I was traveling down this motorway which states its a 50mph road and when I noticed there was a police guy with a speed radar gun I think standing while I’m on the left hand lane doing 52-56mph (checked on the tom tom) and it was night time. I’m just a bit worried and in the UK
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if its an urban Motorway then you could have a problem as the limit could be 50MPH, except most speedo’s over read by around 5..10%
most police forces don’t prosecute / take action unless you are 5..10% over the limit, and even if they do and you were speeding then they will probably offer you a ‘speed awareness’ course for the same price as a speeding ticket but no points. if you are offered one take it, as it won’t affect your insurance where as reporting 3 points for speeding next time will.
so taking a worst case 5% speedo over read at 56 means you were probably doing around 53MPH, and taking to account a 5% threshold at a recorded 53 you’d only just be over the tolerance threshold
however as it was a handheld device Im pretty certain you have no worries. the officer has to stop you there and then and explain why, and issue any tickets. its only the static speed camera systems that send you a speeding notice by post (well first letter is a request to find out who was driving, a ‘notice of intent’ to prosecute)
Don’t believe what people are writing here – it is NOT safe to do 56mph.
How accurate is the speedo on your car? Why is the limit 50? Why is the camera set at 56mph?
Answer – because your speedo must legally read within 10% of your actual speed – so if your speedo is under reading – you could be doing 55 and indicating 50 (so you have only 1mph to play with – that is why the camera is set to +10% and 1 mph!)
if your speedo is under reading and you think you will be OK at 55 (indicated) – you will actually be travelling at 60.5 mph…………get the picture? If not – the GATSO certainly will.
The only way to ensure you are not speeding, is to not exceed the speed limit as indicated on your speedo – unless you know for a fact exactly how accurate your speedometer is reading.
You may hear of people complaining because they were only going 1 or 2 mph over the limit and they got caught – its because of the 10% allowance – they were over the limit because they didn’t pay attention to the speedometer.
No doubt there will be a few thumbs down for this – but these are facts, ask on your speed awareness course!
Source(s):
ADI
Don’t worry you will be fine, you should not get done as the limit is 10% + 1mph so 50 mph + 10% =55 + 1 = 56mph, so unless you were going faster than that don’t worry. If you do get a fine then contest it and ask to see the calibration certificate for the camera, unless they can produce it the fine will be quashed.
I am sure that if you were going to receive a notice of intended prosecution, you would have done so by now. HOWEVER there is a misunderstanding about the “10%” allowance”. The law states that a speedometer can have an error of +/- 10% AT 30MPH. No mention of any other speeds
In the USA, we are generally (I say generally, but some places not) able to go 51-54 on a 50 posted highway without getting ticket. If it is 55 or 56, they usually (some places don’t) give a warning ticket. Over that is a fine. Check with your local law in the UK.
Wait for the postman with a nice letter for you, if you knew it was a 50 limit why were you doing over it?
Don’t worry about getting nicked, worry about keeping to the limits instead.
If you choose to ignore limits you will always be liable for a ticket at any time.
on a speed awareness course the police officer told us …they work on 10%+1 …so that 56 ..after that your nicked …i own a garage ..have the motorway patrol guys come in most weeks ..chat and cup of tea ..they tell me same
Just shows you should keep to the speed limit. It’s not difficult and a lot less stressful.
Worry gives you grey hair, fines empty your pocket. Better to stick to the speed limit.