Speed camera - unusual?

[Peanut Butter]

So was going to chester on Saturday, was stuck in traffic and crawling along at max 10mph although most of the time it was slower than that stop start, stop start.

Anyways went through one of the fixed yellow speed cameras in a 30 zone in this traffic (there were cars queing in front and behind me) at like i said max 10mph and it went off!!

What happens next? I obviously wasnt speeding nor was the person in front or behind me. No overtaking vehicles etc

Im confused and also worried. How are these checked? I dont know anything about this sort of thing as ive never been caught speeding before.

DISCLAIMER!! (I say 'caught' i was not speeding at the time and generally stick to the speed limit - to avoid arguments however i am not going to say i 'never' speed because everyone does)

Thanks for any advice

Lauren

Also... when would i generally find out if it had issued me with a fine?

[Babs]

They'll check it, see you weren't doing over the speed limit and you'll hear nothing about it

[Spudhoolio]

Was the camera at a junction with lights ?

Since the traffic was crawling maybe you were caught in no mans land the wrong side of a red light ?

[SnailUK]

The one in the village i used to live in, would go off if someone going in the opposite direction went past too quickly.

Could someone have been going too fast on the other side of the road?

[Peanut Butter]

It wasnt a lights camera, just the normal yellow speed camera that flashes behind you. There was noone on the opposite side of the road to set it off.

Hopefully i will hear nothing about it

[Spudhoolio]

I think you'll be OK !

[xreyuk]

The markings in the road will show them that you weren't speeding and you won't hear anything from it.

[robk1]

Hi Lauren, in such cases official notification should be applied within 14 days extending from the date of the incident. A while back I was convinced I'd tripped a motorway gantry camera and as a result had an anxious few weeks checking the post. Nothing arrived and from what you've described I'm sure you will find the same

[Tigger25]

When I was done for speeding, a letter dropped on the mat exactly 1 week later.

[Loz]

As said, they can't possibly prosecute if you weren't speeding. The whole purpose of the white lines is to assess your speed! I've also heard of there is more than one car in the shot they can't either, but I'm not sure how true that is?

I'm sick of the mobile ones hanging around everywhere at the moment! If you're just that little bit over you spend your time constantly assuming they're going to get you - especially as many of the guns aren't calibrated properly!

[Evening Star]

One way to deter them is to ask for the camera's calibration certificate (they're required to have one by law!), it must be tested every so often as well to ensure accuracy.

I've been flashed more than "twice" once on the Eastern Road in Portsmouth, rung Hants Constabulary and gave them my details, they were excellent and called me back the next day to say it wasn't me that it flashed it was the car beside me in the outside lane.

The second one was a camera in Guildford, approached a set of traffic lights and as I stopped if flashed me, in my surprise I let the car roll backwards & it flashed me again! I moved forward slightly & flashed again! 3 times on one camera, when I was stopped at the stop line on a red.

The lights changed I & another car got flashed again making it 4 times. So I rung up Mount Brown (Surrey Police HQ) and complained about being flashed 4 times by the camera, when I hadn't crossed the stop line.

Again the next day I got a call from them apologizing saying that there was a fault with the camera and that I wouldn't be hearing from them as it was proven that I had stopped the right side of the line. Shortly afterwards that camera was covered up & later removed.

[billyd]

The speed camera takes 2 photos and displays them with the time taken on them. Using the lines painted on the road plod can work out the distance you covered between the two times and thus your speed. Even if the camera was defective and said you were speeding the cross check would show the camera was defective.

[VWD]

The speed camera takes 2 photos and displays them with the time taken on them. Using the lines painted on the road plod can work out the distance you covered between the two times and thus your speed. Even if the camera was defective and said you were speeding the cross check would show the camera was defective.

BUT- don't take this as gospel- some SCP send them out anyway. If you get any post from SCP , you've got 28 days to reply. In the meantime ,get on over to peppipoo( www.peppippo.co.uk) and get advice .

[James_]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatso

Gatso installations in the UK and in Queensland, Australia are characterised by a measurement strip on the road surface, which is a series of white lines painted on the road, which are used with two photographs taken by the camera. If the camera is set to take two photographs, with a known time interval between them, this time interval will be 0.5 or 0.7 seconds - 0.5 is better for high speed roads and 0.7 better for low speed roads. The vehicle's position, relative to the white road markings in the two photographs, can be used to calculate the vehicle speed. In the UK, the evidence is only admissible in court if the speed measured by the radar and the speed calculated from the distance travelled between the photographs agrees within 10%.^{[citation needed]} The speed indicated by the radar unit is too unreliable to be used as the sole means of evidence as it is prone to error due to multiple reflections etc. Further, it does not distinguish between multiple vehicles in shot.

Edited 29 May, 2012 by James_

[RainbowFire]

Many years ago, there were two on the B556, west of Potters Bar. They were facing each other and spent most of the day taking pictures of each other. Six weeks later, one had been moved so they were more back-to-back.

[Aspman]

Nowt to worry about. The calibration lines on the road will show you were not over the limit. Plus the camera will be going off for everyone probably so the large numbers of pics will be a give away. If it was an older GATSO it'll be out of film or a fake.

Similar thing happened to me a while back. Dodgy camera on the A90 North of Brechin was going off for everyone, I was flashed but heard nothing.

[Coops]

Perhaps someone had vandalised it like this man:

A man has been caught by police attacking a speed camera with a hammer in Lincolnshire.

Lincolnshire police say a passing patrol discovered a man standing on the roof of his car attacking the camera in Butt Lane, Tattershall.

A 32-year-old from Horncastle was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage and failing a breath test.

He was taken to Skegness Police Station for questioning.

[Naths vRS]

It was probably a dummy (no film) anyways and randomly goes off even when no one is there. Got one by my girlfriends flat.

Or could've been this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXthL00tGZY

Edited 30 May, 2012 by Naths vRS

[Evening Star]

I saw that & kept hoping that someone would either run him over or give the **** a good whacking.

[Coffin Dodger]

PMSL!!! Quality!

[Paul007]

i am not going to say i 'never' speed because everyone does)

Bit of a generalisation I think here....

[devonutopia]

Bit of a generalisation I think here....

and a true one at that

[Aspman]

Perhaps someone had vandalised it like this man:

Read recently once speed camera 'vigilante' was knocking off cameras using thermite. Now that's the way to trash a gatso.

[Evening Star]

Disgruntled railway worker?

[RainbowFire]

Disgruntled railway worker?

....is always great when the police release a statement saying they believe it's a disgruntled motorist. Keep up the good work Sherlock. :D