Speed Camera Flashes?

The statement from the OP which seems not to have been picked up by the forum, which I find quite shocking when traveling at 80MPH + is 'Gabbing away to the missus so did not notice the speed increase', how is this possible do you not pay attention to your driving and what speed you are travelling at.

Perhaps if you cannot control your car and the speed you are travelling at you shouldn't be driving. If it hadn't been a speed camera, but instead a pedestrian, cow, deer or horse would you have noticed as you chatted away to your wife at 80mph.

very poor driving, you are in control (or supposed to be) of a lethal machine.

Would not be a cash cow if you obeyed the speed limits, so having the signed covered by foliage is irrelevant- in my view.

Motorway speeds are not like sudden changes ie from 30MPH to 20MPH in a city where one may be concentrating on other hazards & miss a single sign. Motorways have a max 70 MPH. Simple really

Making this sort of comment has disadvantages, because it discourages healthy confessions from which we can all learn.

When mistakes are made, it's usual for the audience to let fly, shoot from the hip, and generally get into an angry emotional muddle. Therefore anyone who drops the ball is likely to suppress and confuse the evidence, seek vindications, and look to their defence. Lies, cover ups, 'no-comment', delays, scapegoating, and all the other tedious dishonesties we indulge when we or our mates make a mess of something.

Letting fly is bad, because the goal should be to prevent repetitions of the same mistake. That's harder than playing the blame game and demanding punishments. And if someone is to be punished, knee-jerk reactions are to be avoided at all costs. The 'guilty'' may be innocent, or have extenuating circumstances such as a faulty speed-camera.

Preventing accidents generally requires three systems:

1. Rules set by management or government. (Imperfect because someone has to get these rules right, and pay more than lip service to their enforcement.)
2. Provision of safety devices that prevent or minimise the consequences of human error. (Imperfect because someone has to design, introduce and debug these devices.)
3. The Rules have to be obeyed conscientiously. (Imperfect because people have to apply Personal, Social and Ethical considerations.)

People aren't good at obeying rules conscientiously. Some are too confident of their own abilities and cleverness. Others are disinclined to knuckle-down to other people's wishes, no matter how sensible. Or we could be unwell, on drugs, or angry.

Worst of all, most of us develop a bad attitude to risk over time. For example, speed-limits are often applied where there has been an accident, perhaps in fog, wet, ice, or when the road is busy. Possibly the hazard exists when farmers use the road, school opens and closes, or a queue builds up. Hidden dips, adverse camber, rarely used junctions and other non-obvious hazards. Ignorant of the history, we bowl along happily ignoring cautions, whenever the road seems clear to us. Most of the time, no problem, so we get into the habit of ignoring warnings, and become over-optimistic drivers. And the chance of an over-optimistic driver having an accident is much higher than the chap who drives conscientiously. Optimism and over-confidence lead to negligence, which leads to disaster unless it's checked, maybe by a Speed Camera.

So well done Martin for sharing: he certainly reminded me of the need to drive within the rules!

Dave

Pretty poor excuse for needing to be reminded of the rules.

Motorways have a max 70 MPH.

Not always - ever driven on a so-called "Smart" motorway ? Quite often it is "best guess" as to why a particular limit has been set below 70 - doesn't appear to be due to prevailing traffic conditions, as some times the limit is set higher when traffic is heavier.

On the M62 around Leeds it is not unusual to have a different speed limit set on 3 or 4 consecutive gantries - strange how the non-sensical 40 limit that comes after a 60 is on the gantry that has the speed camera on it & the following gantry goes 60 again. Happens this way too often not to be intentional.

Nigel B.

Highways would call that managing the flow of traffic, I call it a work experience day in the control room.

It's worse when you get close to a blank gantry @ 70 and you see the 50 flick up on the next one. Ruins the next fortnight for you.

It's worse when you get close to a blank gantry @ 70 and you see the 50 flick up on the next one. Ruins the next fortnight for you.

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere (Highways Agency website maybe) that there is a 30 second delay between the speed limit on the gantry changing & the speed camera working at the lower speed. Not brave enough to find a definative answer to that in practice though !

Nigel B.

Leaving Liverpool on the m62 the last speed sign you see is 40 mph. There are street lights for several miles. I've not measured, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are less than 200m apart. Arguable whether the limit is 30 or 40. Same with temporary restrictions on the motorway, often no deristricted sign at the end

As for signs being covered by foliage, if the last sign you saw was say 60,how are you supposed to know it's dropped to 50?

A particular bone of contention is one near here where you turn off a 40mph dual carriageway onto a single carriageway. If you are concentrating on the road, the 30 sign will not be in your field of view. There has been a campaign to have the sign moved to the next lamp post so you will see it, but the local council are never wrong, so nothing happens.

Edited By duncan webster on 06/01/2022 16:05:37

Hi, if you speed you'll feed, if you don't want to feed, don't speed.

Regards Nick.

I use cruise control a lot and always set it to the prevailing limit. I don’t understand the excuses given about inaccurate speedometers, just set it to the limit and you’ll be ok.

Hi Juddy,

Thanks for that, I do so enjoy a bit of sanctimonious "holier than thou" comment!

To the rest of posters on this, my sincere thanks for increasing my awareness.

Cheers, Martin

I know, but better than the chap who recently posted about his sad encounter with a radar gun: "If i had known i would have braked, because I saw it well in advance before the policeman raised it."

Seriously though, I wonder how many of us have studied the new Highway Code, issued last September? I haven't, and there have been loads of changes over the years.

Dave

Well, I certainly do not think we should be congratulating Martin for sharing when he was blatantly speeding and to a degree bragging about it then questioning whether he had been caught on camera. The fine, points or whatever is totally deserved and I have no sympathy, and to accuse someone of a 'sanctimonious, holier than thou' attitude simply confirms his arrogant attitude. As a professional driver, I see this sort of thing so much throughout the days and weeks. Lack of attention at the wheel, speeding and general ignorance of the rules of the road are major contributors to so many road traffic incidents (they are never an accident! there is always a cause)

I feel strongly about this because as a young man and newly married, I came very close to being killed by similar actions and lack of attention.

As for the Highway code, How many have familiarised themselves with the latest changes that are coming into effect on 29 Jan?

I don’t know how common they are but some cruise controls can be used in a limiter mode so if you are driving in a limited speed area but cannot travel at a constant speed the limiter will keep you out of trouble, it could be more useful if the speed limit was consistent, something like the A40 into London keeps you on your toes with probably a full house of speed limits.

Mike

Sam, the obscured sign was 50MPH and if you knew the location of the bend, it would take a brave soul to try that speed with a small car containing four adults and two heavy suitcases. Light flashed at sixty four just as I passed it but despite a bright flash at the rear of the car (dark winter morning) didn't record the forty MPH I was travelling at to negotiate the RH bend.

Interestingly enough, if one managed to roll the car due to excessive speed at this location you would end in a grass ditch, travelling in the opposite NON camera'd direction you'd hit opposing traffic.

Regards Ian.