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Original poster

Speed camera flashed - but I wasn't speeding!

95 replies

KittyLane1 · 18/02/2019 12:42

Last night I was driving on the Bodmin A30 duel carriageway, national speed limit road (70 - yes??) And I had my cruise control set to 68.
I went passed a speed camera and it flashed, pretty sure I was the only one on the road.

Has this happened to anyone else ? Any ideas what it could be? Anyone know the road?

OP posts:

PonderLand · 18/02/2019 14:13

A similar thing happened to my dp and he never heard anything of it. Maybe the cameras make mistakes sometimes?

prh47bridge · 18/02/2019 14:14

Its only 70 on a dual carriageway if it has a barrier along the central reservation

That is not correct. There must be some form of physical divider between the two directions but there does not have to be a barrier. As long as there is some form of permanent divider between the carriageways, no matter how insubstantial, the dual carriageway has a 70mph limit.

If you go to Llywel in the Brecon Beacons, you will find a dual carriageway consisting of a single lane in each direction separated by a grassy mound. It is indisputably a dual carriageway (there is a blue "keep left" sign at each end announcing the fact) and has a 70mph limit (although I wouldn't recommend trying it!).

AnneOfCleavage · 18/02/2019 14:16

No caughtinanet buggeroff has just copied and pasted that info from google as I have just read it word for word myself 🤣😂

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Driving & parking

caughtinanet · 18/02/2019 14:17

No, if you asked me for the highway code definition if a dual carriageway I wouldn't have known it and from the answers to this thread it's clear that I'm not alone. How many posters can hand on heart recite the definition without looking it up

It doesn't make anyone an unsafe driver necessarily, if I'm not sure of the speed limit I'd probably stick to 50ish unless everyone else is doing 70 but I don't tend to drive on roads without speed limit signs so not normally an issue for me.

Mustbetimeforachange · 18/02/2019 14:24

Interestingly, the reason it is actually called the national speed limit is because it varies according to the road & the vehicle. 60 for cars & motorbikes on single carriageway, 70 on dual carriageway (no barrier needed). Different speeds for lorries etc.

BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou · 18/02/2019 14:42

*You've remembered that word for word for 30 years? Really? Who drives around reciting that in their head every time they can't see a speed limit sign?

No caughtinanet buggeroff has just copied and pasted that info from google as I have just read it word for word myself 🤣😂*

Exactly, I know what I was taught (I even remember stuff I was taught over 40 years ago ... amazing isn’t it?) and googled the bare bones and copied the result. It IS what I was taught and has been corroborated by another poster.

DGRossetti · 18/02/2019 14:42

I don't tend to drive on roads without speed limit signs so not normally an issue for me.

The whole point of the system we have is to save metal - signs are expensive. So we have two defaults. 30 mph in an area where there is street lighting, and NSL for roads with no street lighting.

20 mph zones are coming (loads near me) which appear to be a challenge to some.

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 18/02/2019 14:45

A dual carriageway can drop to 60 when the lamp posts decrease in distance, usually accompanied by side roads, hence drop in speed

This is not true. Lamp posts have nothing whatsoever to do with speed limits.

And I know as I learned this on a speed awareness course

DGRossetti · 18/02/2019 14:50

Lamp posts have nothing whatsoever to do with speed limits.

Their presence (3 or more) signifies 30mph, unless otherwise indicated.

ineedaholidaynow · 18/02/2019 14:51

I thought there had to be a sign when the speed limit changes

Nesssie · 18/02/2019 14:52

Op, to answer your question - yes you can be flashed and not receive a ticket. I was flashed on a motorway, wasn't speeding and it was definitely 2 flashes. Never heard anything.

Either testing the cameras, perhaps flashing another car nearby, something electrical etc etc

BarbaraofSevillle · 18/02/2019 14:55

The theory about cameras flashing at 60 to catch speeding lorries sounds plausible.

If the ANPR is reasonable clever, it will be able to determine what the vehicle speed limit is from the number plate and then only ticket the ones that are speeding for the class of vehicle.

Nesssie · 18/02/2019 14:58

If its to catch lorries going over 60, then surely the cameras would be flashing constantly as pretty much every car would be going over 60?

DobbinsVeil · 18/02/2019 15:07

Cameras have technology to differentiate between lorries and cars. Some have now been update to recognise transit van size vehicles, as they are restricted to 60mph on dual carriageway, but not on motorways.

iknowimcoming · 18/02/2019 15:14

Are you 100% sure it was a camera and not another vehicle flashing? I only ask because I was on a long trip the other night and the car behind me flashed its lights once every time we went under a bridge - (I only realised it was them on the third time) I assume they thought it was funny (and no I wasn't lane hogging at the time). But tbh you'll either get a ticket or you won't - speculation on here probably won't help much - good luck!

ThisMustBeMyDream · 18/02/2019 15:36

I've seen speed cameras that are faulty going off before. Most memorable was the camera at the end of the m62. It flashed everything 😂.
I wouldn't worry from what you have posted. The camera was likely faulty.

GabsAlot · 18/02/2019 19:57

couldbe faulty- i went past one once that went off i wasnt speeding nothing happend

Equimum · 18/02/2019 20:55

There is nothing in the government website to indicate that dual carriageway speed limits are anything other than 70mph unless clearly indicated. I’d never heard of the barrier thing, and maybe that’s why.

soulrider · 18/02/2019 21:18

A dual carriageway is a road where opposing traffic flows are separated by a physical barrier whether it's a metal crash barrier, a concrete strip or just a mound of earth with trees on it (For example, anything that would stop a ball rolling from one side of the road to the other)

I'm not sure the ball rolling thing is quite correct, we have what most people assume to be a dual carriageway near us. At one end, there are two carriageways on either side of the central reservation, however after these pass a junction the central reservation becomes much larger and the roads are actually designated as dual lane single carriageway roads with a corresponding change in speed limit. The only sign of this change are the one way arrows.

I'm always surprised they don't stick a speed van up there, they'd catch about 80% of the people going past.

LaurieFairyCake · 18/02/2019 21:28

You weren't speeding

It's either a faulty or a testing camera or it didn't flash

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