speed limits and penalties

[j17sparky]

Originally Posted by WITCH

If you saw the things we saw that day - ie what happens to someone you hit if you are doing 30 or 35, you wouldn't speed again, promise!

The problem ive always had with that theory is in order to do 30 and not 1mph over you have to be paying more attention to the speedo than the road.

Personally id rather see the kid stepping out and brake, missing the child completely, or atleast slowing to 10-15mph, than plough straight into him at exactly 30mph.

[FN-GM]

Originally Posted by j17sparky

The problem ive always had with that theory is in order to do 30 and not 1mph over you have to be paying more attention to the speedo than the road.

Personally id rather see the kid stepping out and brake, missing the child completely, or atleast slowing to 10-15mph, than plough straight into him at exactly 30mph.

Exactly, also the Speedo’s aren’t 100% accurate.

[timbo343]

Originally Posted by WITCH

I have just done a driver awareness course at Dorset Police Headquarters instead of getting 3 points on my licence and they said that you could do 34 in a 30 and not get done. We had all been caught doing 36 or 37 so the leeway for getting away with it is small, but you should be OK

If you saw the things we saw that day - ie what happens to someone you hit if you are doing 30 or 35, you wouldn't speed again, promise!

So what were you doing to get caught and ive heard about those courses. I didnt know they were taht bad,

[Joedetic]

Jeremey Clarkson (i dont think i've spelt it right) says that expandable builders foam works wonders for the cameras...also there are people that sling a tyre round the top and fill it with petrol and then set fire to it. I've seen them with the tyre still on .... most amusing.

You always see the odd one with spray paint on the lens. Most amusing thing i've seen yet is bullet holes in one

[FN-GM]

you can get a spray to go over the number plate and when the camera takes a pic your number plate shines bright so you can't see the REG.

[timbo343]

Originally Posted by FN-Greatermanchester

Exactly, also the Speedo’s aren’t 100% accurate.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme....stm#odometers

you can get a spray to go over the number plate and when the camera takes a pic your number plate shines bright so you can't see the REG.

are they not illegal?

[tech_guy]

The stuff about the spray is a load of bull - a copper friend of mine says so and that the only time they don't get the number plate in a pic is when it's physically covered up or there isn't one on the car - which happens more often than people realise.

[FN-GM]

you could get a speed camera / laser detector

[tech_guy]

aren't they going to become illegal soon?

[FN-GM]

nope, the government claim speed cameras are put in "black spot areas" so the detectors inform the drivers were the "black spot areas" are so its a safety device.

[GrumbleDook]

Speed cameras vary in type but those commonly used today (laser tracking based) do not required per use calibration but are routinely tested to show consistancy.

The older type could be simply calibrated with a tuning fork that is noted in a log book.

The guidance from The Metropolitan Police has been (for the last 15 years) to allow +/- 10% + 2mph. The usual cases where 33, 34, 35, 36 mph are taken to penalty are when they are in areas of 'serious' concern. This may be around hospitals, schools (though these are often 20mph now), police / fire / ambulance stations, red routes (or similarily designated 'unsafe' or 'accident-prone' routes) and roadworks.

It is worth noting that any attempt to deface, alter or obstruct your number plate (front or back) counts as driving without due care and consideration for other road users as you are failing to allow your car to be identified in the case of an accident (an accident need not occur ... the attempt to prevent identification in the event of an accident is all that is needed) and this carries a harsher penalty than most speeding penalties (up to 6 points and £1000+ depending on circumstances, but commonly £300 is a regular fine).

[SteveT]

Originally Posted by "

The problem ive always had with that theory is in order to do 30 and not 1mph over you have to be paying more attention to the speedo than the road.

Personally id rather see the kid stepping out and brake, missing the child completely, or atleast slowing to 10-15mph, than plough straight into him at [i

exactly [/i]30mph.

Sorry, but i think this is a load of bollards!!! A speed limit of 30mph doesn't mean that you have to drive at exactly 30mph but that you are not to drive over that speed! If you cannot drive at under 30mph without constantly watching your speedometer then you shouldn't be driving IMHO.

If a driver hit one of my kids at 35mph and killed them and came out with that excuse I would want the book thrown at them. The research on the effects of speed on impact with pedestrians is very clear! As far as I'm concerned being "just over the speed limit by 10%" is the same as being "just over" the drink/drive limit!

[witch]

The whole point of the little bit of leeway ( and 10% +2mph is quite a lot of leeway, actually) is to compensate for both the odometer innacuracy and also the fact that you cannot look down every second. I agree with SteveT - not much of an excuse when you kill a child, is it?
I was caught at 11.30pm returning from sitting in Casualty with one of my sons with a suspected broken arm. As I said, I was doing 37. I was grateful to be offered the driver awareness course, which was quite useful, instead of the points, and the police said that they are trying to offer the course to people like me who were not far off the limit.
I do think that some cameras are in very odd places and should be removed, but I also think that the speed limit outside schools should be 20mph and that there should be a camera there as well. Cameras should be at all blackspots.

I am not upset about being caught (other than at my own stupidity). The law is the law and I broke it, didn't I?
I like to drive fast too - but there is a time and a place for that sort of thing

Speed cameras are now painted yellow so that you DO see them and remember what the speed limit is, and slow down without being caught.
Seems pretty reasonable to me

[Geoff]

Generally the way car makers adjust for the inaccuracy of car speedos is to set them so they report speeds rather optimistically. This is especially the case with faster cars.

[TechMonkey]

Most new cars (as in the last 10 years or so) I have found have been about 10% out below. So most people if they are doing exactly 30mph are actually doing anywhere from 25 to 30. If you have Satnav you can see this happening. It is great fun when people slow right down for cameras on dual carriageways and you can over take them easily by actually doing 30. Even more fun as 70mph works out to be just about 80 on the speedo.

But as GD said 10% + 2 is the standard working out. Also there are some of those sprays that do work but they also show up on the Vid cameras fitted to most police cars and if you get caught you get thourghly busted & everything thrown at you as it is purposefully trying to obscure the number plate. No excuse and no defence.