Gatso camera flash outside the white lines

[slackadder]

I was flashed when possibly doing 45MPH in a 40 limit. I saw the flash when I was probably 30ft past the white grid markings on the dual carriageway. Do the pictures have to show the car within the white grid on the road to be valid please ?

[sharkymoran]

I believe they do. Last I heard the camera takes two photographs of the vehicle on the white lines. They compare the two photo's calculating white lines 'travelled' against the times the photographs were taken. From this they can calcuate the speed the vehicle was travelling at.

[camioneur]

Sounds to me like it maybe flashed someone else if you were outside the white lines. You need to be inside those lines in order for them to calculate your speed as sharkymoron already said.

What I want to know is why you were doing 45 in a 40, in my experience which is considerable (traffic cop) those wo admit to doing 45 in a 40 limit are normally doing at least 55 or 60. They think that admitting to being just over the limit will make the offence go away, ha..you'll be lucky Stirling

[slackadder]

In reply to the last reply , I was very aware of the camera as I travel on this road ( A419 South of Swindon) very often. I usually creep past at 40 and accelerate after the white grid . In about 20 years driving , I have no tickets. I have been lucky I guess but maybe my luck has just run out. I'm so tight with my cash , I dont want to donate to my local Police Authority or Camera funds. I just hate them ! . And the number of people I see on mobile phones is shocking as well ! But they dont get caught very much. The law is an Ass as they say !

[Panic Button]

The often used phrase 'speed kills' is incorrect. It has a word missing.
Inappropriate speed kills

[NORMANTHEDOG]

you do not have to be inside the white lines at all,they can still work out your speed just by the distance travelled,they are not stupid,not every camera has white lines after it.

[sharkymoran]

You may well be right NormantheDog, see below from a road safety website.

"Gatso cameras are activated as the vehicle crosses a radar beam and takes two photographs half a second apart, whilst Truvelo cameras are activated as the vehicle travels over sensors in the roads. On-board computers instantly calculate the distance travelled between the two points.

It's basic maths - distance travelled over time = speed.

The white line markings on the road surface provide a secondary back-up check, verified by an operative who examines the film taken by the camera.

[Gef]

slackbladder, in this case the law is not an ass. Speeding is dangerous and so is using a mobile phone whilst driving. Both deserve to be punished.

Unfortunately it is not as east to catch the phone users as it is the speeders.

[mr rusty]

If you are away from the white lines, all they can say is that you were going fast enough to trigger the camera- i.e.; over a certain set speed, but they WONT be able to say what speed you were ACTUALLY doing, so it won't stand up in court and it's unlikely they'll attempt a prosecution.

As you mention a flash we can discount it being a truvelo camera, as they don't flash: so, no inductive loops in the road and they don't know what speed you were doing.

[Compostella]

Slackadder

Take no notice of people like GEF.

He came onto a post of mine with his holier-than-thou opinions which were not asked for.

He seems to be a frustrated magistrate or policeman I think.

I bet he joined the special (needs) police so he could walk around passing his judgement on everyone.

In relation to your question, you don't have to be in the lines but I may have a solution for you that has just got me off speeding.

If you don't take the conditional offer, then you would receive a summons from the Magistrates court. However, this summons has to be issued with 6 months of the alleged offence (the date you were caught).

So, if you can get to six months without the summons being issued, they cannot take it any further.

I managed to get 6 months to elapse because there were lots of links in the chain between the registered keeper and the actual driver.

My car is a company vehicle and the ticket went via the lease company, my company head office, my company local branch, me and then my partner.

Each link in this chain had 28 days to return the NIP and on a couple of occasions the NIP was lost and another had to be sent, thus the overall time between offence and now is over 6 months and the matter has just been closed. No points, no fine and no summons.

They fight dirty slack, thats why we have to exploit every opportunity presented to us.

[dusty1]

its funny no one has mentioned, he was past the white lines, so could have been the first flash from the car behind that caught his eye in the mirror ?

[slackadder]

Thanks for all your answers. its now 15 days since the incident so I hope I'll be Ok judging by other answers on the site. Also ask Elvis on Radio2 . He's an expert