16 replies to this topic

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Just got flashed on the m25 after road works, doing an indicated 70 (probably 67-68). The gantry clearly had the national speed limit sign over all 4 lanes. I don't speed. Is this common during road works and if not and I get the brown envelope how can I contest it? I had cleared the roadworks and it was the first gantry after. I did 40 all the way through as did everybody else and then when I saw the National speed limit sign above all 4 lanes and a clear motorway moved over into the left most lane (which was previously closed) and got up to speed again. I then got flashed going under the gantry which had the N/S/L displayed.

 

 

Thanks.

 

[Miniminx71]

_{I think it's the case (someone might correct me) that motorway cameras will only flash after doing an average speed check. That means the camera before will have registered your speed and then the one after will do that also and it will measure how long it took you to travel between the two points and work out if you've been speeding. Obviously though, if you weren't speeding through the roadworks it's not clear why it would register you did, unless you momentarily speeded up I guess.}

 

_{If you're lucky, you may have just been the subject of a prank from a person driving behind. A lot of people think it's funny to randomly flash the person in front who then obviously thinks it's a camera - especially at night.}

Edited by Miniminx71, 18 February 2015 - 12:30 AM.

[Miniminx71]

Thinking about it, do gantry cameras flash or are they infra-red ...?

[TMW.Racing]

Was it definitely a flash for you? Could it not have been flashing someone else? I know there are quite a few of the new cameras where one camera covers all the lanes on the M25 so it may have been for someone else hopefully

[pusb]

If you do get something through the post then ask to see the pictures showing you speeding. There should be a few pictures with a time printed on them, in the picture you will also be able to see the distance you've travelled, hence you will be able to work out your speed.

 

Also then ask to see evidence that the speed limit in that area, at that point had been reduced.

 

You do have to fight these things if your certain you've done nothing wrong. I remember reading a story once about someone in a Peugeot 106 that got flashed doing 110mph, they were certain it was wrong but the authorities were having none of it.

 

Eventually it went to court, at which point the defendant pulled out a letter from Peugeot stating it would be impossible for that car to go 110mph. That was then case closed!

[ibrooks]

A friend got an NIP for doing 45 in a 30 - she knew there was no way she could have done it at that time in the morning so asked for the photos. She never got a photo - just a letter telling her it was being dropped. The stretch of road is always nose-to-tail in the mornings and that's when it supposedly happened. We reckon the radar had jumped from one vehicle to another and thought it was the one car moving almost instantaneously from one point to the next and therefore the speed was high.

 

Not so long ago there was a case near here where a camera had been left in place after the roadworks had moved along the motorway and it was flashing people who had come out of the roadworkings, past national signs and had accelerated back up to around 70. It did hundreds of people. Many of them paid up assuming they had been caught in the roadworks and it took a bunch of locals who had been done several times and were therefore certain that they hadn't been speeding on every occasion to dig deeper. It made the national news. If people appealed they would have the fine/points removed. But if they didn't enter an appeal it would stand! struck me as fraud on a grand scale that they weren't required to actively refund/rescind the penalties - they have the identities of those that they had wrongly punished.

 

Iain

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Thanks for all of the replies guys, feel a bit better now. 

 

I'm almost certain it was me that got flashed but it could have been another car in the other direction or the lorry I had just overtaken playing a prank, although considering how he acted during the roadworks (hazarding long before we came to a standstill) I find this quite unlikely.

 

I'm quite annoyed now because I'm very stressed about this. My insurance will double with 3 points and I was just getting over the hump of my first years insurance which is quite crippling, instead of halving it'll stay the same if I end up taking the brunt of this.

 

The fact is I drive a 30 year old Austin Maestro which does 65 at 3200rpm and you wouldn't really want to do much more in before it becomes quite scary. I wasn't speeding!

 

Are they normally quite good at listening to cases or is it very difficult to get a point across in a situation like this? I slowed down to around 50 after and people overtook me probably doing 70 so I can only hope they were flashed too and that everybody will complain.

Edited by Mini-Mad-Craig, 18 February 2015 - 10:35 AM.

[Miniminx71]

You cant really get stressed out until you know for sure. You said you'd just overtaken a lorry. They often flash you out of courtesy when you pull back in front?

[M J W J]

Eventually it went to court, at which point the defendant pulled out a letter from Peugeot stating it would be impossible for that car to go 110mph. That was then case closed!

 

A. I recon with a long enough run up, bit of drafting off the back of another car and going slightly down hill you probably could get a Peugeot to do 110mph.

 

B. That sounds like a challenge and quite an easy one at that. VTS engine anyone?

 

As for the flashing camera. The ones on the M6 flicker all the time late at night. You see symbols come up on them for a fraction of a second and then go off. I've seen loads of people hit their brakes when they have done this thinking they have been caught yet they weren't speeding. I reckon its the software that runs the signs just updating itself or something.

 

If you hear nothing in 2 weeks you should be OK as there are rules against how long your details from the DVLA can be accessed.

[MrBounce]

 

If you hear nothing in 2 weeks you should be OK as there are rules against how long your details from the DVLA can be accessed.

 

I actually work for the constabulary in this very area. You are kind of correct; however, all the Police have to prove is that they have SENT the letter with a good chance of it reaching the registered keeper within 14 days of the offence. Generally this means sending it by 1st class post before 12 days have elapsed. If you don't receive it, that's not usually down to the Police. However, if you don't receive it within those 14 days. you should be sent a reminder letter at the end of the 28-day period - you should then contact the Ticketing Office to arrange a new one to be sent. Don't forget that they can only use what information is held by the DVLA. If it's incorrect or out of date, it is down to YOU to sort it. (up to £1000 fine for not having correct details at DVLA etc).

 

There are many different types of camera used - it's my belief that most (if not all) of the average speed cameras do not "flash" you as they use infra-red; generally the same technology as the front-facing fixed cameras.

 

Don't forget though that there can me a number of different reasons why notices are not sent; for fixed cameras it could be that they have indeed "misfired" and any viewer who knows what they're doing would reject these. The number plate might be unreadable due to excess glare or dirt (keep them clean - it's not recommended to get pulled over with a filthy plate!). Please remember that photographic evidence is to identify the vehicle, not the driver. That is down to the registered keeper of the vehicle to provide details of who was driving.

 

Any questions I might be able to give general advice - but NOT on specific cases - contact the local Force (number on your Notice) for that

Edited by MrBounce, 18 February 2015 - 04:43 PM.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

I'm unsure but think there is lots of Gatsos on the gantrys around this area (m25 j10-j16) near cobham services. Im scared that this is what got me. I know that I couldn't have been done by an average because most of the road works we did 20, but if the gatso was maybe set to trigger at 60 or below and wasn't correctly synchronised with the n/s/l it displayed then how can I argue my case?

I have been back to the site on Google maps and there isn't any gatsos on the gantry but it is outdated to April 2014.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

I'm just frustrated because this would ruin my clean record and I genuinely do not speed

[MrBounce]

If you're concerned ring the ticket office local to where the camera was located. It could put your mind at rest. Give them your reg number and the date of the offence - they will be able to look it up and/or tell you if there's a Gatso in that area.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Thanks. I've just emailed the Surrey police on their non urgent reports/traffic orders email.

[scrumpix]

ask for the calibration chart and service record  for the camera