Oh Sh*t!

[MrRegieRitmo]

Think I was caught speeding this morning, person in flourescent jacket with a triped thing in front of them, looking our direction on the bridge. I usually hit the brakes for these thinking they're plod & then on closer inspection it's highways agency or maintenance or something. This time I didn't slow down straight away, I saw them late, wasn't sure if it was what it looked like but then beyond the bridge were 4 parked police cars......fair cop guv! Trouble is, at least with a Gatso thing there's a chance you could get away with it, but somebody stood with a radar, barring a miracle - no chance!

 

Been driving 5 & a half years & somehow never been caught before. So, what can I expect now.....?

[Torsten2001]

That's happened to me before but with no action taken, I think, but I'm not sure, that those rozzers are there to issue tickets and if they don't stop you you have no ticket!

[pompei]

Mr SMUG here in over a hundred years of motoring has not been caught speeding, more by luck than anything else. I think you'll get 3 points and a bill for 60 notes, unless you were doing say 70 in a 30. In that case, get someone to bake a cake with a file in. I keep meaning to invest in one of those camera detectors, but I'm not sure how good they are despite the claims. Anyone used them? And do they detect lasers as well as the usual Gatsos, Truvelos etc?

[Milford Cubicle]

Most cheap sat navs will tell you where mobile camera sites are, as well as static ones.

[MrRegieRitmo]

That's happened to me before but with no action taken, I think, but I'm not sure, that those rozzers are there to issue tickets and if they don't stop you you have no ticket!

Hope you're right! I was doing somewhere between 70 - 80 mph. Nearer to 80. If I had to guess I'd say 78 something around that mark. Although I had a car ahead of me, good job I did else I'd have continued accelerating before I noticed them on the bridge!I guess the best thing to do is to try & put it to the back of my mind until something drops through the letterbox! How long does that usually take to happen?

[pompei]

If there was someone in front of you then you're ok because they'll only have caught him and not you on their equipment.I was once in a long queue of traffic, and I followed the car in front to overtake 4 or 5 cars, and was probably at about 80. Kojak with Kodak ahead! Man in front got pulled, I got stopped and was told off, but they couldn't take it further without the camera evidence.

[r.welfare]

Was that 80 on the speedo? If so, speedo error should bring you down below 78.I prescribe changing your 146 for a diesel non-turbo Citroen ZX auto estate...you'll never break the limit then

[Pillock]

If it was an indicated 80 (i.e. you weren't using a satnav to show true speed) then you'll be fine.... speedo error will mostly likely take you down to 75-76ish, and they don't tend to prosecute at less than 110% of speed limit.Nottinghamshire used to run with 110% + 3mph (so over 36 in a 30, 47 in a 40, etc etc) which lets you get away with 80mph true speed on a motorway however I think they felt that was too liberal at slower speeds and have ditched the 3mph bit. Was kindly informed of this by a friendly off-duty traffic cop who said they'd fallen in line with most other forces, but still tend to turn a blind eye to 80mph on the motorway unless you're driving like a plank, otherwise they'd spend all day on the hard shoulder writing tickets out.

[Twiggy]

That was unfortunate, and there but for the grace... If you are going to be prosecuted, you will receive a Notice Of Intended Prosecution (NOIP) within 14 days of the alleged offence taking place. If the NOIP arrives more than 14 days after the offence, you can still be prosecuted, but the fact that the NOIP arrived late has been used as a successful defence.

[Cavcraft]

Hmm, not wanting to build your hopes up but if police cars were parked slightly further along then there's every chance these were there to pull in any caught speeding with the gun. If they didn't come after you at the time then you might have a fighting chance.

[wuvvum]

I've seen several episodes of that cop show that's based on the M4 (I forget the name) where they said they don't normally go after anyone doing less than 85, but anyone going over 90 is pretty much guaranteed a ticket.

[retrogeezer]

I would guess you will probably be o.k at 78ish....I had a chat with a decent copper near me with a gun on a 40mph road and he said it was set at 55.They are probably looking for the 90 plus bods and will then chase in the cars they had.Good luck!

[marinast]

The trick with driving a little enthusiastically is knowing when and where do do it. By law any Police speed camera should be properly identified as such, no ''stick a camera in a parked up horse box'' trickery. What you probably drove past was a number plate recognition camera, the Police are after tax/insurance dodgers, I've past loads in London over the last few years, normally sited on roads which are impossible to turn around/evade them, i.e. one way roads or if not they cone a lane off sometimes. Another trick by some councils too is to flag down vans (to check for fly tipping), also these question surveys (how bloody annoying are these!) are used sometimes by the Police to check for obvious faults on cars, i.e. you sit there verbally filling out a form while PC plod can sneak a shifty look at ones tyres, condition of lights as well as the obvious tax disc. Every single survey I've seen has several Policemen with the survey team, why else have them?

[HillmanImp]

I was pulled over the other year and the policeman said they realise that the speed limit is 70 but it is unenforcable so they only ticket people doing over 90 with hand held camera's/undercover cars. At the time the policy was that if it is over 96 up to 100 it was their discretion as the whether they take them to court. I dont know if this is just North Yorkshire police or a countrywide policy.

[bigstraight6]

I was trundling through a Somerset village a few weeks ago, and a bunch of fossils wearing hi-vis jackets jumped out from behind a bush aiming a hand held type speed gun thing at me, public spirited yokel's no doubt!

[Cavcraft]

The trick with driving a little enthusiastically is knowing when and where do do it.

By law any Police speed camera should be properly identified as such, no ''stick a camera in a parked up horse box'' trickery.

What you probably drove past was a number plate recognition camera, the Police are after tax/insurance dodgers, I've past loads in London over the last few years, normally sited on roads which are impossible to turn around/evade them, i.e. one way roads or if not they cone a lane off sometimes. Another trick by some councils too is to flag down vans (to check for fly tipping), also these question surveys (how bloody annoying are these!) are used sometimes by the Police to check for obvious faults on cars, i.e. you sit there verbally filling out a form while PC plod can sneak a shifty look at ones tyres, condition of lights as well as the obvious tax disc. Every single survey I've seen has several Policemen with the survey team, why else have them?

They have to by law apparantly to stop the traffic and make sure the others are flowing nicely

 

bigstraight6: they have those round our way too. I'm led to believe by some they can 'do' you if you're speeding, others say they can only warn you.

GR8 4 LOCAL VICTOR MELDREWS.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Thanks for all the messages of support, the general consensus of opinion from most people seems to be that I'll fall within the margin of leeway so hopefully I won't hear anything about it.In the back of my mind though, is the thought that tickets = bonuses, a bit like with traffic wardens! Surely it's in their interests to rake in as much money from tickets for the government as possible, so you'd think there would be no such thing as a window of 'leeway'! My g/f said to me that I should be ok as I was within 10%. She was done by Sussex police a few years ago though for doing 83 I think, on the dual carriageway not a million miles from where it happened.

[mk2_craig]

Surely it's in their interests to rake in as much money from tickets for the government as possible, so you'd think there would be no such thing as a window of 'leeway'!

If zero tolerance was the case nobody would break the limit. Ever.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Surely it's in their interests to rake in as much money from tickets for the government as possible, so you'd think there would be no such thing as a window of 'leeway'!

If zero tolerance was the case nobody would break the limit. Ever.

Surely that's their objective! Isn't it? That's why the goverment has been blowing so much money in the last few years on speed crackdowns in the form of cameras, humps, advertising campaigns..... it's all they seem to be interested in & making the police interested in!

[Twiggy]

Mr. Ritmo ! Please ! The government`s sole concern is our safety on the roads, and the campaign against speedsters such as your goodself has absolutely nothing to do with raising sufficient money to finance the gold plated (or should that be platinum plated ?) pensions of our hard working and dedicated politicians. Honest !

[MrRegieRitmo]

Did they slip you a fiver??

[Twiggy]

Mr Ritmo ! Please ! To suggest that I`d be open to a consideration for supporting our dedicated and hard working politicians is a slur on my character. No, it was the promise of free road tax for life that did it. But, like all promises from politicians, they are like tomorrows, they never materialise

[Split_Pin]

Bummer mate - guess the best thing to do now is just sit tight and look forward to the weekend. Hope you managed to avoid it though.By the way what happened to your Renner 14 - I've looked on here and RR for an update?

[j-j]

I think they have to issue you with the ticket for speeding as you have to be told you're being charged. Otherwise it's a gatso that 'tells' you you're being charged by flashing. Oddly I got flashed by a admittedly fairly visible gatso and have yet to receive a ticket. I did however get gatso'd on a notorious '30 then 50 then 30 then lights then nat speed limit then lights then nat speed limit' road near here. I do find the big, double or triple laned city boulevards with ever changing speed limits to be a chore to drive and it was the first ever time I'd used the road I was clocked at 50 in a 30 zone, I guess I still thought it was the 50...... 3 points shortly after my previous 3 expired! seems I'm always carrying a little weight on my license..

[MrRegieRitmo]

Bummer mate - guess the best thing to do now is just sit tight and look forward to the weekend. Hope you managed to avoid it though.

Cheers - me too!

 

By the way what happened to your Renner 14 - I've looked on here and RR for an update?

What did you last hear, if anything? The ever helpful Mr Bickle breathed life on it again after the AA misdiagnosed a Headgasket on the way out - a quick easy way to condemn it & wash their hands of it, cos it's an old motor!

 

Turned out to be a rusted pipe that was allowing water vapour to short out the electrics. Once that was sealed up, touchwood it should be ok just needs TLC & a service. It's been hibernating in the garage since last autumn although need to get it up & running again later this month as moving house so gotta get it to the new place somehow!

[nigel bickle]

Reg -I went thru the same Police stake out, on the same day heading for Birmingham.The rows of Squad cars & bikes on the slip road were there to pull you into the next layby ,where a squad of VOSA types would do your car whilst the rozzers did you.So -if you didnt get stopped- you're fine. I went through around 85-90, and didnt get stopped -so i think you're OK.If you need your cars moving, somewhere local, I'm happy to do it for you; subject to 2 provisos:-1. You give me a bit of notice!2. Time allocated to get it/them running first- I hate moving dead cars!

[MrRegieRitmo]

Reg -I went thru the same Police stake out, on the same day heading for Birmingham.

The rows of Squad cars & bikes on the slip road were there to pull you into the next layby ,where a squad of VOSA types would do your car whilst the rozzers did you.

 

So -if you didnt get stopped- you're fine. I went through around 85-90, and didnt get stopped -so i think you're OK.

That sounds promising thanks! Take it you didn't see them till late either, or were you calling their bluff? Can't help thinking it seems a bit of a waste of time & very OTT because if they didn't stop either of us, then who exactly DID they stop or do?? Can't have been many for all that effort!

 

If you need your cars moving, somewhere local, I'm happy to do it for you; subject to 2 provisos:-

1. You give me a bit of notice!

2. Time allocated to get it/them running first- I hate moving dead cars!

I'll PM you re this just now