average speed check cameras Roadworks M1 - "Notice of Intended Prosecution"

[sdys15453]

I'd be grateful if anyone has any advice.

 

I got a police "Notice of Intended Prosecution" this morning, for driving through an "average speed check" camera on the M1.

 

At no place on the route does it say anything other than an "average speed check". There are dozens of cameras on that stretch, and all are clearly labelled as "average speed cameras" which are claimed to be only there to regulate traffic flow by monitoring the average speed of the traffic.

 

I admit I probably could have been doing the 67mph on the M1, in a 50mph zone, as they claim.

 

However, in my somewhat limited attempt at mitigation,

there were no roadworks being carried out at the time throughout the whole of my short journey on the M1,

no workers nor even any machinery present, and absolutely no other road users in sight as it was just before 5am.

 

I was still driving under the usual speed limit for a stretch of motorway with no actual roadworks happening.

There are no actual clearly marked speed cameras, only cameras marked as "average speed check" cameras.

 

Surely claiming a camera is only carrying out an "average speed check" is a lot different to it actually being a camera specifically targetting a speeding driver?

 

If there is a genuine speed camera on that stretch, targetting specific drivers, it is clearly not labelled as such,

as they all just say "average speed check".

Every last one of them.

 

I know because I and my daughters went back and checked.

 

I drove while they videoed all the cameras, and every single one of them was clearly marked as "average speed check" cameras only.

 

The letter says it is going to prosecute me, despite my never having had a speeding ticket or even as much as a parking fine for the whole 20 years I've been a driver.

 

Why not just a fine for a first offence on an empty motorway, going past "average speed check" cameras, rather than threats of courts and prosecution?

 

Anyone have any ideas how to proceed on this?

 

Thanks.

[Raykay]

Average speed cameras monitor the time you take to travel between them, and the system works out your average speed, if it is above the threshold for that limit, you are liable for prosecution.

[silverfox1961]

Average speed cameras monitor the time you take to travel between them, and the system works out your average speed, if it is above the threshold for that limit, you are liable for prosecution.

 

Hi

I have to agree. If you were to travel along the A14 in Cambridgeshire you will notice a permanent 'Average Speed Check'. Lots of people mistake this meaning. They speed up after one camera and slow down just before the next. This matters not. It is the total time taken between when you first came to a camera and when you passed the last camera.

 

The police will have a record of the times it took you to pass and this evidence will be used. Let's hope they offer you a speed awareness course.

[porkyp1g]

That's best excuse I've heard for trying to get out of a speeding fine ever....

[porkyp1g]

The police will have a record of the times it took you to pass and this evidence will be used. Let's hope they offer you a speed awareness course.

 

67 in a 50? No chance.

[sdys15453]

The full story was that I was going to the railway station to pick up one of my daughters because her train was late into the station so she'd missed her connection. Didn't want her hanging around in a deserted railway station for two hours to wait for the next train. Although in hindsight, it would have been probably cheaper to send a taxi to pick her up. Or a bl**dy chauffeured limo...

[citizenkain]

Ive worked on roads/motorways inside an average speed check system,how do you know there was nothing going on? If there are lorries of pea shingle muck etc moving between sections of the motorway its a lot safer in the speed check area,I can tell you at high speed a bit of spilt pea shingle is deadly.The camera takes your pic when you enter the area and your pic when you leave then works out your average speed overall.