darkblueturbo

I was on the bike coming home from work Saturday evening (9pmish) down the A13 out of London.

There's a 3 lane 50 limit with a camera on it so, as always, I sat on the inside lane at 50 - if I know a camera's there I'm not one of those people who accelerate up to them then brake late, I'll just cruise at the limit.

As I approached the camera I checked down to see the dial reading a steady 50.
As I went through the camera I got flashed twice!!!

Now where do I stand on this? If I get something through saying I was doing 55 or 60 but my speedo had said 50.
Am I likely to get in (more) trouble with old bill for having a speedo that reads incorrectly, making me ride faster.

The bikes a grey import from Japan so has a kph clock that was converted so the needle moved as pre MPH before I purchased it.

Help, what should I do - with 6 points from a genuine speeding fine in the Scoob due to come off my licence later this year I was looking forward to having a clean one, could really do without another 3 points!!

Cheers for any help, advice, knowledge or experience anyone can offer me

Old_Fart

Whereabouts on the A13? Over near Dagenham? I go past this everyday at 49-52mph and no probelms. The one near Beckton/A406 roundabout is actually a 30mph zone at the moment so I hope you dont mean that one?
You can't appeal the offence by saying you checked your speedo though..they will claim to have photographed callibrated proof...what you say your speedo read isn't worth squat in court
Chuck

darkblueturbo

It was the one by Dagenham - the 50mph limit.

Damn - not looking good for me. What if I got an independent garage to check the speedo reading and give me written confirmation it's reading too low.

That should get me off the fine, if they confirm it's reading 5mph to low and I got flashed at 55 then I can prove it was unintentional.

Only problem there would be would I get a larger fine for having a dodgy speedo??

pippyrips

my understanding is that you are held responsible for the speedo being faulty - whether you knew about it or not. sorry to be the bearer of bad news....

mart360

One of the issues i have highlighted in many of my posts

people slow and bunch becuase they err on the side of caution re speedo accuracy... coupled with the fact you dont know at what trigger speed the cam is set

it may be 30 or it may be 29 or it may be 31???

it just proves that the cam policy is flawed and does not aid road saftey


Mart

r32

Are there lines on the road? Two pictures are taken and there are several sites which show you how to determine the speed based on the number of lines between picture 1 and picture 2.
You may hear nothing, but if the speedo was showing 50, what is the equivalent Kph markings on your bike?
50 MPH is 80.4672 Kph, just check you have the correct overlay or did it get a new speedo?
Also the local bill often have a marked mile for calibrating their speedos.
Or get some one to drive at a steady 50 in their car and see what your speedo reads..........
Good luck.

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

For a quick check get someone to follow you in their car, and flick your hazards on when at your indicated 50mph and compare readings. At least you'll know what speed approx you were doing.

LOL cross posted with the above

darkblueturbo

The speedo doesn't have an overlay - the clocks all still say kph, it's just something was put in the system to change the needle movement so when it points at 50kph it means 50mph.
OR NOT! DOH! I'll try the car test...

Pippyrips - I thought so, that's kind of what I was checking out here. Oh, so not happy!

Yes there are lines on the road and yes the evil yello Dalek flashed twice.

bum bum bugger bugger bum! Not fair

Gonna WELL sulk if I get another 3 points. But preferable to another 6 obviously. 6+6 = ??? AAARRGGGH!

BedHog

Just bought a road angel that showed the speedo on my Import is exactly 10% out - luckily it's in the right direction though, when the speedo is reading 50 I'm actually doing 45.

It will be interesting to see how far yours is out - anyone any idea what they set a camera to in a 50 limit? I think your allowed 10% so must be getting on towards 60 I suppose.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that they ran out of film

Hopefully they will all be forward facing soon and us bikers won't have to ride around watching the speedo and can concentrate on watching for blind people in cars

darkblueturbo

Thanks for the crossed fingets mate!!

I love those forward facing ones. hee hee hee.

I suppose I owe them at least one for all the single fingerd salutes they get from me and others round Silvertsone on World SuperBike Day

darkblueturbo

How long is it you have to wait for the notification? 6 weeks?

The_Judge

I think you'd probably know if your speedo was massively out. You kinda get a feel for how fast you're going, without looking at the speedo, if you know what I mean (give or take a bit ). I've yet to see a 50mph Gatso go off below 57mph. Are you certain it was you who set it off, and not someone in either of the other lanes...?

Rewolf

If you get an NIP, get the photos asap, and check them.

Contary to what they want you to think Gatsos are not perfect, and there have been quite a few cases where the radar triggers from the tread of the tyre or something else not you. That is why the lines are there - you can also work out the speed from the number of lines you cross between the two flashes. They are supposed to check this before sending out the NIP, but sometimes they don't.

Check out this for more info: http://www.abd.org.uk/pr/388.htm

speedking

On 'Traffic cops' on BBC1 last night they said that each line passed in the 0.7s between photographs represents 5mph. On that basis, and due to the angle of camera to road, I would be surprised if they could tell speed more accurately than nearest 5mph.

flick your hazards on when at your indicated 50mph, breaking the law to prove that you weren't breaking the law ! (except on a private road of course

Subarstar

or someone on the opposite carriageway, travelling towards the camera.
I've set off a few from the opposite side of the road.
(wasn't speeding.......obviously!)

ARM-Scooby

Wasnt this the reason that speed cameras are no longer operational in Germany. If the camera is on the left hand side of the road (say lane 1), if your in lane 3 then there i quite a large degree of error in the camera. Basically as the angle increases so does the inaccuracy in the camera. Redline magazine had an article in it.
It stated that gatso cameras in Germany were now standing still.


Not to sure if this applies over here, but it might be worth contacting someone at Redline magazine to see if thats true. You could set a precedent in the UK (if i am right).

PM me if you want an address, i might be able to get hold of one!

darkblueturbo

I'll definately be asking for photo's if I do get a NIP (how long do I have to wait, up to 6 weeks??)

ARM - thanks for the advice, but I was in the nearside lane, with the camera right next to me so I don't think that will be the problem. Interesting though. It's 3 lanes each way, so don't think it was someone the other way either, and no one came flying past me.

Cider boy

DarkBlue, the NIP has to be POSTED to you within 14 days of the offence. If one arrives (hope not!) and the postmark is after 14 days of the offence you can can send it back to them with a nice little note explaining why and they have to drop any action

This is why you often hear (like they did here in telford) of a "relaxing" of radar vans etc over christmas. It's nothing to do with goodwill and all that (as if ) it's because they will not be able to get the NIP's out within 14 days as they are all at home eating turkey and mince pies

Hope this helps, and goodluck!

Matt

darkblueturbo

Nice one Cider boy...
And cheers everyone for the good luck messages and advice.

I'll keep you all updated....