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I was driving in the Poole area last night and set off a GATSO as I approached it from the front. The thing was on the opposite side of the road and to all intents and purposes it seemed positioned to snap people from behind after passing it. There was no other traffic around. When I drove the same route again today in daylight, I noticed markings on both sides of the road. I didn't know GATSO's could nab you as you approach them, is this a new development? And presumably I can expect the invoice in the post?
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Yes, all GATSO's can work both ways.
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Round here- Northants- we have Truvelo cameras regularly reversed. Having been flashed by one in broad daylight, Bank Holiday Monday no film :-), I would be very concerned about the safety implications of being flashed in the face in darkness.
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Do Truvelo's flash? (infra-red digital technology v. traditional photo?). I travel the A14 a lot and have yet to see one flash, despite witnessing some obvious candidates passing thru them at 80-85.
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Truvelo's use infra-red to illuminate car plates and therefore do not flash. It must have been a different type of camera.
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That will explain the one in Worthing that flashes on its side of the road when there is no one there. I am sure that flashing in your face is illegal - and obscene!
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I regularly get flashed in the face by cameras on my drive to work up the A23 through Brixton, but I'm pretty sure with the standard Gatsos it's simply down to being aimed incorrectly. Obviously it's highly dangerous being flashed in the face at night, plus I think it's illegal to actually use a photo that identifies the driver of the car as evidence.
Also on the main road where I live they fitted a Gatso and originally only painted lines on the lane it was positioned. A while later they also painted lines on the opposite lane, which would mean flashing oncoming cars from the front. Upon enquiring with the local council they freely admitted that the camera would not flash oncoming cars, the lines were just to fool people into thinking it would and slowing down.
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I can tell you that a standard GATSO may well flash you as you approach it, but you will not receive a NIP in the post. The GATSO is designed to catch you as you pass away from it. The road markings are there to catch overtaking drivers and also to give the powers that be the opportunity to turn the camera round.
I have made them flash on many, many occasions and now almost make a sport of it, so rest assured you will not get prosecuted.
It is possible that the cameras that flash you from the front contain the less sophisticated dummy flash and radar, but I am not sure enough to turn around and speed through the other way.
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Motorcyclists are ok, there are no number plates on the front of bikes!
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PhiL P wrote:
I think it's illegal to actually use a photo that
> identifies the driver of the car as evidence.
Is this true? And if so, what is the logic behind it?
Seems like a pic with your face on it, is as red-handed as one can get - so why would it be illegal?
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> Is this true? And if so, what is the logic behind it?
I believe this started in Sweden or some other Scandinavian country. Someone was photographed with his mistress in the car and it was posted to his house.
It started this whole privacy, human rights thing, so they photogra´ph from the rear, or from the front low enough not to identify the driver.
M.
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It is not illegal - the legal point revolves around whether or not you have to incriminate yourself by admitting you were the driver when replying to the NIP. The courts have held that the public good of nabbing speeding motorists overrides human rights law and centuries old rule against self-incrimination (i.e. compelling people to give evidence against themselves). If the camera caught the driver's face then this would be good evidence and the "confession" as to who was driving would not be required.
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I set off a gatso most mornings headidng towards it. It's a little hobby of mine.
So no they can't get you heading towards them. As said above bikes would have a "get out of jail free card" if that was the case.
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Yep, yet another good reason for two wheels!
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So how does a motorcyclist get "done" with the Truvelo's - these are designed to nab you from the front?
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I answered a very similar thread a while ago but can't be bothered to find it.
GATSOs work in BOTH ways. The threshold is set at a speed and the camera is tripped if it is exceeded + or - ie either way.
If markings are painted on both sides of the road - rare and generally only on quite narrow stretches of roads - then the camera evidence can be used to prosecute, regardless of what side of the road you were on. GATSOs work in quite a narrow area and so this is not often used, particularly on normal or wide roads which is why you don't see this too often. But make no mistake, you can and will be done if there are lines on both sides of the roads.
I also view it as "sport" to trip cameras on the opposite side of the road but before you do it make bl**dy sure there aren't marking painted on your side as well!
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Gatso's DO NOT work from the front. If you are flashed when facing one you have nothing to fear, the mechanism is faulty and you will hear no more.
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Are there many of those double headed GATSOs around? The ones that you see pointing towards you but in fact it looks just the same the other side. Presumably one is fake or can 2 cameras be fitted?
Also I thought that the police had to paint all the boxes bright colours. I have only seen one (outside the Tate Gallery) which has been painted yellow.
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As Tom Shaw said, these only work in one direction. The reason for the lines being on both sides of the road is to stop people seeing the cameras and swerving across to avoid being flashed, or being flashed but no lines to double check that the speed has been exceeded.
Jonathan
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I think 'in yer face' is bloody dangerous. I was travelling on the A14 one dark night being tailed by a Merc with Irish plates. Family in the car and on the way to the Mother-in-law's. Pitch black it was, no street lights when, as the Merc was passing, a blinding FLASH - literally. Please note that at this time eyes must have been adjusted to the dark and I was keeping an eye on the Merc. All was OK but I really believe this could have caused problems for less experienced drivers. During the daytime this was a grey box with a sort of red tinted light mounted in it, never seen them before
Ask Princess Di's bodyguard whether he agrees................
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I drive the A14 a lot and the device you describe sounds like the Truvelo, which nabs speed merchants as they approach it. There are no give-away white markings as with the GATSO's - instead there are three very thin narrow lines running right across the road (dual carriageway - so it's only interested in approaching traffic). The interesting thing, though, is that the Truvelo uses an infra-red beam and doesn't use traditional flash. On a number of occasions, I've driven through them at 70 and been overtaken by cars going much faster, but there's never been a flash. Perhaps the one you're talking about has a dummy flash too so the driver knows he's been caught. Unless it was someone in the Merc taking a snap of you?
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I wonder what the police reaction would be if I did some flashlight photography of passing vehicles from a motorway bridge.
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On the A14...
I remember it was at a road junction and this thing was positioned on the traffic island or thereabouts on the junction's approach to the dual c'way ( travelling from the Midlands ). It was definitely the camera and it was very bright - made me wonder whether my headlights would distort the view of the number plate as if you were taking a picture of a light bulb. I didn't hear anymore anyway so perhaps they nicked the Merc.
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As I understood it, when the camera flashes twice, the photos show where the car is in relation to the white road markings. These photos can then prove how far the vehicle had travelled within the time taken to take the photos and consequently a speed can be proven.
If this is the case,and I could be proved wrong, unless there are markings on both sides of the road and not staggered ready for the camera to be spun around, you can't get done.
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I have seen a couple of examples of cameras which can be reversed, so that it can be used on one side of the road or the other, with markings on both sides. You have to watch out to catch the turn!
One is on the Seven Sisters Road at Manor House, N London, the other coming out of Swansea onto the Gower peninsular in S Wales.
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