that point I was doing probably 33mph. I slow downed to 30mph at that point.
So Im just wondering really, firstly what is the cut off point for a fine/points, I mean, if I was doing 33mph max, am I likely to get a fine, or will they not bother? Ive heard something about a 10% grace, but is that right?
Also, what sort of distance do the vans check the speed at? Do they check you as you are quite far away, or as you come closer to the van, if that makes sense? Because all through the roadworks I was doing less than 30mph, it was only when I was literally in front of the van that my speed had increased slightly.
I cant really find much on the web about police van speed cameras and what sort of distance they take the reading from.
Thanks for any advice.
I was coming through some roadworks at 30mph, at that point I hadnt see the van as there was a lorry in front of me (going a lot faster than me I might add). As the lorry turned off, I spotted the van and it was literally 100-200 metres in front of me, and that point I was doing probably 33mph. I slow downed to 30mph at that point.
So Im just wondering really, firstly what is the cut off point for a fine/points, I mean, if I was doing 33mph max, am I likely to get a fine, or will they not bother? Ive heard something about a 10% grace, but is that right?
Also, what sort of distance do the vans check the speed at? Do they check you as you are quite far away, or as you come closer to the van, if that makes sense? Because all through the roadworks I was doing less than 30mph, it was only when I was literally in front of the van that my speed had increased slightly.
I cant really find much on the web about police van speed cameras and what sort of distance they take the reading from.
Thanks for any advice.
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I did 33mph past an infra red camera and didn't get a fine: and I did as you did, slowed down before the lines. I was probably doing somewhere in the region of 28-33mph. You should be fine.
I believe there is a 10% leeway but I always slow down to a little under the speed limit, particularly for cameras in 30mph zones since that 10% is such a small fraction of the speed!
I believe there is a 10% leeway but I always slow down to a little under the speed limit, particularly for cameras in 30mph zones since that 10% is such a small fraction of the speed!
Absinthe
I did 33mph past an infra red camera and didn't get a fine: and I did as you did, slowed down before the lines. I was probably doing somewhere in the region of 28-33mph. You should be fine.
I believe there is a 10% leeway but I always slow down to a little under the speed limit, particularly for cameras in 30mph zones since that 10% is such a small fraction of the speed!
I believe there is a 10% leeway but I always slow down to a little under the speed limit, particularly for cameras in 30mph zones since that 10% is such a small fraction of the speed!
I hate drivers that do that! Really peeves me off, you don't need to slow down to below the speed limit, going through at 30-33mph is fine, if you are doing the speed limit don't slow down for the camera, causes fecking accidents.
Agh!
/rant over
Sorry, not meaning to be offensive!
Graham
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Im not really sure how these speed vans work to be honest. I mean, do they check the speed of all oncoming vehicles, or do they just check the speed of selected ones? Because there were people overtaking me at like 40-50mph (they obviously hadnt seen the speed van either!!), so is it possible that they might not even have been checking my speed anyway? Can they just pick and choose who they want to check?
Im not really sure how these speed vans work to be honest. I mean, do they check the speed of all oncoming vehicles, or do they just check the speed of selected ones? Because there were people overtaking me at like 40-50mph (they obviously hadnt seen the speed van either!!), so is it possible that they might not even have been checking my speed anyway? Can they just pick and choose who they want to check?
Yes, depends who they aim it at.
I was wondering about the "10% law" the other day so I asked a friend of mine who is a police officer and he said it was just a myth. Speedos in cars nowadays are so accurate (well under 1mph) so unless your speedo is purposely calibrated high it will always be spot on.
Having said that...I think the police generally do stick to the 10% law just as a leniancy measure rather than due to speedo errors. You should be fine with 33mph with a mobile police van.
Having said that...I think the police generally do stick to the 10% law just as a leniancy measure rather than due to speedo errors. You should be fine with 33mph with a mobile police van.
rustynator
I was wondering about the "10% law" the other day so I asked a friend of mine who is a police officer and he said it was just a myth. Speedos in cars nowadays are so accurate (well under 1mph) so unless your speedo is purposely calibrated high it will always be spot on.
Having said that...I think the police generally do stick to the 10% law just as a leniancy measure rather than due to speedo errors. You should be fine with 33mph with a mobile police van.
Having said that...I think the police generally do stick to the 10% law just as a leniancy measure rather than due to speedo errors. You should be fine with 33mph with a mobile police van.
Your friend knows nothing about cars, he is a policeman
You also misunderstand....
Car speedos have in inaccuracy intrinsic to their design (be it gearbox controlled or more ECU based, digital or analogue) - typically it's 8-10%.
Police forces typically allow you to do 10%+2 actual speed, not indicated.
No, the police officier is talking about the speedos, not the generally accepeted 10%+2.
I will explain for one final time.
Cars have an intrinsic speed error (generally 8%-10%) which means that they always over read your speed. For example, do 30 in a 30 zone and in most cars you will be doing more like 27.
Speed cameras/police generally follow a 10%+2 rule which means if you drove at 33 ACTUAL mph you would still be ok.
Hence this gives a compound error from your speedo to when you actually get caught. Without doing the percentages properly, this would mean that with a typical car (10% error, though lots of 6-8% or so) you could drive at around 38mph before you pass the threshold of being caught (actual speed around 34-35. Hence if you are caught doing 40 in a 30 zone, you were really doing more like 44.
I will explain for one final time.
Cars have an intrinsic speed error (generally 8%-10%) which means that they always over read your speed. For example, do 30 in a 30 zone and in most cars you will be doing more like 27.
Speed cameras/police generally follow a 10%+2 rule which means if you drove at 33 ACTUAL mph you would still be ok.
Hence this gives a compound error from your speedo to when you actually get caught. Without doing the percentages properly, this would mean that with a typical car (10% error, though lots of 6-8% or so) you could drive at around 38mph before you pass the threshold of being caught (actual speed around 34-35. Hence if you are caught doing 40 in a 30 zone, you were really doing more like 44.
adverse_reaction
Im not really sure how these speed vans work to be honest. I mean, do they check the speed of all oncoming vehicles, or do they just check the speed of selected ones? Because there were people overtaking me at like 40-50mph (they obviously hadnt seen the speed van either!!), so is it possible that they might not even have been checking my speed anyway? Can they just pick and choose who they want to check?
By law the police have to have a reasonable suspicion that you are speeding before they use a speed measurement device on you. As such, they're meant to see you driving and guage it to be above the speed limit before they measure you. I'm pretty certain they often ignore this because I've seen them parked around corners etc but it you buy a Snooper device or similar you can pick up laser scatter reflected round corners, warning you of talivans before they can measure you
.Stop being pernickity.
It does cause an accident anyway you look at it. If the guy went up the back of them because the car in front braked sharply to avoid a speed camara, then the car in front has caused the accident by doing something completley random and something no body was expecting, regardless of blame. It just so happens that the car behind will get the blame automatically.
Also, its not necessairly the car immediately behind the car that braked sharply, it could be a couple of cars back due to the tailback that going slightly below the speed limit will cause and white van man being too close.
Get into the real world and stop being so fecking pernickity. Really annoying.
Graham
It does cause an accident anyway you look at it. If the guy went up the back of them because the car in front braked sharply to avoid a speed camara, then the car in front has caused the accident by doing something completley random and something no body was expecting, regardless of blame. It just so happens that the car behind will get the blame automatically.
Also, its not necessairly the car immediately behind the car that braked sharply, it could be a couple of cars back due to the tailback that going slightly below the speed limit will cause and white van man being too close.
Get into the real world and stop being so fecking pernickity. Really annoying.
Graham
Paul is right, scroll up this page a bit to Pghstochaj's last post, that explains the 10% + 2 guideline that most police forces use to calibrate their speed checking equipment.
This is basically why you can do 80mph down a motorway quite happily without being caught. Firstly because by this time the speedo is way out and you are probs more likely to be doing 74mph and secondly because of the 10% +2 guidline means that your actual speed has to be 79mph. Thus, taking into account and assuming that the speedo inaccuracy stays the same as you speed up (it doesn't, it gets more inaccurate the faster you go) the actual speed indicated on your speedo before you get caught is 85-87mph. The same works for going over 100mph, you would actually have to be doing something like 110-115mph indicated to be doing 100mph show up on the laser guns. Although this is NOT an excuse to do stupid speeds on a congested motorway!
Graham
This is basically why you can do 80mph down a motorway quite happily without being caught. Firstly because by this time the speedo is way out and you are probs more likely to be doing 74mph and secondly because of the 10% +2 guidline means that your actual speed has to be 79mph. Thus, taking into account and assuming that the speedo inaccuracy stays the same as you speed up (it doesn't, it gets more inaccurate the faster you go) the actual speed indicated on your speedo before you get caught is 85-87mph. The same works for going over 100mph, you would actually have to be doing something like 110-115mph indicated to be doing 100mph show up on the laser guns. Although this is NOT an excuse to do stupid speeds on a congested motorway!
Graham
gbduo
Stop being pernickity.
It does cause an accident anyway you look at it. If the guy went up the back of them because the car in front braked sharply to avoid a speed camara, then the car in front has caused the accident by doing something completley random and something no body was expecting, regardless of blame. It just so happens that the car behind will get the blame automatically.
Also, its not necessairly the car immediately behind the car that braked sharply, it could be a couple of cars back due to the tailback that going slightly below the speed limit will cause and white van man being too close.
Get into the real world and stop being so fecking pernickity. Really annoying.
Graham
It does cause an accident anyway you look at it. If the guy went up the back of them because the car in front braked sharply to avoid a speed camara, then the car in front has caused the accident by doing something completley random and something no body was expecting, regardless of blame. It just so happens that the car behind will get the blame automatically.
Also, its not necessairly the car immediately behind the car that braked sharply, it could be a couple of cars back due to the tailback that going slightly below the speed limit will cause and white van man being too close.
Get into the real world and stop being so fecking pernickity. Really annoying.
Graham
I'm not being pernickety. If someone drops 10mph for a speed camera, its not like they're performing an emergency stop. Yes, they would be partially to blame, but if the person behind cannot react to that in time then they're at fault too. With people on this forum, nothing is ever the fault of the guy who HAS to be doing to the speed limit (or breaking it).
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