I started a thread on this last Sunday and received conflicting responses as to whether or not GATSO's can nab you as you approach from the front (albeit on the opposite side of the road). I have today received the following from Poole Highways Dept., which I thought readers may find interesting:
"I believe the static speed camera you are referring to is the one on Dunyeats Road in Broadstone outside Broadstone Middle School, which is in a 30mph limit. Whilst these cameras were purchased and installed by the Local Highway Authority, they are operated by Dorset Police, and as such it is down to them how they carry out speed enforcement in their area. I can tell you, however, that these cameras can detect vehicle speeds in
either direction and that these cameras are "Type Approved" by the Home Office. The camera calibration markings you refer to are on both sides of the road because the camera can cover both carriageway lanes and detect the speed of vehicles on whichever side of the road they are being driven."
I wonder whether this is a new breed of GATSO or whether they can all detect in either direction? It also brings up the question of (and perhaps the legality of?) a distracting flash in the face at night.
I suppose I can look forward to a brown envelope very soon.
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Bit ambiguous. Is this camera sited in the central reservation, if there is one?
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No. It was a normal (i.e. single carriageway) road. The road markings are on one side of the camera only (the front) and in the centre of both lanes.
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Are they telling the truth? If the radar band was that wide, it would be subject to all sorts of spurious readings.
Also the angle of the radar to the target vehicle is critical and in other countries, cases have been thrown out because a Gatso was incorrrectly aligned. Surely it is not possibe to align the beam correctly for the full width of two carriageways.
I think I recall reading the above info on
www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk/frames.htm.
Might be worth asking the question of Steve Warren.
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I doubt if anyone from any Highways Dept knows more than the rest of us about Gato's, or they are trying to scare you. The new digital cameras that have been on trial in certain parts of the country caused a fuss BECAUSE they can photo you from the front - one of the reasons they are set to supercede the Gatso's. I will be surprised if you hear anything.
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Take a look at it and see if it has lenses on both faces and where the markings are on the road.
If the camera is in the centre of the road, on a reservation or an island and has one set of lenses, I think that you will find that this is simply one camera, the head of which can be rotated to cover one direction or the other.
IMHO there is a serious safety issue regarding the effect of camera flashes on traffic travelling towards the camera. I am sure that if I started doing flashlight photography from a similar position I would soon be told to move on.
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It's a normal-looking GATSO with camera lenses on one face only. It is positioned on the pavement on one side of the road (which is not dual carriageway) pointing in the same direction as the flow of traffic. The road markings are only on one side of the camera (the front) in the centre and edges of both lanes of the road. This doesn't suggest it swivels round to face the other direction where there are no markings.
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GT
If it's situated on one side of the road, then I'd agree with Alwyn. It's accuracy will be degraded by different angle at which cars on the two sides of the road are cutting the beam.
If you do get a letter, there may be some cause for asking some searching questions about accuracy and calibration.
Regards
John
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That response is deliberately vague and designed to scare monger.
A GATSO may well detect oncoming traffic, but the police cannot issue a ticket based on its evidence.
The ones I have made flash by speeding towards, have fired the second flash when I was alongside the camera.
Don't worry yourself about this, you can speed through them with impunity.
Well, unless theres a squad car watching.
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I suspect the 'other' set of road graduations are there to convince drivers that ALL traffic is detected. Not only would the accuracy be poor, but what would happen when two cars passed in opposite directions. It's a con.
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I was flashed by one facing me on a downhill stretch of road as you enter Northampton from the Market Harborough direction. The road is 3/4 lanes wide, is downhill, I had my foot off the accelerator, got flashed, glanced down and was doing 32-35mph. Fortunately no ticket ever came through, but I felt a bit aggrieved that the thing was set on a hill and with such a hair trigger.
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THIS COMES UP EVERY B***DY WEEK!
YOU WILL NOT BE PROSECUTED FOLLOWING A FACE ON FLASH FROM A SPEED CAMERA.
NOW CAN WE STOP TALKING ABOUT IT.
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What a happy little minstrel you are! Well if it does come up every ****** week, it's certainly not to do with the GATSO, as my search of previous threads revealed very little, and certainly nothing concerning flashing from the front. It seems to have generated a lot of genuine interest and advice for which I'm grateful, but I apologise if it's got on your wick. I didn't know it was a sensitive subject for you.
Tell you what, next time I want to put anything on the board, would you like me to run it past you first to check it won't aggravate you?
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Hey up Dave's shouting at us
Unless its a Truvelo or a digital jobbie, of course
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Perhaps David doesn't realise that not every one reads every post every week and lo, there are new readers every week who will know nothing of previous posts.
Behave yourself, David. It's not obligatory to read posts which you have seen before but others may not.
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That's why I used the word 'flash'!
And yes, I was shouting.
*Really* agressively. No more than that, *really* *really* *really* agressively.
We talk about this all the time, and we always reach the same conclusion.
So no more and I'll fight the next person who mentions speed cameras flashing from the front.
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Dave,
In this neck of the woods, ALL speed cameras operate from the front...
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Dave wrote:
>
> So no more and I'll fight the next person who mentions speed
> cameras flashing from the front.
Over to you, Dave! Ian has thrown down the gauntlet ..... Seconds out!
Ronnie
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Hit me if you like, but there is a Truvelo camera on the A428 at Harlestone which is calibrated to flash traffic coming towards it. There are markings on both sides and it is regularly rotated but either way the markings are such that it is snapping oncoming traffic. It got me in the spring, fortunately BH monday so no film- I missed the 30 sign immediately after I joined the road at a junction.
PS I am only a small guy and I wear glasses!!
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Dave - what if you got flashed going sideways?
I just felt like Id post a pointless message to be annoying!
fight-fight-fight-fight... :-P
M
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I often wondered if the Gestapo would find a double photo of a speeding car handbraking through the lines amusing...
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See! Noone would believe me...
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Erm, could we all engage irony before reading my posts! Especially on a Friday afternoon.
Except the first shouty one...
I should also warn anyone who does choose to fight me that my dad is bigger than yours...
...and I'll be the first to tell teacher if I get my knees grazed.
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Why do people get upset about posts made on this forum? Nobody is forced to read them, if there are posts about GATSOs made every day, if you don't want to read them, ignore them. There are many posts here that have no interest to me whatsoever, I simply do not open them and read them if the subject does not interest me. For new people on this forum it does not help if a post they make, that has been discussed in detail some days or weeks before to get a offhand reply like "this subject has been done to death, use the search button". There are bound to be subjects repeated on this forum as new subjects cannot possibly be found all the time unless they are "how do I get a stop light bulb for my 1950 Trabant" type post which have limited interest, except to the enthusiasts.
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Marman - "Why do people get upset about posts made on this forum?"
I'll tell you what annoy's me. When you get a little triangular flap of skin next to your fingernail.
Drives me bl**dy mad.
And when you pull it it exposes red raw flesh half way up you arm. Cue agonising pain for days on end. T***ing evolution.
As for posts, Marman, if you imagine a little smiley at the end of every sentence ever written on this BB you won't go far wrong.
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can I nominate gestapo as another word that should be banned
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Nein, we were only obeying orders!
:)
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