Average speed cameras

[richard15]

Can anyone clear up a small point regarding average speed cameras.

If , for instance, you are on a 60mph road and you get stuck behind a slow moving vehicle for 10 miles going at 40mph and then you manage to pass it ;

would you be able to travel at 80mph for 10 miles without being prosecuted

by the cameras;

[grand]

ive always done it this way and never had a ticket

[Shef1985]

In theory maybe: your average speed was 53.3mph over the 20 miles...try arguing your case with the traffic cop that might be there as well though. Or if you smash the car up and they determine you were doing 80 at the time.

 

I think they take the average between each camera along not just the first and last, otherwise on a decent stretch they'd never get speeders that enter or exit before the start or end of the cameras.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Shef1985

[kevvy]

Surely it depends on where the cameras are sited. If they're at the beginning and end of the stretch then yes, but if they're extra camera's in between then no.

[altus]

In your scenario, imagine four cameras equally spaced along your route and that you overtake the slow moving vehicle between the middle two. The first two cameras will measure your average speed as 40 MPH. Between the second two it will depend exactly where you overtook. The last two will measure your average speed as 80 MPH and you could be prosecuted for that.

[Gamston]

Can anyone clear up a small point regarding average speed cameras.

If , for instance, you are on a 60mph road and you get stuck behind a slow moving vehicle for 10 miles going at 40mph and then you manage to pass it ;

would you be able to travel at 80mph for 10 miles without being prosecuted

by the cameras;

Common sense tells me no.

[sutty27]

Can anyone clear up a small point regarding average speed cameras.

If , for instance, you are on a 60mph road and you get stuck behind a slow moving vehicle for 10 miles going at 40mph and then you manage to pass it ;

would you be able to travel at 80mph for 10 miles without being prosecuted

by the cameras;

 

They work out you average speed between each camera.

Camera 1 and 2 are a set distance apart, they know when you pass camera 1 and when you pass camera 2 and work out your average speed, so you can speed between them but not for the entire distance. Its starts against between 2 and 3, then again between 3 and 4. In your scenario your average speed will very likely be 80mph between 2 cameras so a ticket is likely. So even though you might have gone past a dozen camera with an average speed below the speed limit you will still get a ticket if your average was 20mph over the limit between 2 cameras.

[smithy266]

Bear in mind that the speed LIMIT for the road may be 50......

[biotechpete]

Bear in mind that the speed LIMIT for the road may be 50......

 

It might also be 60 or 70 or 40.

[Shef1985]

what if you switch lanes?

 

He wouldn't have been stuck behind the lorry