# M6 and other Average Speed Cameras



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

Do they turn off at night?

I saw several cars belting it along the M6 Roadworks through Birmingham the other night. Including 6 that were going very fast!?.

Seems to me a lot of people may be getting a ticket and some a court summons!

TM


----------



## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

I wouldn;t want to risk it :roll: . Are they actually "on" at some times only, like some of the fixed speed cameras? 


What annoys me in these areas is the car drivers who pull over to the left lane and stick at 45 (in 50 limit). All the trucks, buses and us motorhomers have to stay in the inside lane (outide lanes are for vehicles under 6'6" wide), so everybody bunches up. Why don't they just pootle along under the speed limit in lanes 2 or 3?


----------



## Mark993 (Jul 1, 2007)

I know that some have Infrared lights on them so I assume this is so that they do work at night.

But many are dummies or only "police" short sections. On the M62 road works near Leeds they had 4 camera gantries, 2 about half a mile apart and the other 2 about 5 miles later also just half a mile apart. Only the half mile sections were policed and the locals got to know this somehow. :roll:


----------



## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

I've heard that they're not very reliable reading number plates in the dark, not that I'd like to find out :lol: 

If they are serious at catching people at night, you will see a set of flood lights by the gantry which are to help the camera 'see'. I too get frustrated at the people who speed past, but then again I think the 'driver awareness courses' are very crowded these days  

Malcolm


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I gather for the average speed camera zones if you enter the system in one lane but then exit in another they cant "do" you. Dont know if anyone has put this to the test yet though.


----------



## dovtrams (Aug 18, 2009)

barryd said:


> I gather for the average speed camera zones if you enter the system in one lane but then exit in another they cant "do" you. Dont know if anyone has put this to the test yet though.


Myth! They monitor all lanes and as they are average speed, it is the distance and speed between the cameras that are switched on.

I think the OP should try it and let us know the result, we could all chip in and pay the fine.

Dave


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

dovtrams said:


> barryd said:
> 
> 
> > I gather for the average speed camera zones if you enter the system in one lane but then exit in another they cant "do" you. Dont know if anyone has put this to the test yet though.
> ...


Yes but according to this article the home office rules state both readings have to be in the same lane.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/drivers-can-avoid-speeding-ticketsby-changing-lanes-7190770.html

Specs cameras though. Not sure what the ones on the M6 are so Trev keep your speed down!


----------



## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

In the early days the average speed cameras did only read one lane or the other so you could get away with lane switching. That loophole was VERY quickly closed off!! (all to do with type approval of the various bits of kit involved) 

They are a much fairer system than "spot" speed detectors as they calculate an average speed (but the tolerance figure is very low !!) Research has shown that where they are installed there is something like 95-97% compliance with the posted limit. 

The speeding idiots that the OP saw are probably too dense/thick/stupid or just plain ignorant to even recognise average speed cameras anyway :wink: :wink: 

Its dead easy to beat them though !!!! 

PM me with a crisp tenner for the secret :lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

barryd said:


> I gather for the average speed camera zones if you enter the system in one lane but then exit in another they cant "do" you. Dont know if anyone has put this to the test yet though.


AS far as I understand it, the cameras have always been able to work across lanes, but until recently weren't certified to do so. Now however they are!

Malcolm


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

That article I have just realised is 7 years old so I stand corrected.

Come on Plod spill the beans or we will dob you in for inciting bribes!


----------



## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

Should be easy enough for us - just stop somewhere and put the kettle on. Then after the short break the average speed should drop to walking speed.


----------



## anjasola (Jun 24, 2009)

James bond style revolving number plates does the trick


----------



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*section*

At one point there was a Lamborghini who would not let the 3 series beemer beat him, they must have hit a fair speed.

Inbetween Sandbach and Knustford, out of the roadworks in the darkness. Two Mercedes flew past together. I think they probably hit or were close to the 155mph cut out speed of the cars.


----------



## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

At night the ANPR works very well, sometimes even better than in daylight. 
The IR makes the reflective background glow anf they show up like a neon sign.
The in car cameras will read cars travelling in the opposite direction when your driving at speeds in excess of 100mph, if the vehicle going the other way is sticking to the limit you get a closing speed of at least 160 mph and they read 99% of plates so imagine how good a static camera can be.
At one time speed cameras had film in them so were only active once in a while. 
Now they are digital and the pictures beamed straight back to the office but they choose not to use them for a variety of reasons.

James


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

*Re: section*



teemyob said:


> At one point there was a Lamborghini who would not let the 3 series beemer beat him, they must have hit a fair speed.
> 
> Inbetween Sandbach and Knustford, out of the roadworks in the darkness. Two Mercedes flew past together. I think they probably hit or were close to the 155mph cut out speed of the cars.


They are asking for trouble!

They need to take the limiters off as 155 is way to slow. Top gear proved that in order to beat the camera you have to be doing over 170mph. I think it was a Tuscan the used. Mind you that was one of those Gatsos not an Average Specs thingy.


----------



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*driven*

There were no Speed cameras as far as I know with the two Mercs. But that sort of speed on the M6 motorway in the dark is just plain daft.

I have driven in the daylight at over 175 mph on an empty road. That is scary enough.

TM


----------



## wendyandjohn (Feb 14, 2009)

When the M4 around Cardiff had major road works for the last 2 years, the 50mph cameras were a real pain and caused no end of tail-backs, slowing down journey times a lot, I often travel along here I noticed the National Express coaches going through at 57/58 mph. So one day I tagged along behind it. I did this on numerous times and never once had a ticket or warning. This makes me wonder if any of these 'average speed cameras' really do work.


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

wendyandjohn said:


> When the M4 around Cardiff had major road works for the last 2 years, the 50mph cameras were a real pain and caused no end of tail-backs, slowing down journey times a lot, I often travel along here I noticed the National Express coaches going through at 57/58 mph. So one day I tagged along behind it. I did this on numerous times and never once had a ticket or warning. This makes me wonder if any of these 'average speed cameras' really do work.


You have to remember his Tacho is exactly correct and calibrated to be so.
You car (I assume) speedo isn't calibrated and id=s highly unlikely to be accurate - often 10% out.

This is the reason so many goody goodies complain about "driving at 70 mph in the "fast" lane" and being tailgated by "speeders".

I've known Fords with speedos that showed 70+ when the car was doing barely much over 60mph.

They are probably the reason behind the mythical "100mph" 1300 Escorts... :roll:

The coach was probably not doing much over 50 and that is within the tolerance allowed by the cameras.


----------



## missmollie (Sep 30, 2005)

*Average Speed Cameras*

I have been a Fleet Manager for twenty plus years and receive all the speeding notices for our company cars and trucks, not once in all this time have a received one for an average speed camera.


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

*Re: driven*



teemyob said:


> There were no Speed cameras as far as I know with the two Mercs. But that sort of speed on the M6 motorway in the dark is just plain daft.
> 
> I have driven in the daylight at over 175 mph on an empty road. That is scary enough.
> 
> TM


I agree. Crackers. They should get up further north onto the stretch of unrestricted Autobahn on the M74 between Gretna and Glasgow! 

The cop cars are still MKII Escorts with single blue lights on the top and the old NER NER sirens.  I wonder why at some point we had to change our sirens to the American Whoo Whoos. Whats all that about? I liked the NER NERS!


----------



## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

The APCO speed guidelines for prosecutions state 57mph in a 50mph limit. The speedo on my car registers 2mph higher than actual speed so in theory I could drive at 58mph if going by my speedo and still not be prosecuted.


----------



## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

*Re: section*



barryd said:


> teemyob said:
> 
> 
> > At one point there was a Lamborghini who would not let the 3 series beemer beat him, they must have hit a fair speed.
> ...


I've seen that happen on the A1 out of Paris, the car was past the camera before the flash went off. It was an old forward facing one. which makes it easier. It went past me so fast I didn't see what make the car was.

Malcolm


----------



## dovtrams (Aug 18, 2009)

Years ago in Berlin, when the wall was still there, the main drag through west Berlin is as straight as a Roman road. If you stuck to the 30mph speed limit you could drive through all the lights as the were co-ordinated. I think it was an army Captain who worked out that if you could do it at thirty, it would work at multiples of 30. He did it at 90 mph, but the craze was soon stamped on as others were also trying it at even higher speeds. I tried it in my VW Beetle but never managed any multiples!

Dave


----------



## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Most car speedos these days are electronically driven off the ABS speed sensors on the wheels, the figure shown being the average of the four readings.

To be 10% out, you need to have bald tyres or the wrong tyres fitted.

The 10% 'rule' was to allow for tyre wear and discrepancies in the earlier magnetic eddy-current speedos. 

Tachographs are calibrated at installation and are subject to the same variations as other speedos, being mechanically driven is not as good as pure electronics.

I don't know of anyone being convicted in an average speed check zone. We drove Rushden to Luton for 20+ years and mostly on the M1, plenty of speeders there in the road works but never hear of anyone up in court. Odds are that 'someone' would mention it.

Peter


----------



## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

3 weeks ago I had to attend a speed seminar (hangs head in shame) out of the 21 people 3 were caught on the M62 and 1 on the M6 by average speed cameras.
Quite a high number as we are a long way from both.

James


----------



## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

JP said:


> 3 weeks ago I had to attend a speed seminar (hangs head in shame) out of the 21 people 3 were caught on the M62 and 1 on the M6 by average speed cameras.
> Quite a high number as we are a long way from both.
> 
> James


Road works or standard road speed cameras?

Peter


----------



## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

I am not sure, I just sat at the back trying to stop myself punching all the old gits and women arguing that it wasn't their fault.
James


----------



## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

Although like a lot of people I've never met anyone who has been done by average speed cameras, there's an awful lot of drivers who don't appear to know how they work. I base this on the number who speed up to the gantries, and speed away, but slam on the brakes as they pass them.


Malcolm


----------



## wendyandjohn (Feb 14, 2009)

When the M4 around Cardiff had major road works for the last 2 years, the 50mph cameras were a real pain and caused no end of tail-backs, slowing down journey times a lot, I often travel along here I noticed the National Express coaches going through at 57/58 mph. So one day I tagged along behind it. I did this on numerous times and never once had a ticket or warning. This makes me wonder if any of these 'average speed cameras' really do work.


----------



## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Barry

As you asked Sooooo nicely the way to defeat them is (but dont tell ANYONE else)












Keep to the speed limit :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: 


It never ever EVER fails !!!

p.s. coaches are limited to 100Kph (about 60MPH) and trucks to 90KPH (about 54MPH)


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Mrplodd said:


> Barry
> 
> As you asked Sooooo nicely the way to defeat them is (but dont tell ANYONE else)
> 
> ...


BAH!!!! 

Its hard to speed these days anyhow. Too much traffic but your right of course. I used to be a bit of a petrol head and broke the rules from time to time  Just take it easy these days.


----------



## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

Mrplodd said:


> p.s. coaches are limited to 100Kph (about 60MPH) and trucks to 90KPH (about 54MPH)


Soon to be reduced to 50mph for trucks but of course not for the foreign ones!!

James


----------



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

JP said:


> Mrplodd said:
> 
> 
> > p.s. coaches are limited to 100Kph (about 60MPH) and trucks to 90KPH (about 54MPH)
> ...


why?


----------



## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

teemyob said:


> JP said:
> 
> 
> > why?
> ...


----------



## Annsman (Nov 8, 2007)

Would I be correct is the assumption that if you were sppeding and in a road collision would your insurance not pay out as you were involved in an illegal act? If not then that might be an extra deterrent not to speed. It would make people think twice perhaps if there was a chance their families would be affected too.


----------



## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

Annsman said:


> Would I be correct is the assumption that if you were sppeding and in a road collision would your insurance not pay out as you were involved in an illegal act? If not then that might be an extra deterrent not to speed. It would make people think twice perhaps if there was a chance their families would be affected too.


There is no written rule as far as I know but some policies have a clause that if you are "over the limit" with alcohol your not covered for your own losses but obviously the 3rd party would be.
If your speed is a contributory factor in a collision it would put more if not all of the blame on you and therefore your insurance but even if its totally your fault you usually get your car repaired or replaced although at a cost when you come to renew.

James


----------

