Today morning I have been flashed by a speed camera from front while doing 20 mph in a 30 mph zone (in Luton town)! I am completely surprised, how can it be possible? There was quite a heavy traffic and it wasn't even possible to travel at 30 mph.
I don't know whether it was Gatso or Truvelo but there were strip marks on the road. I was also flashed just once.
I have never received any NIP before. If they mis-calculate my speed how do I defend?
Any thought?
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Could have been for someone travelling in the opposite direction?
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Ive managed to do this to a camera in the opposite direction, I'm guessing it was the spray from my tyres. Heaven forbid that there was any inaccuracy in the equipment.
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There are no speed cameras that I know of that wouls flash from the front - imagine a dark night and you are flashed from the front - would be a bit of a shock and not safe.
Just to be sure you could also check to see where the road markings are that are used when the picture is taken as proof you were going fast. Normally they are just on the side of the road the camera is taking pictures on, but they do sometimes paint both lanes in case some drives fast down the other side of the road to try and get away with it. And sometime both lanes are painted as they swivel the camera around on its mounting depending on which way they want to monitor.
Either way, worset case scenarion, if you are only doing 20mph you should not have a problem as they will measure your distance over the road markings and calculate your speed. I have seen traffic light cameras flashing away regardless of whether the lights were red or green so these things do go wrong from time to time.
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There are no speed cameras that I know of that would flash from the front
But what about those cameras in the middle of the road that are reversable to catch people from either direction? If you're travelling towards one, and a car coming from the other direction triggers it, you're going to get a faceful of flash.
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I have been flashed (!) by a forward-facing mobile camera, which was at the roadside at about 0630 one morning in the village next to mine
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The police should do something about all this flashing!
Never having suffered it myself but has anyone suffered by being flashed at from the front in the dark (and no smutty comments please!).
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There are no speed cameras that I know of that wouls flash from the front - imagine a dark night and you are flashed from the front - would be a bit of a shock and not safe.
>
Truvelos flash from the front, but they have a magenta filter on the flash. I have seen one go off at night when an ambulance sped past it on a call. There were two very bright magenta flashes.
I've seen Gatsos go off in temporary road works on a motorway on the opposite carriageway, and was almost blinded because the flashes were so bright, and there was no motorway lighting on that section.
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If it was a white flash it should have been a Gatso? Or was it a flash of coloured light? Square holes or round holes in the camera box?
I was flashed head-on by a Gatso on the A429 (in daylight); apparently when they are out of film they can sometimes flash in error.
I wouldn't worry about it movilogo..
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When a speed camera was first installed on a main road into Chester, it was set to flash randomly so people would get used to it (this was a few years ago).
They had to turn it off after a couple of days as it caused pandemonium in the Police station with people going in very hot under the collar about being flashed!
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I used to think that there were no speed cameras that flashed from the front until I was caught coming out of Tunbridge Wells (about 11:45PM, caught doing 39 in a 30).
It looked like a Truvelo. I thought these used an infra red flash so that they'd be no visible flash, but it definetly did flash because it was quite blinding at that time of night.
DD's right. We have a couple of those cameras in the middle of the road where I live and they flash you from the front if you approch too quick (but I guess they can't prosecute because there's no lines painted on the road from the front).
Chris.
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(but I guess they can't prosecute because there's no lines painted on the road from the front).
Normal Gatso's are not approved by the Home Office for use forward facing - although the makers say they will work fine in that mode.
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One Gatso I know is positioned between two trees on the same side of the road. I have seen it flash on several occasions due to birds flying between the trees. So you could be approaching when a bird flew the other way. Normally your reflection would dominate and the bird not be 'seen'. But the nature of radar reflection is that it varies and so it can happen. A diamond's glisten varies.
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One Gatso I know is positioned between two trees on the same side of the road. I have seen it flash on several occasions due to birds flying between the trees.
There was an episode of Mythbusters the other day where they proved the 'myth' that birds can set off speed cameras. They most definitely can.
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There is a camera a few yards from a junction I exit daily, and I am frequently flashed while stationary waiting to pull out onto the main road.
The trigger is generally the reflection from the side of my car of a car going in the opposite direction who has already passed the camera and has accelerated beyond the minimum speed to operate the trap.
It's extremely unpleasant to be looking that way when it goes off.
For you to be flashed at 20 mph, if the car which triggered the flash was going in the opposite direction, it must have been doing nearly 60 mph - if my understanding of the principles is correct.
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These cameras cannot tell the difference between a bird and a motor speeding,you would think a size limit would be used by the camera to prevent something very small getting you knicked.
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Today evening I checked the camera. It is a Truvelo one.
In that road, there are actually four speed cameras - two on each side within short distance!
It's a dual carriageway thru town - mostly with heavy traffic.
I was flashed only once and I believe it was a white flash - not a coloured or magenta flash.
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>>not a coloured or magenta flash.
What difference does the colour make,it still flashed
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Maybe it is set to flash every so often on a timer to keep the discharge capacitor healthy, just like photographers who need their flashes ready to fire for long periods manually trigger them now and again for the same reason.
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I was flashed at a year ago for going through a green light. When I called the authorities to complain they asked for the location and then told me not to worry it was not a fully working camera - never heard anymore - Phew!
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Some built-up areas now have a 20 mph limit. In some towns there have been proposals that the whole town is limited to 20 mph.
--
L\'escargot.
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