Lancashire b****y Constabulary!! SP 50

[easthamr]

Alittle more than alittle upset! I recieved notice of intended prosecution from the police today!! I know this is a well documented subject, it is my intension to just pay up but I was collared by a sneaky little ..... police man in the back of a van with a moblie camera. I am sure this is not fare play, I thought that cameras were only to be positioned in places where serious accidents have taken place frequently. It's a wide open road, dual carrage way, heading out of town with a speed limit of 30!?!? I really think that all speed limits in the UK need a serious dose of looking at. That's besides the point. But I read on the site not too long ago about new requirements for siting of cameras. Perhaps this doesn't apply to mobile cameras? What do you all think?x(

[JohnW]

Sorry to hear that.

These mobile units are cropping up loads in Notts aswell. They have white vans marked up with something like "speed enforcement unit" on the side and get this - AMBER lights on the top. They park up at the side of the road and all the camera gear is mounted in the back, so when the rear doors are open, it looks just like workmen working on the road - you don't notice until it's too late. I've also seen them parked on bridges with the cameras set up through the side doors (especially M1 J15 to Billing, Santa Pod etc, where the speed limit on the dual carriageway drops to 60).

Be wary!!

John

[David]

Firstly, I do sympathize with you.
Your first port of call would be the Citizens Advice Beareux and see what they come up with. If that is no use, pay the fee for a half hour meeting with a solicitor and see what they come up with.
If the copper was in the back of a van, he still has to make himself conspicuous by wearing a hi-vis garment of some discription. If he was, then unfortunatly, I think they have you by the short and curlies. If he wasn't, you may have a case. It would be your word against his, and possibly dropped due to lack of evidence.
Good luck and keep your chin up.

[wilf]

Yup - you are now officially a "speeding criminal". I totally agree with you about the underhanded nature of these so called "safety unit" vans. Not going to get into the rant know, but this kind of thing, along with the forests of speed cameras all over the place, is seriously dmamging the relationship between the Police and the Public - a bad thing in my view.

And how much help do you get when your car is nicked/house burgled/old auntie mugged? - well it would appear to be in proportion to the amount of revenue arising from those type of incidents!

BTW - the only useful tip I have ever found about how to deal with these things is that there are strict requirements for the location of the vans whilst operating, and the equipment should have been calibrated at the start of that session of use. You could try going down the route of establishing if both of these requirements had been met in full at the time of your offence. Again - there is a thread here somehwhere with advice and useful web site addresses - try a search.
If you admitted guilt at the time, you're sunk.

Wilf

[maxGD059]

I do sympathise with you. Ive seen these white transits at the side of the road too in Leicestershire. The only clue is that they are parallel to the road side with the back doors open & no sign of any roadworks. i was caught in similar circumstances to you a few years back. I was choking with the fumes of a slow moving lorry & blasted past on a 200yd stretch of dualled road within the city centre, straight into a radar trap. what can you do?- well I try not to drive in top gear in town as its the only way I can be sure the old speedo isnt creeping up. Incidently if the powers that be dont want you overtaking/going quicker etc, why do they have such sections of road with stupid speed limits?
Dont worry; be happy

Richard

(It'll only be a 5 minute job)

[normanh]

HI,

Things to ask from the Plod

Calibration certificate, vascar records....these mobile units are not allowed to just park up and start snapping away, they have to be verified by a vascar unit before and afterwards.

Also the 'state' has to prove that at the time of the alledged incident the camera was working correctly, and used correctly. This little loophole is used by many footballers I hear!

[Mike Viney]

With points on license I would think about the Radar/Lazer detector and jammer.
One of the ones that most tests say actually works is the K40 unit selling in the US for about £200. Perhaps you would get one fitted, try a test run at moderate excess speed and let me know if you succeeded in pissing off the local fuz cus he couldn't add to his quota and bonus. Then I'll go and get one!

[Mole]

Yes, a friend of mine recently received 2 NIPs on the same day. One for 36 in a 30 and one for 34 in a 30! This was near Parbold by the way!

...and who is this foul, verminous crimial that terrorises the good citizens of Parbold? I hear you ask.

She's a 45 year old dirstrict nurse in a base model Polo.

Oh well, whatever else happens by way of muggings, burglaries, street crime and car theft, at least Lancashire constabulary can take satisfaction from the fact that they've stopped another criminal dead in her tracks before she got the chance to mow down a whole bus stop full of school kids!

...and hey, they've even made some money into the bargain, thus saving us good taxpayers from having to put our hands in our pockets to pay them to do us for 34 in a 30!

What good chaps.

At the risk of whipping up a argument, wasnt our current max 70 mph speed limit slapped in place after a cobra went up the M1 at a stupid pace?!!!

I agree that limits need looking at.

Andy

[DannyK]

Try living around Stansted, got done on bank-holiday monday by the newport Police one hiding in a bush whilst the other one was between two parked cars crouched down out of sight with his little speed gun in his hand, no kidding, when their normal tactic is to sit on the wall of the police station and aim at every car that goes by, so they are never more than 30 secs away from a cup of tea and the football results.