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Part 3 in the late nite/early morning drive home bullsh*t series..

So i goes for a little trip to burn off some of the fuel remaining above the hole in my tank (can i be arsed to siphon it? can i hell... haven't anything to put it in anyway), because the big ol' jam jar i was catching it in hasnt much room left. Just a trundle down the motorway and back at the limits, nothing extreme. End up on the M42 south just before where it's shut. Into the 50 zone, ease off from 70 to mid 50s (dont want to fall asleep). Minute or two later a Pug 205 zooms up from behind, suddenly cuts in front and slows down further than me, so i scoot round him - and dont watch my speedo so much while concentration on all the 'drama'. Don't spot the Gatso at the side of the road*, go under the gantry its positioned next to, there's white lines across the road, look down............... bugger, needle's on 60 (so doing... what... 58, 59 real speed if that), no time to react.... flash - flash. Dammit, dammit, dammit!!!

((* I know thats what it is rather than a digital gantry cam, because i turned at the next exit and came back with peeled eyes))

What with the other car to the left and a bit behind, do i stand a snowballs chance of the pic not being admissable as there were two vehicles on it? (I'd ask if anyone knew whether it was a "live" on, but let's face it.... 4am on a sunday, near-empty road, nearest workmen being more than a half mile away and well-lit.... the bugger's going to have TONS of film in it, it's an unmissable cash cow opportunity).... i'd ask also if i stood a snowball of convincing the court that it's too tiny an "offence" to be worth prosecuting (hey, what if i just pay the fine?) ... like borrowing someone's biro and forgetting to give it back is technically stealing.

Or is it molotov cocktail time, before some civil servant comes round monday lunchtime to collect the film (if its not digital...).

Can't beleive i might face 3 points and whatever stupid fine might be concocted for "speeding on a motorway" (heavier penalties, i know that much!) for fifty bloody eight miles per hour in those circumstances, when that other guy was doing at least 70 before and after, but just braked because he knew where the camera was (why the f*** didnt i figure out his game? =idiot=). Grrr. Suppose it may be deserved from various high speed blasts before, but i'd have preferred, yknow, to have *earnt* it. Got something I could frame and pass on to the car's next owner if they asked me if it was "fast enough". Though this way i suppose the penalties are likely more lenient. What might it do to my insurance though?? I was hoping it'd fall past £400 this year, got fat chance of that now

Between that and the more seriously speeding policeman making as if it wasnt no thang, im bloody well fed up. (If what i was doing was unsafe, then why were the workmen on the m6 what i filtered back onto on my way home allowed to set up site-illumination lights that shine right down the road like a pair of sodding HID full beams even when there's no-one there? rather than being under orders to aim them considerately? I could hardly see where i was going, surely that's more dangerous than a couple extra mph than the camera's trigger speed when there truly isn't anything to hit?)



Well they say this crap comes in threes, that should be the end of it. See you in court!
EDIT additional: I wonder how much £60 in pennies weighs and would cost to post in 60 separate envelopes holding a quid each...

Ach, that sucks.. if only I spoke french I'd move to france just to get away from the cameras here, bloody irritating they are.

Well, if you get a notification I'd challenge it.. doubt you'll be let off entirely, but anyone with half a brain would reduce your penalty. Just make out that you were so stunned by the other car's stupidity that you had to take evasive action, even though this involved going over the limit by a couple of mph..

Btw, if your speedometer is calibrated the same as mine, which I suspect it will be, it'll read approximately 10% faster than your actual speed. I tested mine with a GPS tracker at a stated 30mph, the tracker showed up at 27mph, therefore if you were dead on 60 you'd actually have been doing about 54.. really not too badly over the limit, particularly if it was the middle of the night and there were no workmen around..

Well, good luck anyway, I'll keep my fingers crossed that the camera had no film for you.

Speed cameras are very much in the public eye right now for a host of reasons, the main one being that they aren't actually lowering the number of serious/fatal RTAs, most likely cause of which is that they're improperly positioned... As far as I understand it they should only be in use at accident blackspots or areas where speeding is a regular occurence and a danger to others, ie. a residential housing estate or the like... the truth is something else entirely of course but I've not read enough to comment on all that stuff...

As for being caught, in the early hours, on a near-empty motorway, at only a few mph over the 50 limit, surely there will be someone in the judical system who will see the evidence and take account of this???

Speed cameras suck. Might as well have a limiter on everyone's cars and force them under 60mph by signalling the ECU to slow the car down! Oh wait, they're working on that one as well...

So far I've been lucky enough to have escaped being caught and/or fined (touch wood!!) in 5½ years of driving and I hope that somehow Tahrey you will be able to appeal against and escape getting points on your license. Good luck mate!

I passed my test this year, I have 3 points on my licence from 2002 already so if i get another 3 points i will be banned and have to re-take my theory and practical test

(you can get 6 points in the first 2 years of driving and then your banned)

I 'm scared to death anytime i go somewhere new incase theres a camera hiding behind a bush as the roads are often marked wrong or not at all.

I'm very worried about losing my licence. I think I might adhere to the old biddy school of motoring, maybe do 25 in a 30

Karl.

dont make me kill you

just get the speedo calibrated........ which i think i might have to

anyone with tachos already installed, tell me - does the idle speed change quite a lot even when the engine tone / speed sounds the same? i was idly playing with making the wheels spin when it was jacked up, and though it seemed to be coming back down to the same tickover every time, the displayed speed at idle in 3rd and 4th seemed to vary by a good 2,3,4 mph... (not to mention the speeds at various by-ear engine speeds up to ~2000*) .... if my speedo's dodgy then i've got no chance!

*didnt dare go faster - need the wheels balanced as well... started shaking a bit, and i found a tyre balancing weight on the driveway a few days back...

It probably had no film in it if it was a Gatso!

Well, let's keep our fingers crossed!