Police van camera. I despair, what does this mean?

[Turneinp]

I did 45 in a 30. I didn’t realise the limit had changed from 50 to 30. There was a police speed van and obviously they will have got this. Does anyone know what will happen? Internet search is not helping, some sites say 6 points and 28 day ban and others say usual
fine and can do driving course. Very worried and I am usually such a careful driver!

It’s not a myth.

When I drive past a radar sensor that shows your speed back at you (like you get on lampposts in areas they’re trying to stop speeding)

It shows 30 at me when my speedo is reading 32/33.

It’s a well known fact. Car manufacturers cannot produce a car that shows a lower speed than it is actually doing. So they all err on the side of caution by a few mph.

Google: do car speedos read over in the UK?

it absolutely is true. It you had checked your facts online before disputing this you would have found:

’Yes, most car speedometers are designed to slightly overread
(show a higher speed than actual) to ensure they never display a lower speed than the true speed. This is often a safety and legal requirement, allowing for a margin of error (e.g., up to 10% + 6.25 mph in the UK). ‘

As others have said I think it will be three points and a fine as you were probably too far over the limit for a speed awareness course. Having said it's possible they didn't get you. There have been a couple of times when I may have inadvertently been over the limit and was convinced I was going to get a ticket but didn't - was there another car just in front of you? It may be an urban myth but I have heard that the machines they use take a while to "reload" so the first driver will get done and the rest will get away with it.

Excellent for you 👍
Mine is nearly always 3mph over, no matter what speed I’m going 🤷‍♀️
it’s absolutely not a myth. Maybe you should get your car looked at.

Was the speed you were doing measured on your speedometer or satnav? If the former, as others have said, you might have been doing more like 42ish. Did you brake as soon as you saw them? That might have brought it down a bit. Also if the speed limit has just changed recently they might be more lenient in that circumstance with an offer of speed awareness? Unfortunately you will just have to wait and see 🤞 I was once caught doing about 45 (turned out to be 42 from memory) in a 30 - it was dual carriageway into a city that was initially 50 suddenly going down to 30 and I didn't see the signs. It was very early morning so no other traffic around. I got speed awareness.

To all the people having a go about signage etc, I was caught doing 24 in a 20. The road had changed and I wasn’t aware. They had put small signs up through the road but not the big ones as you enter the road, the first sign was about a third of the way down. There were a lot of people caught there and lots of complaints. I complained on my speed awareness course and the person running it said sometimes they can’t get all the signs up straight away??? And they said to use my sat nav but my sat nav isn’t always updated either and can have the wrong speed limits, and how is checking my sat nav constantly safe driving?
About a year later they changed a road near me to being a 20 and guess where they put the big sign at the entrance to the road? Behind a bush! Growing out over someone’s wall, it was ridiculous. As you came off the roundabout you couldn’t see it at all! I complained and they have cut the bush back but I don’t know if they caught anyone during the time between putting in the sign and cutting the bush.
I now HATE driving. I’m stressed about speed a lot even though I am not a speeder, I am just worried all the time that I don’t know the limit and am over. I am likely more distracted now than I was before.

Yes we should have speed limits but no I don’t believe they make it obvious when they make big changes.

50% over the speed limit should be a ban.

We went through somewhere recently where it was 40 painted on the road and 50 on the sign

Think positive, if you are offered a course, one of the things they teach you is how to recognise the likely speed limit for a stretch of road and about the repeater signs that will indicate if it is different. Probably best not to admit you weren't paying attention and missed the signs

Mine is exactly the same. We’ve got loads of those cameras that measure your speed between the cameras and I use a speed limiter on my car and if I press it at 31 instead of 30 I have to reset the whole thing.

We had a change from 40 to 30 mph on one of the rods near us recently. Police said there would be a 6 month bedding in period for residents to get used to it. You might get lucky.

I unfortunately went past a speed camera at about 37, a week after passing my driving test, first speed camera I ever drove past independently. I thought the road was 40, my sat nav told me the limit was 40. Road had also recently had the speed limit reduced. I never heard anything, but it was such a wake up call I have been so so careful ever since.

Sit tight. If 14 days go by and you don’t hear anything, you’re in the clear. Otherwise, I do think you have a good chance of a speed awareness course.

When I got caught speeding last year, I got a letter and did a speed awareness course so I didn't get any points.

Another time when I got caught by actual police checkers, doing 38 in a 30 (it was a village that I was driving through most days, and I was actually about to come out of it on to a national speed limit road, so it was a bit unfair tbh, as I hadn't done that through the village, but was starting to speed up as I believed we could, and it was late and it was empty.... rules is rules though obv.

They pulled me over and told me off, but I didn't hear any more about it

No it isn't 'different'.
The police/courts aren't interested in why anyone broke the law. Nor are they interested in what other people do.

Best advice pay up and pay more attention in future.

Speed limits are there for a reason.

Where I live all the roads that have houses on them have a 20 mph speed limit, which is a pain but it could save a child's life.

If you have to appear in court I hope for your sake the magistrates aren’t MN’ers. You’re certainly getting a rough treatment on here.
They would have you behind bars!

Shes not saying she will use that as an excuse to the Police!

Well aren’t you just ✨perfect✨

😹😹😹

It's not obvious you will get caught. Sometimes they park the van and do nothing, even go away for the day then come back.

Other times they might not be operating, just sitting inside having a coffee and a chat, or setting up.

You should mentally prepare yourself for being caught, but there is no guarantee you will be.

There are two long hills near me where the speed limit changes from 50 to 30 along it, the signs for those changes are in tree foliage because our council do next to no road side maintenance. Often a lot of the signs around here are equally covered or so green from being under trees that they do not reflect at night. Being local I am aware of those speed changes, any visitors would easily miss them. Guess where they set up the mobile speed traps.

Here in Spain you don't get any points until you go about 30 kms over the speed limit, and they will happily fine you for going 1 km over! It's quite sensible of them I think as they make a ton of money off fines. They also never send you the fine notice in time for you to pay the lower amount...

50, down to 30 on stretches and back again happens a lot on some long roads around here.
I got caught out on a road that suddenly had a stretch of 30 limit on a road that had always been 40 (by a police van camera).
Yes there must have been a sign on the road, but I didn't notice it, and my car sat nav hadn't updated.

You won’t get offered a SAC due to how high over the limit you were.

Not realising the limit had been changed from 50 to 30 is no excuse as I’m sure it’s well signed.

Not a myth, absolutely true, mine is showing 2-4 miles over the real speed depending on speed the higher the speed the bigger the gap

In response to people asking if the policeman with a gun has to pull you over and fine you there and then.
Sadly not, I was caught by a policeman with a gun and got a letter in the post a week later.

OP was it an app (google maps, Waze) that said 45 or your speedometer? I’d the latter, they are often slightly wrong so it maybe that you were actually doing a slow enough speed to be offered the course. A did a course several years ago (36 in a 30 where the road changed from 50 to 30 but I hadn’t slowed quickly enough). They said the course is only for “just over” the speed limit.
The fine/cost is the same either way but the course means you avoid points.