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Happy Diwali to me :(

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 4:51 pm
by nitin_s1
It's Diwali and Indian New Years so I'm busy with family and it's the time to celebrate for us..

Driving the car (Civic), going family's house, shopping etc etc......

... :(

I think I've been caught by a traffic light camera.. It was going from green to amber when I went through but I couldn't just slam the brakes on as I had family in the car. I want to do go left at the lights and couldn't see further down the road so I didn't there was some sort of hold up, the guy in front of me just slammed his brakes and started crawling. Which lead me to have my arse half on the white line..
I saw flashes :shock: :(

So I think I have been done now.. First time in 9 years I've been done.. Don't know if I will get a fixed penalty or what will happen..

My celebrations ruined and now just sitting in the corner waiting for the prosecution letter to come through
:(

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 8:31 pm
by mercutio
you will probably get offered one of those courses instead of points

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 8:32 pm
by mercutio
oh yeah and Happy Diwali 8-)

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:39 pm
by nitin_s1
Was thinking about it all day... :(

Hopefully I'll get the course instead of points :(

Thanks Merc. ;)

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:58 pm
by simonc
Happy Deepavali Nitin and hope you had a good 'un. The celebrations having been going on since Monday with fireworks and lots of family gatherings with going on with a few of our Indian neighbours.
Mind you, it's not much fun to be blasted out of bed at 2 in the morning, by what sounds like mortar shells going off outside. :lol:
(Sorry to hear about the run in with plod.)

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:40 am
by paul bristol uk
Happy Diwali Nitin, where you stationery when the flashes went off or still moving? If you were stopped I would not worry if you were still moving they could have been for you. Two flashes show if the car has moved any distance. If you get done don't think that will not show anywhere even driver awareness courses.

Read this
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... ubled.html

and this

http://www.bootes.co.uk/Hot-Topics/The- ... rral.shtml

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:49 am
by paul bristol uk
On the subject of speeding.
DRIVERS face being fined and even prosecuted for creeping over the speed limit by as little as 1mph under plans being drawn up by police in some parts of the country. The proposal would result in tens of thousands more speeding tickets being issued and force drivers to keep a far closer eye on their speedometers.

Under the current system, contained in police guidelines, drivers are allowed a margin of error of 10% plus 2mph. That means, for example, that police won’t usually prosecute motorists travelling at up to 35mph in a 30mph zone. By the same calculation drivers travelling at up to 79mph on motorways are unlikely to be prosecuted.

The guidelines were introduced in 2000 to take account of the possibility of inaccuracy in speed cameras. They were also intended to reassure drivers that the system was fair, rather than simply a money-raising racket.

Now police in Scotland have announced that they are axeing the thresholds. From this autumn Scottish drivers going fractionally over the limit will receive formal warning letters. If they are stopped a second time, they will receive a £100 penalty notice and three penalty points or be reported for prosecution.

The new procedures, approved by the Scottish government, will be tested in a six-month pilot project. Scottish police — unlike those in England and Wales — have never disclosed the margin of error they use, although it is thought to be similar to that of the rest of the country. If the pilot is successful in reducing accidents, as police hope, it may be adopted by other forces in the UK.

The College of Policing, which issues codes of practice to forces in England and Wales, is due to review the speeding enforcement guidelines this year, including the 10% plus 2mph threshold.

Today, official police guidance states that police speed cameras are approved to work with a maximum tolerance of 2mph at speeds of up to 66mph and 3% thereafter
According to Superintendent Iain Murray, head of road policing in Scotland, the change is being driven by safety considerations. “We are talking about people who might be law-abiding in every other respect but fail to realise the risk they pose by driving on autopilot or failing to pay enough attention to what is going on around them,” he told the Scottish daily The Herald last week.

“The use of formal warning will enable us to challenge this behaviour, provide real-time education and monitor how behaviour changes by looking at re-offending rates.”

Murray would not be interviewed by The Sunday Times but a spokesman for Police Scotland confirmed that repeat offenders would be penalised. “If you were just fractionally over the first time, you would be given a warning, but if you were to again just be fractionally over, you would be given a fixed penalty or it would be reported to the [procurator] fiscal,” he said.

The spokesman said the details of the pilot study — including how speeding would be detected — were still being worked out.

Another reason for the change could be recent advances in speed camera technology. The 10% plus 2mph was introduced 15 years ago when the rise in the number of speed cameras required a formalised threshold above which drivers would be penalised and that could be standardised across the country. Before that, prosecution was left to officers’ discretion.

Today, official police guidance states that police speed cameras are approved to work with a maximum tolerance of 2mph at speeds of up to 66mph and 3% thereafter, which would mean that drivers travelling at 63mph or more on a 60mph road could be prosecuted.

Average speed cameras are even more accurate because they monitor cars over a longer distance, says Geoff Collins from Vysionics, the Surrey-based firm that makes the Specs cameras used to enforce speed limits through motorway roadworks. “The 10% plus 2mph [threshold] isn’t really necessary in order to make allowances for camera inaccuracy,” Collins said. He pointed out that the cameras measure a car’s speed over a long distance, so any inaccuracies in their placing would typically result in an error of less than 0.1%. “Technically it is possible to enforce slight breaches in the limit.”

The law states that a car’s speedometer must not display a speed slower than that at which it is moving, though a large margin of error is allowed in the other direction.

Motoring groups sounded a warning against the changes, saying they could unintentionally result in motorists paying less attention to the road ahead. “Of course, the speed limit is the limit and people should abide by it,” said Edmund King, president of the AA.

“However, you do need a degree of flexibility. You do not want people concentrating 100% on the speedo. You want people concentrating on the road ahead, the potential hazards ahead, and that can mean you might be 2mph-3mph over the limit. You shouldn’t be, but doing that and concentrating on what is going on around you is far safer than continually looking down at your speedo.”

“You do not want people concentrating 100% on the speedo. You want people concentrating on the road ahead and that can mean you might be 2mph-3mph over the limit.” Edmund King, president of the AA.
Police forces are under pressure to cut injuries on the road after government figures published last month showed that road casualties in Britain had risen by 6% last year, returning to 2012 levels.

Scrapping the margin for error is the latest in a number of initiatives aimed at reducing speeding. Speed enforcement is already on the increase, especially on sections of “smart” motorways, where variable limits are used to regulate traffic flow and speed cameras ensure that drivers are complying with the rules.

A new generation of camera, known as Hadecs 3, is being installed on motorways, including the M25, M1, M4 and M6 this year. It is used to enforce the 70mph limit when the variable speed limits are switched off.

Towns and cities are also seeing stricter speed limits. Research by The Sunday Times found that three-quarters of councils had introduced 20mph speed limits in the past two years, slowing cars on more than 20,000 roads. Police forces have now begun enforcing this in some areas.

However, enforcing small breaches of the speed limit may require more effort than reprogramming speed cameras, say experts. Nick Freeman, the lawyer nicknamed “Mr Loophole”, who writes for The Sunday Times, warns that any new fines would be open to challenge.

“The first thing is the legal principle called de minimis, which means it’s so slight that it’s not really infringing the law,” he said. “At 51mph, 52mph [on a 50mph road], you are certainly de minimis. It would be an enormous waste of taxpayers’ money to pursue this type of very trivial prosecution.”

Apparently Bedfordshire Plod are very interested in this idea along with several as yet un named English forces!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 6:43 pm
by nitin_s1
Thanks guys..

I was literally stuck between the white line and I saw the flashes and then I had no choice but to move on. :( .

I think I just have to wait for those 2 weeks :?

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:44 pm
by damon
Wouldn't worrie to much I guess your end up on a course. Is your licence clean?

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:04 pm
by Donald
The irony of this is hysterical :lol: