A friend did exactly this in the M60/M62 roadworks - at a crawl for miles so no way he averaged more than 50mph. Traffic then cleared and knowing he was well below the average with not far to go in the restricted area he increased speed.
His NIP arrived a few days later. There was an instant speed camera located next to the last average camera.
That is a sneaky one. In Scotland, on the M74, the 'plod' set up a camera van on an overhead road bridge, then 2 bridges down another one. They work on the theory that when motorists pass the first van they speed up thinking that is all the surviellance there is. Sneaky or what! I have watched many a poor soul hare off after the first van and I know what awaits them.
The average speed cameras on sections of motorway being upgraded work really well, especially during busy periods. They do tend to keep the traffic flowing. The problem is late at night when the traffic is much reduced, it feels like you could walk faster!! In many ways I prefer them to instant speed cameras. They keep the 'brake and accellerate' merchants in check and unless you are a complete fool they are easy to comply with.
Anyone remember the national speed limit of 50mpg during the oil crisis in the early 70's? Quite amazing the fuel economy achieved during that period, it gave me pause for thought.
Cheers Concrete
I only remember (born in '73) my dad queuing up with many other people for up to 30 mins to buy petrol. To be fair, his Ford Escort 1.1 Popular Plus (with wing mirrors on both sides and 'lovely' vinyl seats [peachy in summer - not!] - Whooo!) could bearly get up to 70mph, especially on a gradient. 50 sounds much better, especially when it was fully laden up with the family going to the seaside down the motorway or dual carriageways. I do remember when we had the 'petrol strikes' back in 2000 (I think?) that people temporarily did slow down to conserve fuel (10 litre fill ups max, bad for the Jags of this world, great for me an my very frugal Micra at the time), and again during the 'great' recession/financial crisis a few years ago. Never lasts though.
Anyhoo, on my way back from my recent 'holiday' (essentially a wash-out) in the West Country, I noticed when going round the M25 in the variable speed section that many drivers were itching to speed up the second they could see the gantry in front had increased its limit (say) from 50 to 60mph. What are the rules on this - should rivers keep to the maximum speed set at the previous gantry until they pass under the next (I assumed so, though did speed up a bit but was only doing an indicated average of 48mph (probably nearer to 44-45mph actual). I did read here that the gantries have a 'timer' in which they had a 'grace period' for such events, but it wasn't verified. Would be nice to know what is really the case.
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