Safe Speed Forums

My husband was driving along a stretch of dual carriageway A road tonight at around 8 pm. It was a clear dry night and it is a well lit urban area. Everyone was doing 40mph which is the speed limit there and there is a Gatso speed camera by the dual carriageway set to catch speeds in excess of 40mph along the by pass about 200 yards ahead.

However before you reach the Gatso there is a roundabout and lights to give access to the town centre and the speed limit drops to 30mph. The traffic by passing the town including my husband slowed down but not to 30 he admits, as the lights were in their favour. As he did so he saw a cop standing on the road by the roundabout in a flurescent jacket but did not pay too much attention as there are often big traffic queues in the town centre where there are road works at present.

As he passed the cop he realised he had a radar gun and was shooting passing traffic including my husband who was speeding up to resume the dual carriageway and has probably reached around 38 mph. He was flashed along with everyone else by the cop who he saw putting the camera down as he went past.

My questions are: do the police have to have warning signs on the road nowadays to say speed guns are in action - particuarly at night - otherwise how do motorists know know the police are out with radar guns and what is the likely penalty?. (He already has 3 points from doing 45 mph in 40mph zone on the A40 - caught by a notorious Gatso which has since been removed as it was so blatantly poised to catch motorists in an area where the speed limit suddenly changed from 50 to40).

Mama Spice

That does NOT sound like a camera. It sounds like a hand held speed meter (i.e. no pictures).

In such circumstances (i.e. Police officer using a speed meter) your husband would have been stopped at the time. Since he wasn't, I don't suppose that there's anything to worry about.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety