speed camera

[Mark A]

Last night (about 10pm) I was driving on the A426 through Rugby in patchy fog and was flashed by a speed camera. It was invisible in a area of particularly dense fog so I didn't see it 'til it flashed. I was driving at 36mph in what my satnav said was a 40 zone.

Am I still accountable?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[RogerBoyle]

Yes

 

[katellwood]

How many times did it flash once or twice?

In addition ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) guidelines on prosecutions recommend an error margin of 10% + 2mph therefore you have up to 35mph before prosecution (assuming its a 30).

Also where did you measure your 36mph was it your car speedo or satnav. car speedo's are normally up to 10% inaccurate and usually measure over the actual speed (try comparing a satnav speed with your car speedo)

Notice of Intended Prosecutions dictate that they must inform you within two weeks of the offence so let us know if you get an NIP (assuming you were in your own car registered to your home address)

 

[Harbo]

If it had street lighting and a 40mph zone it should have had 40 sign repeaters.
No repeater signs required in a 30 zone.

It also depends what type of camera is being used - it might not have any film in? There's an interesting web site about cameras - the new ones are digital and don't "run out"?
Sat navs are much more accurate than speedos for giving actual speeds.

Rod

 

[Jacob]

Last night (about 10pm) I was driving on the A426 through Rugby in patchy fog and was flashed by a speed camera. It was invisible in a area of particularly dense fog so I didn't see it 'til it flashed. I was driving at 36mph in what my satnav said was a 40 zone.

Am I still accountable?

Thanks,
Mark

Yes. :lol:

 

[MickCheese]

Last night (about 10pm) I was driving on the A426 through Rugby in patchy fog and was flashed by a speed camera. It was invisible in a area of particularly dense fog so I didn't see it 'til it flashed. I was driving at 36mph in what my satnav said was a 40 zone.

Am I still accountable?

Thanks,
Mark

Mark

Don't take this the wrong way and I don't wish to sound pious but nearly 40mph in dense fog is just too fast regardless of the camera. This should be a lesson to all, please don't think I am being dramatic but people die on the roads in conditions like that.

Mick

 

[Mark A]

Don't take this the wrong way and I don't wish to sound pious but nearly 40mph in dense fog is just too fast regardless of the camera. This should be a lesson to all, please don't think I am being dramatic but people die on the roads in conditions like that.

I was expecting someone to say this. The roads where deserted and the fog was patchy - some bits where clear and others foggy. I was driving at around 35mph through the clear sections and much slower in the sections with poor visibility. The speed camera was hidden in an area of particularly thick fog and I was slowing down as it flashed.

I will just have to wait and see if I receive a letter.

 

[henton49er]

My satnav is frequently telling me that I am in a speed limit zone. It is more often right than wrong, but there are a large number of locations across the country where it does not tell me the right speed. This is particularly so on "A" roads through villages where the local highway authority may have had a policy of reducing spped limits from 40 or 50 mph down to 30 mph. THey also pick up long term speed limits on major motorway improvements for example.

People should not rely on their satnavs for speed limits any more than they would rely on it not to send them the wrong way up a one way street. Following a satnav's guidance is no excuse in law for a breech of traffic regulations - they are supposed to guide you, not relieve you of responsibility for your actions. The number of times massive (and usually foreign) trucks used to get stuck on "drove roads" when we lived on the Somerset levels and they were looking for short cuts were too many to count!!

 

[Dibs-h]

I used to look at my Sat nav for speed limits until I drove thru what used to be a 40 area (drove thru it for yrs) and the Sat nav was saying 40 - but the 40mph repeaters on the lamp posts were no longer there. And cameras - mix of forward facing & rear facing - there were loads.

Thankfully slowed & stayed at 30 before anything - but learned a valuable lesson. The eyes and ears first - TomTom last!

Cheers

Dibs

 

[Peter T]

I live in Rugby so I might be able to shed more light on the subject. There are not many fixed camera sites in Rugby. On the A426 the only one, as far as I know, is just after/before, depending on your direction of travel, Rugby School, and this is a 30 mph limit zone.

Where exactly in Rugby were you when you were flashed? The fog would not make any difference to the statutory limits, but if you were doing 35 in a 30 zone you would definitely get flashed, sorry.

Good luck,

 

[Losos]

I will just have to wait and see if I receive a letter.

Mark, I hope you do not get a ticket as it seems from your words that you were being reasonably careful, my sat nav is usually accurate when it comes to speed limits ('tho often out of date when it comes to tempory speed restrictions :roll: )

 

[Mark A]

Where exactly in Rugby were you when you were flashed? The fog would not make any difference to the statutory limits, but if you were doing 35 in a 30 zone you would definitely get flashed, sorry.

It was at the top of a hill.

 

[Peter T]

Where exactly in Rugby were you when you were flashed? The fog would not make any difference to the statutory limits, but if you were doing 35 in a 30 zone you would definitely get flashed, sorry.

It was at the top of a hill.

Sounds like the one near Rugby School. Definitely a 30 Zone! That stretch of road used to be 40 but our wonderful council reduced it to 30 and gave us a shiny new camera at the same time!

Maybe the fog will obscure your number plate!!

 

[Chrispy]

If it was that foggy may be the picture will be as well, after all if you can't see it it can't see you.

 

[Mark A]

I hope so.

I wouldn't have minded if it was 4 in the afternoon, but this was 10 pm on a cold frosty Sunday night with nobody on the roads.

 

[Jacob]

I hope so.

I wouldn't have minded if it was 4 in the afternoon, but this was 10 pm on a cold frosty Sunday night with nobody on the roads.

Excuses excuses!
It was speeding. That's all there is to it. The cameras are situated on accident prone stretches of road, for maximum effect.
Bin there dunnit etc. And did the speed awareness course in lieu of points on the licence. I now drive a lot slower and stick to limits fairly well.

 

[newt]

Not all cameras are placed in accident black spots, some are placed to maximise revenue, particularly mobiles. But you still need to obey the the limits.

 

[WellsWood]

...some are placed to maximise revenue...

A contentious and debatable issue in my opinion, but leaving that aside the words "school" and "hill" probably give much more clue as to the siting of this particular one.

The circumstance begs the question how you knew the roads were deserted - if you couldn't see the camera you're frankly lucky there was nothing else "hidden in dense fog". Precious little sympathy here I'm afraid.

 

[Jacob]

Not all cameras are placed in accident black spots, some are placed to maximise revenue, particularly mobiles. ..

Complete nonsense.

 

[Kalimna]

Whilst I normaly agree with you Jacob, on your post above I think you are quite wrong. I am not saying that all, or even the majority of speed cameras are there primarily to maximise revenue, but from driving a lot of roads, there are some which seem to serve no other purpose.
All who drive should know what the speed limit on that particular stretch of road is, and should happily accept the consequences of being caught driving over that limit. If you didnt know what the speed limit is, then, again, it's your own fault. However, placing a camera at the base of a steepish dual carriageway gradient where the limit has dropped to 50, and it would be easy to over step slightly seems, to me, a revenue gaining exercise. Thats one specific Scottish example I can think of.
The debate as to whether the speed limit imposed is a reasonable one is different and moot.
If speed cameras are there purely to help prevent accidents, then road signs saying something to the effect of "There is a speed camera 100/200/300/etc metres away and the road speed limit is Xmph" would be much more effective at reducing speeds, but also much less effective at generating funds.
It all depends on whether speed cameras primary role is to catch people speeding, or help prevent the speeding in the first place.

Cheers.
Adam