Rant

[Wack61]

The one I really like at the moment is the new lorry speed of 60! Now it takes them even longer to crawl passed each other.
I am not certain but I think on the A19 on Friday it was an impressive 3.2 miles before the 2 in front of me finished there ballet of cut and thrust. I was in awe to the point I nearly missed my turn off!

Nothing has changed regarding the actual speed they can do , just the limit has gone from 40-50 on an A road and 50-60 on a dual carriageway

They're still limited to 56 by EU law even though the limit in the UK is 60

When they bought in the 56 the Irish decided they didn't want to play, once in Cumbria I was in a van doing 70 and an Irish Scania Artic came past me on a hill doing at least 90

The cameras are also sometimes set to flash but not take photos. This is supposedly to frighten the motorists into slowing down, yet not incur the 'just milking us for money' wrath that comes from the NIP for 78mph arriving in the post. It's not too far from mental torture if you think about it.

If it flashes once it's just the flash discharging and recharging, they can only hold it for so long

im on the M1 a lot. I don't understand it.

When the "restriction" comes on the overhang does that make the cameras active? if theres no restriction does that mean I can drive say 80mph and not get flashed?

when they say "smart" motorway do they mean they always monitor speeds etc?

The cameras on the A61 up to J15a M1 have caught thousands so they are on

They measure your average speed first to last and camera to camera , they've made a fortune from them

 

[drewf]

can you flesh it out a bit? As an alternative strategy it has promise, but lacks detail......

Basic maths - if we have 3 lanes travelling at 70mph, then the combined flow through the section is 'obviously' 210mph.
Reduce that to two lanes, and reduce the speed to 50mph, now we have a combined theoretical flow of just 100mph, less than half the capacity it was before.
Clearly, the answer is to increase the speed limit through the narrow section to 105mph, thereby retaining the original 210mph combined capacity. It's not rocket science, how hard can it be?

 

[drewf]

If it flashes once it's just the flash discharging and recharging, they can only hold it for so long

What makes you think that?

 

[AerosGS]

Basic maths - if we have 3 lanes travelling at 70mph, then the combined flow through the section is 'obviously' 210mph.
Reduce that to two lanes, and reduce the speed to 50mph, now we have a combined theoretical flow of just 100mph, less than half the capacity it was before.
Clearly, the answer is to increase the speed limit through the narrow section to 105mph, thereby retaining the original 210mph combined capacity. It's not rocket science, how hard can it be?

I think you' ve forgotten traffic density. As the cars slow the distance between them closes (or it should) which offsets the reduction in speed...

 

[CatmanV2]

I think you' ve forgotten traffic density. As the cars slow the distance between them closes (or it should) which offsets the reduction in speed...

I think you've forgotten he wasn't being entirely serious.

Probably

C

 

[davy83]

i must add that i actually noticed this on a German autobahn i had strayed into an average camera zone at some considerable speed, and when i realised a camera was coming up i pulled over in a roadside stop and had a cuppa, problem solved, so as long as you don't pass plod at the side of the road it works, however i was actually joking as it illustrates the principle that what you do between the cameras makes no difference to the measurement.
I like the bandwidth analysis requiring us all to speed up when the lanes are restricted, we should start a petition, instead of a "high occupancy" lane like they have the states, we could have a "safe over 150" lane to improve traffic flow?

 

[Wack61]

What makes you think that?

Something I read, it's a capacitor, same as a normal camera flash, over time if it hasn't gone off it looses the capacity to flash twice in quick succession so discharges and recharges.

I've been on the M25 and seen the double flash when the motorway is at full speed though so they do go off if you're taking the P

 

[Swedish Paul]

I was over in England after Christmas and had a hire car. Drove Manchester -> Nottingham -> Sheffield etc. The one thing I noticed not having driven in England for many years, is that almost everybody is driving slower than they used too. And it feels a lot slower. I wonder if all those speed cameras is having an effect. I mean, you still get the odd wally up your backside, but it did seem calmer. On the whole, I though drivers were more courteous, although having said that, I have been living in Sweden for a few years.....

I was surprised.

 

[Wack61]

We're the most watched country in the world that's why

About 5 years ago I read there's more CCTV in your average UK market town than there is in Texas

I

 

[RSM Masser]

I think you've forgotten he wasn't being entirely serious.

Probably

C

You could make allowance for the density and call it 100mph
Nice round figure and easily remembered