Safe Speed Forums

Just a question as I cant remember if I slowed down to 30 in time for the 30 limit sign yesterday ( am sure I probably did but as my first post here made out I am pretty paranoid about the whole thing)

Was on a small country lane that varies from having a middle white line to sometimes not having one, and coming into a tiny farm village.

My questions are.

Are mobile safety cameras everywhere and do they often operate on tiny country lanes, or are they usually set on busy spots where accidents happen?

Also do they generally pull you over there and then?

Finally, is there any rule where they have to be a certain distance from a speed change sign?

Thanks in advance

They can operate anywhere, but usually operate where drivers can safely exceed the limit or where there has been a recent cluster of accidents so they can capitalise on the illusionary benefit of RTTM.


Only the police have powers to stop (I think), and mobile cameras are rarely manned by police.


Nope; they can target from anywhere. The speed limit applies, and subsequent enforcement can be applied, as soon as you've passed the signs informing you of the change of speed limit.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Here are the answers for you:


Technically speaking a mobile camera can operate anywhere that it could safely be parked up and have sufficient view if the road. However, mobile installations will be chosen by revenue return rather than safety grounds, therefore a small country lane with almost no traffic does not represent a financially viable site.


As stated above, the sites are chosen purely on a financial basis, accident frequency has no significance. You are much more likely to see a mobile camera van on a dual carriageway that has a poorly posted 50mph speed limit and a large number of tourist motorists who don't know of this limit, than you are to see one on a road that has blackspot status, but low traffic through put.


No only police have the power to stop a moving vehicle.

[edit to remove the bit I misread]

I think the chances of a mobile camera operating on an unclassified rural road are minimal, to be honest.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Then again Derbyshire ( ? one of the forces covering the Peak district National Park) are speed enforcing using helicopters, so it's not just fixed and mobile cams you need to watch out for.

They generally don't because they would need to be in a field wouldn't they?
That's why Derbyshire use a helicopter, traffic doesn't bump into them.

Dorset do occasionally, though usually bordering a village (i.e. where the limit just goes to 300 yards before the first house... ).

Is't it interesting that Dorset has one of the highest camera counts in the country, and also the highest accident rates hmmmm - are the 2 subtly linked?

Perhaps an over reliance on cameras has led to a complancency over the shockingly badly designed roads. Incidently, poor road design ranks much higher in accident causation than speed - does anyone else smell a rat?

Does Dorset really have one of the highest camera counts in the country?

I'm surprised; I know there's a lot in Bournemouth/Poole but that's basically it.

Apologies for the delay, yes it has an extremely high camera count, and an extremely low real policeman count.

I have been trying to locate the chart that carried camera numbers by county, but I can't find it right now. It was either on theyworkforyou.com or the ABD.

That aside Dorset is a prime example of how trying to solve engineering problems with speed reductions doesn't work. The accident rate is climbing, the partnership refuse to reveal income from the most lucrative sights, and the speed limits continue to plummet! A wholly corrupt county council as far as I am concerned.