Speed tolerance reduced for December and January

[Robbo]

That raises a very interesting idea Cassina. Fixed speed cameras have been installed around the country in locations that the authorities apparently consider these to be “black spots” or some other traffic hazard. Would it not make sense to install one of these highly visible digital speed checks about 1 km before each camera to bring our attention to the speed we are travelling at and to adjust it if necessary. These digital signs would have to be calibrated to the same accuracy as the cameras. If you still managed to get a speeding fine from the camera after having passed one of these warning signs then it would definitely be your own fault. These signs could be funded by the revenue collected from the cameras. I believe that by bringing the speed we are travelling at to our attention with the aid of these signs would have a noticeable effect on road speeds overall. All this bullshit about fixed speed cameras making our roads safer is just that, “bullshit” it is purely revenue collecting and does nothing to chance driving habits. Awareness is the answer.
What are your thoughts on this?

[Edbear]

Most GPS units these days are programmed with the locations of fixed speed cameras and mine also warns of schools. So if you have a GPS unit there is little excuse for getting pinged.

I set the cruise control by the GPS and it is a bit frustrating to be held up by other traffic, however you have to remember that if their speedo is reading 100km/hr, you have no grounds to criticize. My car is out by 5km/hr at 100, so to remain within the 4km/hr tolerance my speedo can be reading 109. GPS's are very accurate according to tests, so I have no concerns with using its speed reading.

Another interesting thing about using cruise control is that you will gradually pull ahead of other traffic since very few drivers can maintain their speed with any sort of consistency.

[Naki Rat]

Most GPS units these days are programmed with the locations of fixed speed cameras and mine also warns of schools. So if you have a GPS unit there is little excuse for getting pinged.

I set the cruise control by the GPS and it is a bit frustrating to be held up by other traffic, however you have to remember that if their speedo is reading 100km/hr, you have no grounds to criticize. My car is out by 5km/hr at 100, so to remain within the 4km/hr tolerance my speedo can be reading 109. GPS's are very accurate according to tests, so I have no concerns with using its speed reading.

Another interesting thing about using cruise control is that you will gradually pull ahead of other traffic since very few drivers can maintain their speed with any sort of consistency.

My previous life in surveying gives me a reasonable understanding of how GPS works and yes the speed readings they give cannot be anything but accurate. A 'cheapy' unit may give an occasional instantaneous glitch but over even just a few hundred metres the indicated speed will be spot on.

I would have to question the historic travelled data being available to law enforcement as mentioned earlier though. So far as I know our Garmin doesn't log speed or route data other than if a destination is stored manually. If it does it would be great to see where we actually were during portions of our UK road trip last year. Other than locations verified by fuel and accommodation receipts we seem to have lost track of where the hell we were at times.... and that isn't a result of distillery visits

[roogazza]

Another interesting thing about using cruise control is that you will gradually pull ahead of other traffic since very few drivers can maintain their speed with any sort of consistency.

How true, the average person seems to have difficulty in maintaining road speed, it's very frustrating.
If you do use your cruise anywhere near other traffic it's quite noticable.
But for me it's just as noticable on the throttle, it was one of my pet hates when driver training.(along with a lot of others )

ps I hope people aren't gazing at their GPS units when driving ? That's right up there with TXTing while driving. This is the sort of shit that should be jumped on rather than the dreaded "SPEED" of 5 kph over.

[Edbear]

How true, the average person seems to have difficulty in maintaining road speed, it's very frustrating.
If you do use your cruise anywhere near other traffic it's quite noticable.
But for me it's just as noticable on the throttle, it was one of my pet hates when driver training.(along with a lot of others )

The range of deviation is amazing sometimes! Up to 20km/hr! And of course they slow down for anything at all that departs from the clear, level, straight and wide.

[Zedder]

My previous life in surveying gives me a reasonable understanding of how GPS works and yes the speed readings they give cannot be anything but accurate. A 'cheapy' unit may give an occasional instantaneous glitch but over even just a few hundred metres the indicated speed will be spot on.

I would have to question the historic travelled data being available to law enforcement as mentioned earlier though. So far as I know our Garmin doesn't log speed or route data other than if a destination is stored manually. If it does it would be great to see where we actually were during portions of our UK road trip last year. Other than locations verified by fuel and accommodation receipts we seem to have lost track of where the hell we were at times.... and that isn't a result of distillery visits

My understanding of GPS units is they store the data automatically but you need a programme for accessing it on your PC.

The rover units we use in Oz (pole mounted type) are used along with a digital geologic mapping programme on a PDA and the resulting info is very good. The pole mounted type are good for fending off Oz wildlife as well...

By the way, on my ride North yesterday, I thought all was going well until about 30 minutes from home, I rounded a corner to find a traffic stop set up. A truck in front of me was stopped but I got waved through no problem, it must have been the tigertim20 effect.

There was a motorcyclist coming South at the same time on what looked like a Repsol Honda but I didn't see what happened to them.

On the whole ride (300km) I saw two more cops doing speed checks and once again felt the traffic flow was much slower.

[R650R]

My previous life in surveying gives me a reasonable understanding of how GPS works and yes the speed readings they give cannot be anything but accurate. A 'cheapy' unit may give an occasional instantaneous glitch but over even just a few hundred metres the indicated speed will be spot on.

I would have to question the historic travelled data being available to law enforcement as mentioned earlier though. So far as I know our Garmin doesn't log speed or route data other than if a destination is stored manually. If it does it would be great to see where we actually were during portions of our UK road trip last year. Other than locations verified by fuel and accommodation receipts we seem to have lost track of where the hell we were at times.... and that isn't a result of distillery visits

Yes the GPS units do give a reasonably accurate reading and are already accepted for this purpose in the courts via various precedents, usually only to indicate extreme driving prior to a crash though. Consumer level GPS devices are typically only accurate to within 15m (despite what the advertising waffle says) so there is leeway to argue one off peak speed recordings.
But if your going to misbehave in a vehicle with gps enabled devices or phones expect to be screwed over.
Sat in on an interesting court case with workmate, he got off on a technicality but I expect the cops learnt their lesson and next time round it will be an expensive losing battle for whoever is charged if they try to defend it...

Couldn't find a link to the usa tomtom story from couple years ago but seems the dutch suffering the same http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/27/t...termine-ideal/

I expect we'll all soon have Eroad units fitted to cars and bikes, those are the green LEDs you see in many truck windscreens. No doubt it will be sold to joe public on the basis of only pay for what you use road tax, but theirs already been trucking companies taken to court over their own Eroad gps data. There not laughing now like when I told them in advance that it would be used for this.

[kiwi cowboy]

had a giggle when I heard the advert about the reduced limit on the radio.
I was a firkin pommy accent doing it.
Could convince a kiwi to do the voicing over cos they all say scam so had to get a bloody pom to do it a

[rastuscat]

had a giggle when I heard the advert about the reduced limit on the radio.

Have they reduced the limits? I thought we had reduced the tolerance.

The limits have always been limits, it's the tolerance that people expect that creates the nause.

[Zedder]

Have they reduced the limits? I thought we had reduced the tolerance.

The limits have always been limits, it's the tolerance that people expect that creates the nause.

Nause? Norse? Another freudian slip from our resident cops maybe as in Viking hordes pillaging the defenceless public.

[rastuscat]

Nause? Norse? Another freudian slip from our resident cops maybe as in Viking hordes pillaging the defenceless public.

Nausea. Just too chilled to complete the word just now.

[Zedder]

Nausea. Just too chilled to complete the word just now.

Right, gotcha. Nausea can be caused by many things but it's probably good to get a scam, umm I mean scan done just to be safe.

[Tazz]

Nausea. Just too chilled to complete the word just now.

Don't stress. Nause was more fitting considering the response you got XD

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nause

I expect we'll all soon have Eroad units fitted to cars and bikes, those are the green LEDs you see in many truck windscreens. No doubt it will be sold to joe public on the basis of only pay for what you use road tax, but theirs already been trucking companies taken to court over their own Eroad gps data. There not laughing now like when I told them in advance that it would be used for this.

Hitched with a owner operator trucker who had a few interesting ways around it the other month, wouldn't have changed much overall though considering the KM's they do.

Laughed at the speeding trucks comment a few pages back too though. Modern trucks are so full of electrics they can't put the radio on without it being recorded let alone speed. I was told about someone who blamed an accident on a milk tanker because they were nearby, the data was provided to the police and it was shown that there was no way the truck could have caused any accident according to it's position and the G's recorded on the corner (as it was claimed they took it to fast and crossed the line).

Talk about Big Brother.

Anyway, fanging down the coast today and not sure if I should be doing 95 or just crossing my fingers and going 175

[Trade_nancy]

had a giggle when I heard the advert about the reduced limit on the radio.
I was a firkin pommy accent doing it.
Could convince a kiwi to do the voicing over cos they all say scam so had to get a bloody pom to do it a

Saw him on the teev....the head national traffic doodally for Police is actually a Pom. He looked like an attitude problem waiting for a human to occupy him. Police cap pulled down so only the darkness of his eyes showed - much like a military policeman..or some other arsehole.

[Gremlin]

Consumer level GPS devices are typically only accurate to within 15m (despite what the advertising waffle says) so there is leeway to argue one off peak speed recordings.

Depending on the GPS, it can actually tell you how accurate it currently is. I haven't looked too often on the Zumo 660 (it's not a standard reading I'm watching) but on the 550 you scrolled past it. 3-7m was common, but it also depended where you were. Heavy tree canopy etc and it could lose you for a turn or two.