Mobile speed camera

[antward91]

Anyone help with this, driving today and noticed a mobile speed van parked on the opposite side of the road with the rear doors facing towards me.

Will that have been checking traffic on my side of the road or the opposite side.

I was under the impression they tracked cars from the rear as they move away from them but I'm not 100 percent sure.

Slightly worried as I was doing a little over the limit when I realised the van was there and looked at the dash.

[stef123]

They hit you as you approach them not drive away from them otherwise all you’d need to do is slam the anchors on lol.

[eddie eastwood]

They can check your speed both ways and there are cameras in these vans that can see you up to a mile away if the road is straight enough.

[stef123]

4 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

They can check your speed both ways and there are cameras in these vans that can see you up to a mile away if the road is straight enough.

Good luck catching me going the other way haha. 

I haven’t seen any vans with more than one camera up my way yet. 

[eddie eastwood]

Its only one camera as far as I know, what I mean is they can get you approaching it towards the camera and going away from the camera.

[stef123]

29 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

Its only one camera as far as I know, what I mean is they can get you approaching it towards the camera and going away from the camera.

Yeah I’d agree with that but you’d need to be terribly stupid to get caught heading away from the camera! Lol

[Simon_K]

There are multi camera vans, used to identify the driver from all angles. Also there’s a second camera between the front seats facing the front to catch bikers rear plates as they flick V’s thinking they are invulnerable...

But speedo’s are usually optimistic unless you’ve been really naughty you may be ok. I went past one the other day overtaking a van and my speedo said 75 (on a dual carriageway). According to my gps that’s only 71. 

[stef123]

they still ain't no match for a well parked luton van lol

[Albert27]

2 hours ago, stef123 said:

Yeah I’d agree with that but you’d need to be terribly stupid to get caught heading away from the camera! Lol

There was a time North Wales Police were using plain horseboxes parked up in layby's to conceal their speed trap.  Even the most observant among us may struggle against that 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7322582.stm

[Pebbleheed]

4 hours ago, antward91 said:

Anyone help with this, driving today and noticed a mobile speed van parked on the opposite side of the road with the rear doors facing towards me.

Will that have been checking traffic on my side of the road or the opposite side.

I was under the impression they tracked cars from the rear as they move away from them but I'm not 100 percent sure.

Slightly worried as I was doing a little over the limit when I realised the van was there and looked at the dash.

If the window or door was open and the camera equipment was pointing in your direction then it's most likely you've been caught.

The camera in the rear of these vans is often a laser device that records your speed when it's pointed at a flat surface of your car. It shows the operator how fast you're going on the HUD display inside the viewfinder of the camera itself (some vibrate or make a ping noise, some don't). The camera itself is normally wired to a digital video recorder that videos your drive towards or away from it, provided very good evidence for the police. 

If you're over the speed limit when you see one of these vans then it's highly likely they'll get you before you slow down if they're a decent operator. If they're crap with the camera you may have a second or so to slow down, but your reactions will have to be quick. They need a moment, although only brief, to aim the device at a flat part of the front of your car to get a decent lock and record your speed.

These vans can check both side of the road if their view is not obstructed. So if the other side of the road was busy they may not have you, if it wasn't then they could well have done.

If you were ''a little' over the limit as you say then you may find you're within your local force's threshold area for allowing you off (normally 3-5mph maximum depending on the road type, issues in the area, speed limits and rules set by the chief con at the time). If you're over that there's a chance of a speed awareness course - this will cost you around £200-300 but you won't get any points, just a long boring day sat being talked to about your driving and instructed to slow down in a classroom. If you're over both of those it's a minimum of three points and a fine upwards. If you get an NIP and a conditional offer of three points and a fine these are often cheaper than going to court as if you're found guilty in court you have to also pay court costs, victim surcharge and the magistrates can increase the fine or points too depending on the circumstances. Obviously you only accept the NIP and conditional offer if you consider yourself guilty of the offence and want to accept it (if unsure, seek legal advice).

If it got you, you will know very quickly. You'll get an envelope through the door with a requirement to ID the driver. Make sure you complete that, even if you're not the driver (in this case you are) as there are heavy punishments for failing to provide this information for the car's registered keeper. 

Also, make sure your keeper details are up to date. People can go through these things, never know they've received an NIP through the post, fail to react and end up further down the line with their drivers licence being cancelled when they're found guilty in their absence, fail to surrender their licence for endorsement and end up with the DVLA voiding them. This then leads to them getting stopped at some point and their vehicles being seized and impounded, them being done for further driving offences and the whole thing gets very expensive and messy very quickly.

[Pebbleheed]

3 hours ago, stef123 said:

Good luck catching me going the other way haha. 

I haven’t seen any vans with more than one camera up my way yet. 

These vans don't catch you. They stay still and just send the video footage along with a statement to the central ticket office. They then do the rest.

The van won't get you, but the postman will when he puts that horrible brown envelope through your door 

[Pebbleheed]

2 hours ago, Simon_K said:

There are multi camera vans, used to identify the driver from all angles. Also there’s a second camera between the front seats facing the front to catch bikers rear plates as they flick V’s thinking they are invulnerable...

But speedo’s are usually optimistic unless you’ve been really naughty you may be ok. I went past one the other day overtaking a van and my speedo said 75 (on a dual carriageway). According to my gps that’s only 71. 

Worth noting that while the front camera near the front seats can record registrations, it cannot be used to judge speed. A camera used for recording speed has to be without glass between it and the vehicle in question. This is why camera vans have their rear doors or shutters open. If it's behind glass at the time then it's not evidential and cannot be used to prosecute anyone.

The front camera behind the windscreen is used as you say for catching motorcyclists, but in conjunction with the rear camera so the two bits of footage can be married up and show the registration of the vehicle. 

[Freddy42]

Is the awareness course a 'get out of jail free' route or will insurance premium go north next renewal?

[Pebbleheed]

59 minutes ago, Freddy42 said:

Is the awareness course a 'get out of jail free' route or will insurance premium go north next renewal?

A speed awareness course is not a conviction so most insurers won’t want to know. Unlike getting points, or a fine, which have to be declared to insurers - this is why the rather expensive and time consuming courses are so popular. Once they’re done there’s no come back normally. 

The only time you have to declare a course to your insurer is if they specifically ask you if you’ve done one. In that case you shouldn’t lie or you may be making a false statement to obtain insurance which could see you prosecuted at worst or at the very least leave you being civilly pursued to pay back any claim they pay out for you with the policy you set up. 

[stef123]

1 hour ago, Pebbleheed said:

These vans don't catch you. They stay still and just send the video footage along with a statement to the central ticket office. They then do the rest.

The van won't get you, but the postman will when he puts that horrible brown envelope through your door 

Very good lol.

what I was getting at was the fact it was mentioned they can catch you heading towards them and also away from them. Now if I have spotted the van on my side of the road pointing at the on coming traffic, it’ll be highly unlikely you’ll catch me doing 80 on a 60 on my side of the road given that I’ve got plenty of time until I’ve passed the back window if that makes sense. 

 

[stef123]

2 hours ago, Albert27 said:

There was a time North Wales Police were using plain horseboxes parked up in layby's to conceal their speed trap.  Even the most observant among us may struggle against that 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7322582.stm

See it’s crap like that I do not agree with in the slightest! 

Was that not knocked on the head though hiding them like that? 

[Pebbleheed]

Just now, stef123 said:

Very good lol.

what I was getting at was the fact it was mentioned they can catch you heading towards them and also away from them. Now if I have spotted the van on my side of the road pointing at the on coming traffic, it’ll be highly unlikely you’ll catch me doing 80 on a 60 on my side of the road given that I’ve got plenty of time until I’ve passed the back window if that makes sense. 

 

I wouldn’t chance it personally. They have a good range and only require a short amount of time locked on your car. It’s also easier to lock on to the rear of most cars than it is the front due to the shape. If you’re on a straight road they’ll get you unless you’re travelling at science fiction type speeds and blur out of sight in seconds :D

Many of these devices are exceptionally easy to use. Point and shoot. Done. 

Try out driving a person with a rifle for example. If they’re good they’ll still put a shot through the back of your head before you’ve got too far. The laser on this device is similar. Point and shoot. Thankfully there’s no ‘boom, head shot’ option on most speed messuring devices ;)

I’d suggest your best way to avoid being done is to slow down when you see the front of the van rather than try and speed past it. Or just don’t speed at all however I know most people do from time to time. 

[stef123]

10 minutes ago, Pebbleheed said:

I wouldn’t chance it personally. They have a good range and only require a short amount of time locked on your car. It’s also easier to lock on to the rear of most cars than it is the front due to the shape. If you’re on a straight road they’ll get you unless you’re travelling at science fiction type speeds and blur out of sight in seconds :D

Many of these devices are exceptionally easy to use. Point and shoot. Done. 

Try out driving a person with a rifle for example. If they’re good they’ll still put a shot through the back of your head before you’ve got too far. The laser on this device is similar. Point and shoot. Thankfully there’s no ‘boom, head shot’ option on most speed messuring devices ;)

I’d suggest your best way to avoid being done is to slow down when you see the front of the van rather than try and speed past it. Or just don’t speed at all however I know most people do from time to time. 

I’m not sure if your getting what I meant or if I didn’t explain very well.. I’m getting at what you put in your last paragraph.

if I see the front of the speed camera van on my side of the road travelling towards it.. there’s no danger I’ll be getting busted doing 80 In a 60 (for example) by the time I’ve passed it and now in front of the camera. Only a stupid person could do that. 

[Pebbleheed]

Plenty do 

[stef123]

23 minutes ago, Pebbleheed said:

Plenty do 

clearly something wrong with them!

[Albert27]

19 minutes ago, stef123 said:

clearly something wrong with them!

They're probably the same people who knock motorcyclists off at junctions because they 'didn't see them' so they deserve a ticket for missing the speed van and then accelerating away from it!  Yeah i think that ended a while back with the horseboxes...wasn't very popular     

I actually have no issue with these vans enforcing sensible speed limits particularly 30mph.  The problem I have is that councils seem to be setting utterly ridiculous speed limits to account for a minority of idiots.  We have a winding, stretch of road with short straights in between the bends near us. No houses, in the country.  Was always previously national.  A few people crash and it's decided that the whole stretch needs to be 50mph.  Some of us who pay attention realise it may be unwise to take the bends at 60 and slow down to 40 ish then speed up to 65 ish for the straight sections.  And because of a few who can't drive and decide to take a detour through a hedge and into a cattle field we're all commanded to not exceed 50. . . . .