Hi Guys, just wondering if someone would be able to help me out.

I was driving round mine today, and all of a sudden I saw a temporary speed camera van on the side of the road facing me head on. I MAY have been speeding a little at this point HOWEVER not by much, and the van was still pretty far away so I slowed down to 31mph in a 30mph zone. As I drove past however, the guy inside, stuck his arm out and was holding a small illuminous orange object, about the size of a Nintendo DS ... any ideas whatsoever what this was? have I been caught speeding??? im just wondering why he put his arm out with it as I drove past...

if u had 31 on your clock u would not have been going over 30 by 10% which is what u need to be done. Were there any signs in the area fixed or temporay if not then u have a getout if the do send u a ticket. Most of the temp vans these days are doing ANC looking for mssing tax, no MOT or insurtnace our outstanding wanted car for something else

Maybe it was his doughnut box?

14 days + Postal Strike + 3 Days Normal Post time until you know the answer for sure!

You should be ok, he was probably just warning you!!!

Well there was no warning signs... I just wondered what that orange thing was! I was deffinately only doing 31 when I passed... but was doing "roughly" 37 when i first saw him... but I was facing the front of the van and was still quite a bit away...

Just the guy sticking his arm out that made me wonder!

they have to measure you over a set distance so if you slowed down as soon as u saw it u may well be ok...but as Scotty says in 21 days or so u will know for sure fingures crossed u will be OK

Hi,

Capture speed is all dependant on which area you were in. Most are set to 10% plus 1.

They do not need to be sign-posts for temporary speed cameras, only for static cameras.

On the up side for you...

The camera is usually set up to capture from the rear of the van on approach (Northamptonshire are currently trailing one which capture from the rear on approach but also take pictures from side view and front once vehicle has passed, this is to enable capture of motorcycles)

Not sure on requirement to capture over a measured distance as this would require road markings, but they do have a requirement as with all vans that the operator has to notice you, point the camera at you, get a speed reading and then capture the details, which only takes a second or two. If you were quick enough and decreased your speed accordingly you should be ok.

As said above, you will just have to wait a few weeks and hope you don't get the dreaded NIP in the post!

One other point to note, some forces operator driver training sessions where you're given the option to attend the course, pay the fine but not receive any points. Again this is dependant on which area you were in, but in Northampton this only covers offences within the 30mph zone upto a certain limit. This would be in the letter with the NIP (if served)


Hope that helps


rob.

If it helps put your mind at ease then I can tell you that these vans are 99% of the time not set up for speed cameras they are there as part of an operation called ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition).
The cameras on the van will scan every numberplate that passes and if there is any form of report on the vehicle ie made off from officers and failed to stop,drove off from petrol stations without paying,no tax,no insurance that kinda thing then there will be either 2-4 motorbikes or a traffic car or both waiting for you a bit further down the road and they will pull you and drive you into a local car park or large area where they will have a load of officers who will then go over your car,issue you will a producer,seize the car if theres no insurance etc etc.