Specs Average Speed Monitoring On M1

[Rillo]

This may be old news to some but in the roadworks on M1 (north and south) near Nottingham they have digital SPECS cams that time your average speed over a mile. The limit is 40

be careful!

[Zee007]

Do you mean the Specs between Junction 22 and 20 on the M1 (Leicester)? Or are there more further North at Notts?

[Mr Morse]

There are no roadworks N or S between J23 and J29

[Rillo]

Ooops. Leicester it must be. I was too busy keeping to 40 to note their true position :)

[Monster-Mat]

Ooops.  Leicester it must be.  I was too busy keeping to 40 to note their true position  :)

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and thats why accidents have increased where there are speed cameras.....cos everyone is watching there speedo, not the road

[Lexxy_703]

SPECS are serious big brother material - so busy watching the damn speedo for the WHOLE time your going thru them, as Matt says, no wonder more accidents...

[MacRS200]

Change lanes between cameras, it don't work then so I believe as the system does not have Home Office approval for different lanes.

[Mr Morse]

How does this system work, what do the cameras look like?

[Rillo]

They look like Yellow Vultures....seriously they are on r shaped poles on left hand side of motorway and are forward facing cameras - they have a central lense and two side pods that makes them look like birds. They time you between 2 points 1 mile apart.

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Have a look here:

http://www.speedcheck.co.uk/

[Rillo]

They look like Yellow Vultures....seriously they are on r shaped poles on left hand side of motorway and are forward facing cameras - they have a central lense and two side pods that makes them look like birds.  They time you between 2 points 1 mile apart.

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July 2005 - Present

Leicestershire Safety Camera Partnership

Details:

M1, J20-21

Temporary Automatic Speed Cameras at Roadworks (TASCAR) + 'Average Speed Check' Signs

[Jiberjaber]

Change lanes between cameras, it don't work then so I believe as the system does not have Home Office approval for different lanes.

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I can confirm that this is correct for the current version of SPECS. New version is due for T/A in a few months which will corrolate across lanes.

Please note that any comments made by myself are only my opinion and not that of anyone who pays me :) YMMV.

[aido]

How does this system work, what do the cameras look like?

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Mike, it's the same system you've got on the A610 on thw way into Notts from M1 J26..... They worked that well in Notts they're popping up everywhere now :(

[Mr Morse]

I never get a threat warning on my radar detector when I pass one of these things - anyone know what band they operate on? It doesn't say anything in the presentation

[Scorpion]

Theres not enough of them IMO.

[Rillo]

I never get a threat warning on my radar detector when I pass one of these things - anyone know what band they operate on? It doesn't say anything in the presentation

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That's the bad bit - they are only picked up by GPS locators and not radar detectors as they do not emit a signal. I swapped from a Bel 850 to a RoadAngel for this reason.

[Rillo]

Theres not enough of them IMO.

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why do you want more? Wouldn't you prefer more traffic cops who can use common sense rather than dumb cams that can't take into account time of day, weather, car condition, driver condition?? Or better driver education, better designed roads.....

IMO if money had not been invented and hence we didn't pay fines how many Cameras do you think would be up and running - none.....

[Scorpion]

I travel through that part on a weekly basis,its amazing how effecient they can be to control the right foot of motorists and ease the traffic along. :D

[Mr Morse]

I travel through that part on a weekly basis,its amazing how effecient they can be to control the right foot of motorists and ease the traffic along. :D

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True - you hardly ever see any speeding on the ring road (A610)

[Scorpion]

Perhaps they need some cams there then.

[Rillo]

I travel through that part on a weekly basis,its amazing how effecient they can be to control the right foot of motorists and ease the traffic along. :D

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True - you hardly ever see any speeding on the ring road (A610)

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I assume you also don't see any bad driving at all, tailgating, lane swapping, sudden braking?? I can only comment on my local roads but drivers now spend far too much time looking for cameras and at their speedos rather than watching the road.

[terdancam]

we drove from MK to Hull on Saturday and there are 4 sets of roadworks all >2 miles long. Some are average speed, some Gatso.

ALso have those stupid neon signs that are supposed to light up when you go over the speed limit------and boy are those calibrated incorrectly, they are almost random!!

As an experiment in calming myself down, we set off at 8.10 am, and beleive me its easier to drive slower when there is less traffic---i even went down to 65mph without realising it--traffic dynamics and less aggression/claustrophobia i guess.

But driving conservatively and trying to keep at a constant 70mph is nigh on impossible. Trying to keep your leg at one position is like trying to keep a dumbell up--try it it hurts after a while, but the geniuses don`t seem to figure that. I also found that i was constantly watching the speedo, so much so that i almost missed the lorry that abruptly pulled out in front of me trying to keep up his momentum. and thats no BS.

also i`m in a 2litre car, one loss of concentration/leg stretch downhill and i`m suddenly doing 85mph.

So with all the roadworks on my journey, all the absolute tw*ts cruising in the middle lane......................well lets put it this way, if they`re really ruddy well serious about knocking speeding on the head they would limit engine size. Full stop.

:tsktsk: :tsktsk: :tsktsk: Revenue Generation Zone :tsktsk: :tsktsk:

[Scorpion]

I see more than most.

If they kept to the speed limits they would'nt have to keep looking out for cameras.

Your either for cameras or not.........im for them,though i dont agree with the fines that go with them.

[terdancam]

I see more than most.

If they kept to the speed limits they would'nt have to keep looking out for cameras.

Your either for cameras or not.........i am.

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like i said, to keep to the speed limit you have to keep watching the speedo, ergo eyes not on the road, ergo accident rate suddenly not going down any more.

if you want to stop a runner running you cut his legs off, you don`t go all sTeve austin on him then tell him to restrain himself by watching an electronic pacemaker all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rillo]

My 4 euros worth....

I am not against cameras in general. If they had originally put cameras outside all schools and ONLY put highly visible cameras in blackspot areas and made the speed limits clearly visible I would be all for it.

However what has actually happened is that cameras have been used to generate revenue and this makes most motorists angry. Previously safe roads have had cameras hidden behind trees and road signs and limits randomly reduced. At the very least if they owned up and said yes it is nothing more than revenue recognition we could at least feel vindicated but to continue with the "speed kills" mantra is sickening. Do you seriously think that if "safety" camera partnerships had to give away all the money from fines to charity that there would be so many authorities eager to implement cameras?? I doubt it.

Speed does not kill - bad driving does. But it is hard/expensive to measure and combat bad driving but very cheap and easy to measure an arbitary speed.

Speed cams are the only reactive road safety devices - you are informed that you were in a dangerous situation after the fact by letter. Imagine the same philosophy was applied to road signs?? Eg. approaching a dangerous bend the local authorities decide to hide the sign that tells you that you are approaching a dangerous bend behind a tree and, after you have plummetted to your death over the cliff you knew nothing about your next of kin get a letter to inform you that the road was dangerous and you should have been more careful near the cliff!! Ridiculous isn't it but this is how cams work! :duh:

I also find it very annoying that so much visible effort is put into catching motorists ( 9 police on a speed trap in Bisley) but I have never seen as much time and effort into catching muggers or burglars. Ask yourself when you last saw 9 plod in your community and they weren't trying to catch motorists??