1. Speeding fines now start at £100
Most people know that speeding fines have increased. They now cost £100 as a standard, rather than £60. However, many people are unaware that there is a new way to calculate speeding fines. They can now be based on up to 175% of your weekly income – meaning that fines can actually be significantly higher than £100.
This means that someone earning £30,000 a year (or £577 a week) could face a maximum fine of up to £866 for a speeding offence. The new guidelines advise that these higher rate fines should be used for more serious offenders, rather than (for example) someone doing 32 in a 30mph zone. More serious offences are known as Band C offences. They apply to anyone doing ‘well in excess’ of the limit on a particular road.
2. HADECS cameras work all the time
HADECS cameras are the ones put up by Highways England. They are the most cutting edge technology of the speed camera world. HADECS cameras are seen on motorways such as the M1, M6, M25 and M62 and they are in operation all of the time. There are different styles of these cameras, many of which are smaller than traditional cameras. Some use a radar system that takes just 0.2 milliseconds to register your speed – and your number plate.
3. Radar detection vans only work on one lane
Mobile speed cameras – or radar detection vans – are usually operated by the local police force. They tend to be used in accident blackspots. For police to use mobile cameras, there needs to be a sign up to alert motorists that they are present. Mobile speed cameras only work on one lane. However, this doesn’t have to be the lane they are closest to.
Mobile speed cameras also only work on a straight section of road. They have a range up to two miles but can’t see around bends or over hills.
4. You can sue the police for writing to you about speeding
If you have one of those people in your area who decides to invest in a speed camera, and starts snapping photos or footage with it, don’t immediately panic if they record you. If you receive a letter from the police based on evidence from that camera, you can actually sue the police for using an untrained camera operator. Not everyone can be a speed camera operator – only those from designated authorities like the police or Highways England can legally fulfil the role.
5. Traffic light cameras are multi-functional
Traffic light cameras do more than just watch for red light offences. As original traffic light camera models were replaced, new multi-functional models were installed. The new models mean that you can get a speeding ticket from a traffic light camera even if you didn’t skip the light.
Shall we reboot our cartoons thread again? 😁
Another week, another Tory MP sex scandal!
To think that London, or anywhere else for that matter, does not belong to any one demographic
