What speed in a particular UK counties does one get nicked ? 

 

Auto express used Freedom of information, apparently to find out what UK counties set their speed camera at, some declined but most coughed up.........

(10% +2 mph seems to be the default)

 

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/106674/uk-speed-camera-tolerances-revealed-is-your-cars-speedo-accurate

 

Speed camera thresholds across the UK

Police force	Number of cameras	Camera activation threshold
Avon and Somerset	41	10% + 2mph
Bedfordshire	38	Would not reveal threshold
Cambridgeshire	32	Would not reveal threshold
Cheshire	15	10% + 2mph
Cleveland	4	10% + 2mph
Derbyshire	18	10% + 2mph
Devon and Cornwall	98	10% + 2mph
Durham	0 fixed	10% + 2mph
Essex	63	Don't use a standard threshold
Greater Manchester	235	Would not reveal threshold
Gwent	21	10% + 2mph
Hampshire	36	10% + 2mph
Hertfordshire	53	Would not reveal threshold
Kent	109	10% + 2mph
Lancashire	34	10% + 3mph
Leicestershire	30	10% + 2mph
Merseyside	18	10% + 2mph
Metropolitan Police/TfL	805	10% + 3mph
Norfolk	26	10% + 2mph
North Wales	28	10% + 2mph
Northumbria	55	10% + 2mph
Nottinghamshire	48	Refused to confirm if threshold exists
Police Service of Northern Ireland	12	10% + 2mph
Scotland	173	Refused to confirm if threshold exists
South Wales	137	10% + 2mph
South Yorkshire	25	10% + 2mph
Staffordshire	286	Would not reveal threshold
Suffolk	4	10% + 2mph
Thames Valley	294	10% + 2mph
Warwickshire	28	10% + 2mph
West Mercia	23	10% + 2mph
West Midlands	33	Would not reveal threshold
West Yorkshire	402	10% + 2mph

Can you trust your car speedo?

In addition to asking police how strictly their speed cameras enforce limits, we investigated how accurate the speedometers on 10 cars were. We did this by comparing how fast they said we were going with our actual speed, revealed by a VBox meter. 

Car speedometers are not allowed to ‘under-read’ – they can’t tell you you’re going more slowly than you really are – but they are allowed to over-read by up to 10 per cent plus 6.25mph. So they could read 50.25mph at 40mph. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 11 July, 20205 yr by lol-lol

1 hour ago, lol-lol said:

Can you trust your car speedo?

 

In addition to asking police how strictly their speed cameras enforce limits, we investigated how accurate the speedometers on 10 cars were. We did this by comparing how fast they said we were going with our actual speed, revealed by a VBox meter. 

Car speedometers are not allowed to ‘under-read’ – they can’t tell you you’re going more slowly than you really are – but they are allowed to over-read by up to 10 per cent plus 6.25mph. So they could read 50.25mph at 40mph.

It always worth comparing your speedo against a GPS device (e.g. mobile phone with GPS speedo app or GPS speed camera warning device) - both my cars over-read by around 7% on OE wheel/tyre setup (my Citroen C1 only by around 5% on my larger Summer wheel/tyre setup - yes the insurance company are aware).

58 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

It always worth comparing your speedo against a GPS device (e.g. mobile phone with GPS speedo app or GPS speed camera warning device) - both my cars over-read by around 7% on OE wheel/tyre setup (my Citroen C1 only by around 5% on my larger Summer wheel/tyre setup - yes the insurance company are aware).

 

I usually do that early on when I get a new (to me) car and I have been meaning to do that for the motorbike as well.

 

Two of my vehicles have analogue instruments and two have digital and the two digital one ie the Mk 4 Clio and the Tracer, are not particularly more accurate than the Octy and the old Scenic I reckon which is odd.

 

Manufacturers seem to deliberately make car/bike speedos over read by about 5% on average I usually find.  This may mean the odometer mile reading is also over reading so we service our cars earlier the scoundrels.

 

I am convinced Japanese, and maybe Italian, motorcycle manufacturers deliberately went even higher on speedo inaccuracy to promote sales but that is a bit conspiracy theory thinking ie Smiths Instruments versus Nippon and Valeo !

 

Stay safe, calibrate and try not be be tempted to exceed the margins.   Speed awareness courses and boring and expensive and speeding fines can be mega costly !      

 

28 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

Manufacturers seem to deliberately make car/bike speedos over read by about 5% on average I usually find. 

There are two main reasons for that:

1) to allow for the change in tyre circumference as the tread wears

2) as a cost saving so they don't need different speedo calibrations for every wheel/tyre combination on every variant of a model

 

5% being the middle of the allowed 10% over reading gives tolerance either way.

Nothing new in 10%+ 2mph...   It's been that for donkeys years

Nothing new in 10% + 2mph, but you can no longer take that for granted as it is not UK wide.

Police Scotland did a pilot scheme where it was not 10% +2 mph and then got the permission with a law change to vary that.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/362725-police-scotland-getting-new-powers-on-speeders-who-are-just-over-the-limit

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/454420-speed-limit-1-mph

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/452824-speeding

 

17 minutes ago, Roottoot said:

Nothing new in 10% + 2mph, but you can no longer take that for granted as it is not UK wide.

Police Scotland did a pilot scheme where it was not 10% +2 mph and then got the permission with a law change to vary that.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/362725-police-scotland-getting-new-powers-on-speeders-who-are-just-over-the-limit

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/454420-speed-limit-1-mph

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/452824-speeding

 

 

I used to know a Traffic Sergeant in Strathclyde.  In 2014, I asked him if they were still operating a 10%+2 threshold for nicking people.  

He said, "Don't get me started.  We used to do 10%+10mph in Strathclyde.  Nowadays, if my guys don't come off shift having writted the requisite number of tickets, I have to ask them what they've been doing with their time!" 

He, like me, was and probably still is a motorcyclist.  Most of us who buy bikes with well in excess of 100 bhp don't buy them with a view to bimbling along A roads at 67 mph. 

@Schtum  i too was a motorcyclist before and after losing my leg, and did Road Safety events with Police Motorcyclists, some of who are now dead from bike accidents. 

As it is i am 3 points away from another ban so i just bimble about where there are average cameras, fixed cameras and mobile vans.

I certainly do not chance 79 MPH between Stirling & Perth even as others pass me well above that.

Well a very noisy BMW M2 was racing a Golf R on the M1 in Leicestershire and a Black Vrs Fabia Mk1 who turned off for Leicester should be nicked for speeding and dangerous driving as they nearly rear ended me in the wife's Karoq..........idiots are well and truly out and about after lockdown.🤡

Edited 11 July, 20205 yr by shyVRS245
spelling mistake