Speed Camera Van, but no camera, just a man with a camera in hand!

[Steve_E]

Hi, i have a question because i am a little bit confused as to what happened when i was driving past a mobile speed camera van today. I have seen this van before in the local area and it always parks with the rear facing camera operating out of the back window which opens up and has a lense sticking out. Only, as i was approaching the van, i could see the white windows on the back were closed, as if they had already packed up and ready to go (it was almost 6pm). Then as i was about to go past, one of the officers rapidly jumped out the van and took a photo of my car with a digital camera.

 

There is a chance i may have been doing more than 35mph upon inital approach to the van but i did slow down. I'm just wondering why he did this, is it because the machine couldnt take a photo due to the latch being closed, so he had to take one with his camera instead? Are they going to try and match his digital camera photo to some data on the machine? There was a car right behind me so how do they know it was the car behind which triggered it? I don't understand what happened to be honest or how that could stand up in court? Maybe i'm wrong, but some advice would be nice, thanks.

[sailor sam]

No point speculating here, wait until if/when you get an NIP (Notice of intended prosecution). If it was simply a digital still camera, I doubt that would provide sufficient evidence of what speed you were doing on it's own. I understand some of these camera vans now have fixed external cameras as well so perhaps the additional cameras which were 'inactive' due to being covered, were ANPR.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

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[Steve_E]

Well, here is the exact van if that helps. A friend took this photo as he works opposite, and was actually photographing the random guy who was talking to the officers. The rear hatch is clearly open when he took this earlier in the day, but when i went past in the evening it was closed...[ATTACH=CONFIG]43307[/ATTACH]

[sailor sam]

Yes, I think it is an ANPR unit and not necessarily just a speed camera van. It checks for vehicle insurance/tax status's. I think the van would be supported by a traffic car which would of pulled you further down the road had you been committing an offence. As I said, not much you can do until something drops through your letter box.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Steve_E]

Well that said, i have upto date tax, insurance, MOT etc, so i am not worried about that and there was no traffic car down the road. It is a well known location for that van, so i should have been more vigilant when approaching, but the question still remains why the officer hurried out the van to take a photo of my vehicle before i passed.

[sailor sam]

Well that said, i have upto date tax, insurance, MOT etc, so i am not worried about that and there was no traffic car down the road. It is a well known location for that van, so i should have been more vigilant when approaching, but the question still remains why the officer hurried out the van to take a photo of my vehicle before i passed.

 

Pass.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[renegadeimp]

With an ANPR van they can use the digicam. With a speed enforcement unit, they cant.

[dx100uk]

time stamps will be used

 

dx

[renegadeimp]

The main thing is that this digital camera isnt calibrated and isnt attached to the speed unit. It would be all too easy for them to say you were speeding and by the time they took the photo you slowed down. Thats why they have sophisticated equipment which does it all in one.

 

As already advised, its more likely to be an ANPR camera. Whatever it was, youll find out within 14 days.

[crem]

Maybe there was some other small discretion that caught their eye on your car that they felt a digicam photo would surfice for if progressed to procecution. for example, a couple of years ago I passed a speed van and although I knew I wasn't speeding (the DSA would be very upset if I was ) I got a letter a couple of days later and thought wtf! then when reading it I realised they were warning me on my number plate not being correctly alined and stated I had to get it corrected or if seen again I would be fined and/or procecuted.

 

Could there have been something of concern like this on your car?