Safe Speed Forums

Be wary of this situation - I thought I'd share it with you.

A few weeks ago I was driving my Alhambra 7-up in a line of traffic doing just under the legal 50mph northbound on the A43 dual carriageway in Northampton. This section of road is contolled by a SPECS average speed camera system. I'd left a decent gap to the car in front of me (which may actually have been my mistake!) when, about 300 yards before exitting the camera zone, a 4x4 pick-up stormed up beside me and braked heavily while pulling, without indication, into the gap ahead of me. Initially my impression was "fool" but I didn't think much more of it until I suddenly realised that he was continuing to brake VERY hard! He'd already wiped out any gap I had left in front of me before I realised that he was now going MUCH slower than I was. A 2½ tonne Alhambra with 7 occupants isn't the most responsive vehicle on the road but using all the bells and whistles of the ABS and ESP I managed to swerve round him, tapping my NS door mirror on his rear quarter as I went past (that's how close we got!) - luckily there wasn't anyone on my right or I'd probably have pushed them into the Armco. He continued to slow until by my reckoning he was doing less than 25 mph. I got back up to speed and came out of the SPECS controlled zone but had to turn off at the next roundabout. My guess is he must have realised he was in a SPECS zone as he came past me and did all he could to avoid getting points because as soon as he came out of the SPECS zone he accelerated hard again and was right behind me when I turned off at the roundabout.

Assuming this guy wasn't deliberately out to cause an accident surely the SPECS system is somewhat to blame for this as it meant that he felt he had to over-compensate his speed adjustment to counteract the period of time he'd spent speeding in the SPECS zone.

The SPECS things were the precipitant of this obviously. however, there are lessons we can all learn from your post. Thank you for your honesty in sharing it. I need to be careful not to come across as self-righteous here. If it reads that way, please accept my advance apologies. I don't have time to proof-read and/or reflavour it.



Two things from this.

First and foremost, well done for averting what could have been a nasty incident. Having an escape lane is always good planning. However, were you *certain* nothing was steaming up the outside? Had you sideswiped anyone it might have been DRAMATICALLY and possibly fatally worse than shunting into the arse that did the pull-in-and-brake manoeuvre.

Secondly, the door mirror "tap" may not have caused any damage, but strictly speaking you should have stopped and checked - together. If the arse got your number and has any chipped painty as a result, you may get a visit from the BiB for "failure to stop".


Well done again for resisting any urge to retaliate.