Speed Camera / Radar Detectors?

[Paul O]

Hi all,

I think I might have been got yesterday by a speed camera. It was one of those new vans that drive around and park up, thereby reducing the need for any type of Police officer on the road. I didn't see it (so it kind of defeats the point of them really as I was concentrating on the road, not the hidden van. They really are just for revenue aren't they! ), but a motorist coming the other way flashing his lights like crazy alerted me to the impending doom.

So, to combat any future points I'm thinking of investing in a radar detector. Can anyone advise if these detect these new machines, or are these radars just effectively video-cameras with clever PC software? Im not bothered about the Gatso's as you can see these a mile off. Its just the cunning hidey-vans that are knocking about nowadays....

I don't normally speed, but I've just bought a new car with a lot more power (and comfort) than my last one. As such, my speed had crept up to 37 on a dual-carriageway 30 zone (had just set off from the lights when I was got), so I reckon I've got a ticket. Scumbags!

(If I do get a ticket and then a suitable radar detector I might just speed everywhere out of spite! )

 

[mediamogul]

I use a snooper neo 5 with GPS,radar/lazer the GPS is fine for fixed cameras,downloads every month for new sights etc.But radar/lazer is only any good if the speed gun is pointing at the car in front and you pick up the audio alert and brake.By the time its on you your within the limit.If your the car in front thats £60 im afraid.They dont keep the guns on very long for you to pick them up from a mile back, they know how to catch us.They get enough practice!

 

[spl23]

I use an original Road Angel with a LaserAlert module. The GPS-based system is very good - in two years of usage, I have only driven past two cameras it didn't warn me about.

The laser detector has *never* gone off. As the previous poster mentioned, a laser detector is only any use if it picks up scatter from the guy in front being lased - by the time they've pointed the gun at you, it's too late.

The GPS-based solutions are very good for fixed cameras, but there really isn't a good system for mobile traps, which are almost all laser nowadays. (Other than a laser jammer, and, unlike the detectors, they're not legal!)

 

[vonhosen]

I did a little hunting on this following a previous post on the subject.
Whilst laser detectors are not illegal to purchase in this country (yet) their use is likely to be outlawed soon. GPS detectors however for GATSO's etc will not be outlawed.

People who are currently use laser jammers/ detectors if caught by Police have been prosecuted for perverting the course of justice/obstructing a constable in their duty.

Whether it will actually do you any good anyway in use is a mute point. The laser isn't continually emitting a beam that you can pick up. The operator will firstly make an assessment that you are speeding & then fire the beam at your vehicle. By then it is too late.

 

[chedmaster]

I use a snooper neo 5 with GPS,radar/lazer the GPS is fine for fixed cameras,downloads every month for new sights etc.But radar/lazer is only any good if the speed gun is pointing at the car in front and you pick up the audio alert and brake.By the time its on you your within the limit.If your the car in front thats £60 im afraid.They dont keep the guns on very long for you to pick them up from a mile back, they know how to catch us.They get enough practice!

me too (well the dad does and im with him most of the time). the radar detector is a joke, how anyone with a machine that soley picks up radar/laser lives with it i dont know.

it goes off all the time K-BAND this G-BAND that and its just someone using a phone or a traffic cam or something else we dont care about!

having it set to laser only should get the best of both worlds, if a policeman points his gun thing at us it should let out a mighty shriek, hopefully in time!

and with the GPS it has never failed to pick up all gatsos/truvellos/specs

all in all its very good, but i wouldnt rely on it for the mobile units as some use radar and these will not get picked up if you turn radar off (and if you dont be prepared to lose your sanity).

also, you may think you see all the gatso's, but some are hidden, behind signs/in trees etc, even though they are not meant to be. also did you know there were truvellos (digital gatsos that picture your front) and specs (average your speed over about a mile )?

EDIT: upon checking, ours is an S6-R NEO, with the optional seperate radar/laser detector (a complete waste at £130!)

 

[bat4]

I use a snooper NEO GPS unit as well (no radar/laser detector unit). If you know where a camera van often parks up you can (I think) record this location on the unit (by parking up in or near the same spot and pressing a button on the unit) and then upload this location to the database when you next download. Haven't done this myself but I certainly get alerts of "Warning, High risk zone" when I pass a couple of laybys and a motorway overbridge where I know camera vans often park up.

 

[vonhosen]

http://www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk/jamlaw.htm

 

[chedmaster]

the snoopers dont come with jammers, just detectors? these are legal aren't they (for now...)?

 

[lynx]

The legality issue surrounding detectors has been present for a few years and failed to amount to much. Iirc the M.P who was trying to get this bill through Parliament had difficulties and it failed to progress beyond it's first reading by the time parliament broke for the summer recess which effectively left it dead in the water.
I have a gps unit and an active detector - Beltronics 980. I noticed today that the updated version ,Bel 330 is being heavily discounted now at £140...http://www.beldirect.co.uk/bel330.htm

 

[The Dude]

A GPS system is the best bet... just program your PDA to warn you everytime you approach a 60mph limit changing to 30mph, as that's where the mobile vans always are.

 

[Ian J]

A Romulan cloaking device might come in useful too.

 

[gringottsdirect]

.... but there really isn't a good system for mobile traps...

Not legal, but one of these would be a solution.

http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=10

 

[Paul O]

Not legal, but one of these would be a solution.

http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=10

Thanks for the replies everyone, some useful info there. This one is definately my fave!

I've not had any ticket through yet, How long do they normally take? (Fingers still crossed!)

 

[vonhosen]

Thanks for the replies everyone, some useful info there. This one is definately my fave!

I've not had any ticket through yet, How long do they normally take? (Fingers still crossed!)

The Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) must be sent to you (not arrive) within 14 days. If you receive that the Police have 6 months in which to issue the summons.

Of course if your vehicle is a company or hire car etc, they don't have to send you the NIP in 14 days it just has to sent to them within that time frame.

 

[spl23]

Not legal, but one of these would be a solution.

http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=10

No, using that would be a dangerous distraction and could cause you to lose control. Don't mess about - get one of these - it's fire and forget, allowing you to concentrate on driving safely while neutralising any mobile radar traps:

http://www.ordnance.org/harm.htm

 

[Toasty]

The GPS-based solutions are very good for fixed cameras, but there really isn't a good system for mobile traps, which are almost all laser nowadays. (Other than a laser jammer, and, unlike the detectors, they're not legal!)

Some GPS systems, such as RoadAngel, will alert you of mobile traps that are in their database. It will just alert whether there is a camera there that day or not.

Also, I think I'm right in saying that if you get snapped doing less than 10mph over a 30 speed limit road and its your first offence. You may get offered the choice of doing a day safety driving course, at a fee greater than the fine, but you will not incur the 3 points on your licence. I know this exists as my friend did it, but I'm not 100% sure of the circumstance in which they are offered.

 

[vonhosen]

Also, I think I'm right in saying that if you get snapped doing less than 10mph over a 30 speed limit road and its your first offence. You may get offered the choice of doing a day safety driving course, at a fee greater than the fine, but you will not incur the 3 points on your licence. I know this exists as my friend did it, but I'm not 100% sure of the circumstance in which they are offered.

DIS (Driver Improvement Scheme) is offered in some areas as part of the conditional offer, but not currently in all areas (though wider coverage is expected).
You will only get offered in once though in a 3 year period. Any subsequent offences prosecution will follow.

 

[Ian J]

DIS (Driver Improvement Scheme) is offered in some areas as part of the conditional offer,

Off topic I know but I have attended one of these £60 Driver Improvement Scheme sessions in lieu of an endorsement and I found the experience somewhat surreal.

There were about 20 of us sitting round the table and all had been Gatsoed ( new term) at 35mph in a 30mph limit. The vast majority were middle aged and this was their first offence in donkey's years ( My last speeding endorsement was 18 years ago) and we spent the afternoon listening to various lectures on the dangers of speeding.

What I found surreal was that the people sitting round the table were probably those who were more aware of the dangers of speeding than those who were more of a danger to society and were Gatosoed at greater speeds. They would have had to pay the same amount of finacial penance for their sins but although they had their licences endorsed they didn't have to attend the Driver Improvement Scheme course even though they would seem to be more in need of it.

 

[da walrus]

Try www.gpsinforad.co.uk - its legal and £70 Gr8 for fixed cameras.

 

[trashbat]

There are plenty of gadgets out there that claim to help you get away with
speeding. Most of them don't work!!! But some do.

Radar Detectors - Don't rely on all of these, well not all of them. The better ones
such as the Bel 990 and Valentine One can give you a good warning on Gatso's.
The way a detector works is it picks up a radar signal that might bounce off
another car close to you. Automatic Doors, Traffic lights and Temporary Traffic
lights also set off these units along with other innocent devices. If the police target
you first, you're caught, because then you have no advance warning to slow
down. If you're going to get one, make sure it has VG-2 detector detection. A VG-
2 radar can sense if the targeted vehicle is using a radar detector, and police love
to pick on people with one!
Learn to understand the unit; they can save you if you think about things, learning
about the vocabulary of the burglar alarms, traffic light sensors and all that. If you
pay attention even the lower cost units could save you.
An important note, Radar Detectors do not work through Heated Windscreens,
nor do they pick up traps like VASCAR, DS2, Speed master and alike, they are
only good for RADAR signals.


Laser Detectors - These are absolutely worthless. There's almost no reflection of
a laser beam, so the only way a laser detector will go off is if you're the target, it’s
too late then. They pretty much just tell you that you've been caught. Some
manufactures claim 360-degree coverage, what about door pillars blocking the
laser light etc.

Radar Jammers - These work, well sort of, if you are a distance away from the
Speed trap you may have enough strength in your signal to jam the trap, but as
you get closer it's another story. Read on.
There are two different kinds of Jammer, active and passive. Active Jammers are
illegal in some countries, they beam back garbage to the radar receiver. A passive
jammer is running constantly and basically scrambles the radar signal so the
police get either an erroneous reading or no reading.
Be warned, radar guns and Gatso's can punch through most jamming at ranges of
150 feet or less.

Laser Jammers - These use invisible IR. Beams that break up the laser beam by
interfering with the frequencies that the beam uses. They reduce the likelihood of
a laser locking onto you by a pretty large margin. Most of the systems sold at the
moment give you a warning that the jammer is working while it blocks the signal,
some models give only 5 seconds to slow, others like the Blinder jam for as long
as a laser is fired at them, giving plenty of time to slow down.Ticket saver...Yes. If you fit it correctly andbuy the right one.You do however need to do other things to your vehicle to protect it from Laser.

GATSO Proof ' Number Plate Protectors. - Well some work well and some
don't, There are several types on the market... the Flash buster Type which has a
highly reflective backing and letters that have the same reflective properties as the
back don't work well, if at all. I have heard that the police can still read the letters
and numbers, this is not totally confirmed though, but at between £50 & £80 for
the plates I would want a guarantee that they worked.
Another type is from 'ON TRACK', they seam to work in the following way, Photo
radar operates at known angles to the direction of traffic flow. Using a passive,
state-of-the-art light-bending lens, the camera is unable to identify your vehicle
because of the angle of the plate in relation to the Gatso. A 5-minute installation is
all that is required and at less than £40 it could be a good buy. I have tried one
and yes they do work.
Are they legal? Well, that's a bit of a grey area, the number plate is still completely
readable from straight on, but you could get prosecuted for perverting the Course
of Justice, so one officer told me. They also have the technology to process the
picture to get the VRN information if needed, but we could not see how.

 

[Layne RIP]

The govenment will probably ban the detectors, after all they do eat in to their pocket money...
The thing is that speed traps etc were used to "Stop people speeding", now the emphasis has changed they now want to "Catch people speeding".... it seems to me that they no longer actually care whether people speed or not, they just care about prosecuting people who do so they can get some money.

 

[vonhosen]

The govenment will probably ban the detectors, after all they do eat in to their pocket money...
The thing is that speed traps etc were used to "Stop people speeding", now the emphasis has changed they now want to "Catch people speeding".... it seems to me that they no longer actually care whether people speed or not, they just care about prosecuting people who do so they can get some money.

You really believe that.

Who has control over whether the camera can take any money ?
The driver has control of the vehicle's speed.
The driver knows the law on it.
The driver can see what the limit is.

If you really think it's a tax, it's a voluntary one, so why put yourself in a position that you have to pay it?

If everyone hates speed cameras all they have to do is stick to the limits & they disappear, SCPs are self financing & have to be under government rules. The government won't pay for them at all.
If they get no income they perish & die, if people keep feeding them they thrive & grow.
Who's fault is it then that we get more & more ?
The people feeding them that's who.
The SCPs have no ability to generate money for themselves, they exist because people show a lack of self restraint & they will only survive as long as people continue to do so.
Only the driver is reposnsible for their speed no-one else.
In the ever present blame someone else rather than take responsibility for your own actions culture that we live in, people refuse to accept that though.

They do care about speeding, why else are speed limiting devices being investiagted for fitment to all cars. The resaon is that people are still not getting the message that speeding is not acceptable.


GPS devices won't be banned. These let you know where cameras are at known high risk sites so their publication serves a purpose & that information is made available.

Detectors are a device for avoiding prosecution nothing more.
They are used by people to avoid prosecution at unpublished spot check sites, the spot check sites being a tactic to encourage compliance everywhere.

Oh & they'll be able to still see the registration mark on these number plates being talked about by using the negative.

 

[Mark Grant]

A Romulan cloaking device might come in useful too.

They dont meet CE approval Ian

Mark.

 

[Mark Grant]

If you dont like getting prosecuted for speeding then dont speed, simple really !

But people think they have a right to speed for some reason, and if they get caught they complain about it ?

More signs might help to warn of speed limits though !

Nothing slows you down for a while like a good bollocking from a traffic officer, but camera vans just turn people against the police

Bringing back more traffic officers to the roads to 'educate' the drivers might be better, but would not be as cost effective I guess.

Rather than spending cash on a speed trap detector that might not work and might be illegal one day, spend £85 at http://www.iam.org.uk/Skill4life/index.php buying a skill for life.

With better observation skills you would see the camera van in the distance, I certainly do.

Mark.

 

[lmccauley]

With better observation skills you would see the camera van in the distance, I certainly do.

That's my attitude - if I didn't see the camera, then I wasn't paying enough attention.

Cheers,
Liam