Speeding photos- advice sought

[Naranto]

After 32 years of driving with a clean licence, I have been informed I was speeding (38mph in a 30mph zone) along the dual carriageway that runs outside my home.

Knowing the area well I was surprised to receive a notification, so asked for photo evidence. I have received two photos with readout info at the top. The first photo taken at a time of 12.09 and 59 seconds shows my car travelling at 33mph. There is also a figure of 69.2m, which I assume is the distance to the radar gun (?).

The second photo shows my car again at 12.10 and 0 seconds now travelling at a speed of 38mph and a distance of 139.9m.

So in the space of ONE second I have increased my speed by 5 miles an hour, and it appears travelled 70.7 metres?

I can estimate the distance travelled by the parked cars and fixed post box, also shown in the photos, as being only a few metres, I really do not understand the evidence supplied.

I have been informed I can attend a Safe Driving course for three hours and pay the £60, but this would be admitting the evidence supplied is correct.

I know SAABs can be quick, but whey hey!

Sensible and constructive advice is duly sought please.
Photos will be on view at Tuesdays Freds Beer & Chat pub meet.

Many thanks

David

[Mattlach]

70.7 m/s = average speed of 158mph

If those numbers actually mean what you think they do, there was something seriously flawed with that equipment.

Does the information you received state what equipment was used?

[Naranto]

Thanks for working it out accurately Mattlach. This confirms my query. I am assuming of course that the two distance figures are that and not meant to represent anything else.

The equipment is specified in their notification as a 'Mobile' unit. Nothing more.

[Mattlach]

If this was a Laser unit (and I assume it was) it works by polling distance in rapid succession and timing, the difference and calculating the speed.

Note that you passed a pole during the period the camera was tracking you.

It is very possible one of the location indicators polled off of the pole and not your car, giving you an odd speed average, and possibly accounting for the differences you see here.

I can't say for sure though.

If you chose to pursue this legally the two videos below might be very helpful:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=noTllmqWjOU

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wTBXROqE9l8

[Naranto]

Many thanks for your assistance again!


One other point to note is the order of the photos (Log 29-30) - the distance decreases as the time inceases, so I must also assume I was driving in reverse?

[Mattlach]

Originally Posted by Naranto

Many thanks for your assistance again!


One other point to note is the order of the photos (Log 29-30) - the distance decreases as the time inceases, so I must also assume I was driving in reverse?

It may have something to do with the fact that your speed is listed as a negative number for some reason.

[Naranto]

Confusing isn't it?

I will probably pay the fine and do the course, it just makes me a little annoyed that the 'evidence' does nothing more than confuse, when it should clarify!

I was hoping one of SSc members may be a traffic cop and could explain.

[mikej]

I would give them a call and ask them to explain the significance of the numbers which we assume are meters.

With a Gatso they have markings on the floor to calculate distance travelled in the time between the 2 photos, there is no secondard measure of your speed in the photos provided.

I would also ask them for the calibration certificate and also the test data from the start of this operators shift (they have to do this before they use it each day)

are the correct signs in place? ie, 30mph and speed camera signs?

See what responce that brings.

[lancelot8602]

Just goes to show you where ever you live, the government is LAME! All of this for 8 MPH over the speed limit. I wonder how much money in taxes was spent for this system.

Big question how can they prove thats it's you driving?

We have the dumb schools like that here too. Waste of tax payers money IMO.

[Naranto]

I have received a reply from the Safecam operators:

Your alleged speeding offence was recorded by a mobile LTI2020 camera.
This type of camera records the entire speed check session performed by
the camera operator onto a VHS tape. The 2 images that were sent to you
were captured from the video to our computer systems.

The first image shows the point at which the camera displayed the result
of the speed check. The check is initiated by the camera operator who
aims the camera at the selected vehicle and pulls a trigger. The check
takes less than a second to complete, and the result is displayed in the
datapanel at the top of the screen. Going from left to right, the top
line shows the time code (hour, minute, second and frame number) of the
frame shown, the middle numbers show the check number (first 4 digits)
and the site code (last 4 digits). The recorded speed is shown on the
right with a - sign to indicate that the vehicle was travelling away
from the camera and a * to show it was travelling faster than the
camera's preset threshold. The bottom line shows the date and the
distance in meters between the camera and the vehicle when the check was
done.

The second image has been captured from an earlier point in the video to
give a cleared view of the vehicle's registration plate. The word
TIMEOUT in the datapanel indicates that the speed shown is from a
previous speed check that does not relate to your vehicle.

So there you have it, the lower figures in the first photo have nothing whatsoever to do with my car.... so why put them on the photo?

[the capitan]

louises friends are in the police and nick is a traffic cop!!! would you like me to ask his advice???



i do know the lti2020 is a very dodgey bit of kit there are some worrying examples on the bbc website might have to dig for them though......