[barryk]

Every morning I pass a speed camera on the way to work just into a 40mph zone. Yesterday at 0800hrs (semi dark) as I approached the camera I saw a small (single seat) mobility vehicle driving in the cycle lane on the opposite side of the road. No lights showing, the plastic covers closed over the sides and with the driver puffing away on a cigarette inside his little cocoon. I was so distracted by the thought of this unsafe vehicle with a disabled driver further killing himself with cigerettes that I passed the camera at just over 40! I didn't see it flash but if I get a ticket do you think I can use sight of the mobility vehicle as an excuse??

[stuartex]

ha ha

the powers at be dont give a damn mate , you will have to pay, or you can use your right to remain silent .

[higgypop]

I wouldn't have though there is an acceptable exucse for speeding, speed limits are law but if the camera didn't flash then you should be OK anyway.

[Nikki]

i dont think the camera would have had the shot of the other person on the other side of the road puffing away so id say theyll give you fine then if you explain that for a reaosn they might let it drop how funny it sounds :D

[sparklelard]

Some camera's don't flash.

[higgypop]

Originally Posted by sparklelard

Some camera's don't flash.

The ones that have been burnt? :)

Sorry....

I didn't realise there were non-flashing cams, what locations do you find those in? Do they look different?

[Cermno1981]

You should not have been speeding in the first place, and thus would not have been caught. :)

A lesson learnt?

4 years of driving and have never received a speeding fine, never had cause to put my foot on the break when passing a mobile speed camera, not been pulled over for said offences.

Though on the funny side, I did get pulled over for kerb crawling... Thank god he could tell the tyre was flat!

[Ube_Astard]

Originally Posted by Cermno1981

You should not have been speeding in the first place, and thus would not have been caught.

I really dont like to see posts like this one. Some people are so perfect arent they and drive at 29 mph all the time even if there are 2 lanes and they are in the outside one, really annoying.
If you were just over 40 anyway you shouldnt get flashed. There is a tolerance of eg 35 mph in a 30 zone.
Anyway, surely all cameras must flash because of capturing images sharply at speed?

[galaxymadbaz]

If you were just over 40 then you shouldn't get a ticket, most car speedo's don't show the vehicles true speed, this is almost impossible to do accurately. They generally show anything from 3% to 10% under the actual speed. A 56plate Micra I recently hired showed 32mph at 40mph on sat nav, I told the hire company, because when it comes to servicing at 12000miles the car would have only done 9600 miles!!!. Then there is the police who don't usually prosecute at below 10% +2 mph eg: in a 40mph limit you could in theory do 46mph actual speed before you risk a ticket. then there is the problem with the issuing office I read recently, they couldn't possibly process all the tickets if left at these limits, so they are raised even further before a ticket is issued, so in a 40 limit you may well get away with doing in excess of 50mph. Having said all of this speed limits are there for a reason and usually they are correct for the road, anyone who drives to the 'prosecutable speed limit' must be a buffooon.

A dear friend of mine knocked down and nearly killed a schoolgirl in Halifax last year, she wasn't speeding and had no chance of stopping as the girl just stepped off the pavement, if she'd being going at the speed limit or over, the girl would have surely died, what excuse do you tell her parents, I'm sorry I was gonna be late for the dentist? I don't think so, there is no excuse for speeding, I know we all do it from time to time, but if we all slow down to the limit you'd be suprised at just how more relaxed you become in the car, your journey time becomes more accurate, a lot less stress believe me, now I just need to find a way of keeping four kids quiet in the back!!!

[barryk]

Close Out Speeding Excuse!

:) Dear all, thanks for all the comments and the good news is that I didn't get a ticket. I did say originally that I was only just over the 40 and slowing down. The main learning point for me was that it is very easy (too easy) to to be distracted by the unusual. Luckily in this case it turned out to be a non issue but next time........?

[Sam2006]

Hmm if we all drive at the limit we're more relaxed? More like it turns boring and monotaneous and there is an increased chance of you falling asleep or tuning out and not paying attention to what you're doing! IE doing 40 on the motorway at night because of roadworks even though there aren't any workmen there? Oh and then you spend too much time looking at your speedo making sure you aren't gonna get caught speeding than you do paying attention to whats going on around you.

Anyone who thinks most speed cameras are there for our own safety are very naive imo, they are just revenue gatherers and most accidents aren't even caused by speed.