I’m a speed camera officer – here are 10 things all drivers need to be aware of while behind the wheel
TWO speed camera officers have revealed ten things that drivers need to be aware of when behind the wheel of a car.
Chris and Ian from the Safer Roads Humber team say some motorists may think they have a clue about how they can get pinged by a cheeky camera - but often they have no idea.
There's a wide-ranging list of assumptions drivers have made about how road laws really work and this week they shared ten of the most common, report .
You can get a fine for going 31mph in a 30mph zone.
Technically, there is no specific amount of mph that you can go over by as drivers are meant to firmly stick to the restrictions - meaning you can be fined for going even just 1mph over.
But in reality, Chris and Ian confirmed that this isn’t true.
Following new guidance, the threshold for action to be taken is 10% of the speed limit plus 2mph.
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In this case you would not be fined unless you are doing 35mph in a 30mph zone.
However, Chris added that speed limits are in place for a reason. Hitting someone at even a slightly higher speed could greatly increase the chance of fatality.
Speed vans purposely park on roads where they know they will make money
Another popular myth is that safety cameras are an easy way of making money for the police.
Consequentially, some believe that speed vans target busier roads where motorists are more likely to be breaking the speed limit.
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But Ian explained that the speed vans only go to sites that have had deaths or serious injuries due to collisions.
They are carefully chosen to be the most effective in reducing collisions on high-risk roads and money-making has no impact on where is chosen.
Shareholders are getting rich from speeding fines and speed awareness courses
By the same token, Ian confirmed that absolutely no shareholders benefit from speeding fines.
In most minor offences, police will often offer the chance to take a speed awareness course instead of issuing fines and penalty points.
However, it’s usually something that you have to pay for as it keeps your license clean.
Ian says those funds are completely ringfenced and are used to make roads safes.
The cash could go towards buying new equipment, funding talks in schools and paying staff.
But, if people are ordered to pay a fine, it mostly all goes to the government.
Speed vans measure the speed of every car that passes
Chris said that the speed guns used in such vans tend to be manual.
As such he will only trigger them to check the speed of someone he suspects is going too fast.
Chris added: “I would say most of the time cars driving past aren't checked."
Speed vans have to legally be marked or camera signs need to be visible in the area.
Mobile cameras can take a number of forms and it includes unmarked cars.
Chris and Ian say they usually use marked vans, but have recently been out in tractors, motorbikes or on foot to catch speeding offenders.
Ian said: "We want people to think that we could pop up in any vehicle so that they change their behaviour everywhere, rather than just when they see a marked van."
It is illegal to flash other drivers and let them know there is a speed van
Flashing a driver to warn there are speed cameras up ahead is against road laws.
However, Ian says members of his team do not generally enforce it.
He said: "If another road user flashing a vehicle makes them more aware of their driving then it's not necessarily a bad thing.
“Our whole aim is to deter people from poor driving so it achieves the same objective."
Nobody can force me to move things out of the way of the speed camera.
It is an offence to obstruct the view of a camera and you will be asked to move if you do so.
Failure to do this could result in arrest.
Only two years ago, Jack Cureton, 63, was given a £400 fine after blocking a speed camera van twelve times.
The mobility scooter user claimed that vans were illegally obstructing his access to pavements.
He then took it upon himself to use walking sticks to block mobile speed cameras.
Speed vans operate only during the day
Although it is more common to police the roads in the day, all modern cameras are equipped with high quality night vision technology.
According to Ian and Chris you could easily be caught speeding at 2am if a road is prone to a lot of risk after dark.
Speed vans fail to check speeds on 20mph roads enough.
Although the speeds are lowered for a reason, it is true that these zones are not usually enforced enough.
Ian said: "Generally on these roads we have islands or speed bumps which will make it difficult to go really fast without damage to your vehicle and that's why the team will spend more time on other roads that are more at risk."
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Speed cameras only work in one direction.
The original Gatso cameras could only snap vehicles once they passed a speed camera.
But the newer Truvelo models can now catch speeding drivers from the front and back, which means slowing down quickly before passing a speed camera may not always help avoid a fine.