Police Radar/Laser Guns

DJMK4 · 23 Aug 2008 at 08:02

Just out of curiosity, these do not have builtin camera's right? An unmarked car was sitting in the middle of a really long straight road yesterday, 2 coppers hiding behind the open boot one with a gun, i dont think i was speeding but i couldnt be sure as i didnt check my speedo until about 50m from them. Then i was doing about 62 in a 60.

I thought these style of traps would have to have another car waiting round the corner to pull you over? or am i wrong?

Scuzi · 23 Aug 2008 at 08:05

Do you honestly think they're going to prosecute you for doing 62mph? If you were indicating 62mph, chances are that your actual speed was below 60.

DJMK4 · 23 Aug 2008 at 08:13

Like i said, i didnt check my speedo until about 50m away, for all i know i could have been doing 70odd about 100/150m away. Also, as i drove past he turned his head and stared at me, which leaves me feeling a little uneasy and in my situation leaves me abit paranoid as I have currenly 9 points (majority of which came from 2 years ago).

Justintime · 23 Aug 2008 at 09:01

were you staring at him? maybe thats why he was starting at you

TBH if i had 9 points i'd be driving Miss Daisy for the duration. The ones i've seen have been connected to a recording device fwiw, could be different now though.

DJMK4 · 23 Aug 2008 at 09:13

Justintime said:
were you staring at him? maybe thats why he was starting at you TBH if i had 9 points i'd be driving Miss Daisy for the duration. The ones i've seen have been connected to a recording device fwiw, could be different now though.

I wasnt staring at him,lol, I recon i must have been on the borderline and he was just miffed off that he didnt get to pull me over

I do drive like miss daisy most of the time, iv become such a paranoid driver

.

I dont usually say this but I cant wait for december,lol, least it will give me some margin for error. Shame the insurance is 5 years tho :mad:

Finglonga · 23 Aug 2008 at 09:50

DJMK4 said:
I thought these style of traps would have to have another car waiting round the corner to pull you over? or am i wrong?

You will ,get a NIP through post IF you were caught. Also would have been laser so could have caught you as soon as they saw you if their view was clear (sorry).

If they are using the 10% + 2mph rule you would have had to be doing over 68mph and that's real speed not what the average speedo reads.

DJMK4 · 23 Aug 2008 at 09:58

Finglonga said:
You will ,get a NIP through post IF you were caught. Also would have been laser so could have caught you as soon as they saw you if their view was clear (sorry).

If they are using the 10% + 2mph rule you would have had to be doing over 68mph and that's real speed not what the average speedo reads.

So these DO capture some sort of image? or do they read the number plate or something?

Also, is it true that I have to recieve a NIP within 14 days? or it becomes invalid? I think I should be ok, i really dont think i was doing over 68mph.

GeForce · 23 Aug 2008 at 10:17

I think it depends what sort of gun. The radar ones don't capture an image, but just tell you the speed of the object you point it at.

There are mini gatsos as well, however, and these do capture an image, obviously. The 10% + 2 rule is usually applied to gatsos. You'll probably get away with a little bit more if it was a radar gun, as they rely very heavily on careful calibration for good results. Even a tiny error in setting them up can result in a 2-3mph error margin.

Hope you didn't get caught anyway

Solari · 23 Aug 2008 at 10:53

This is the whole problem tbh... when people see these setups, they move their attention from the road to their speedo, then slam on the brakes down to about 10mph below the limit. Bloody dangerous IMO

DJMK4 · 23 Aug 2008 at 11:41

GeForce said:
I think it depends what sort of gun. The radar ones don't capture an image, but just tell you the speed of the object you point it at.

There are mini gatsos as well, however, and these do capture an image, obviously. The 10% + 2 rule is usually applied to gatsos. You'll probably get away with a little bit more if it was a radar gun, as they rely very heavily on careful calibration for good results. Even a tiny error in setting them up can result in a 2-3mph error margin.

Hope you didn't get caught anyway

I dont think it was that type of gun, it certainly wasnt on a tripod, it was handheld. I suppose time will tell

Dogbreath · 23 Aug 2008 at 12:33

Laser speed guns do not have built in cameras, but are usually used in conjunction with a separate video camera for evidence.

Meridian · 23 Aug 2008 at 13:50

Two police officers rather than one civilian suggests a training session, or an attempt to get drivers to slow down on a particular stretch of road after complaints (the usual reason real police do this rather than civvies).

M

DJMK4 · 23 Aug 2008 at 14:05

Meridian said:
Two police officers rather than one civilian suggests a training session, or an attempt to get drivers to slow down on a particular stretch of road after complaints (the usual reason real police do this rather than civvies).

M

I hope so, the road is a very long road, and because of that a lot of people do stupid speeds to overtake. The road is also used a lot by trucks which are then overtaken by cars.

Justintime · 23 Aug 2008 at 14:16

Meridian said:
Two police officers rather than one civilian suggests a training session, or an attempt to get drivers to slow down on a particular stretch of road after complaints (the usual reason real police do this rather than civvies).

M

This could well be true, the road off my work is a very long one, there were a few officers there with a gun and one of my workmates swore he was doing 42+ (30 limit) overtaking a car when he saw them and they were pointing it on him, so far (3 months?) has not heard anything of it.

-Ad- · 23 Aug 2008 at 15:30

Paper bag on head = instant evasion

Finglonga · 23 Aug 2008 at 15:31

DJMK4 said:
So these DO capture some sort of image? or do they read the number plate or something?

Also, is it true that I have to recieve a NIP within 14 days? or it becomes invalid? I think I should be ok, i really dont think i was doing over 68mph.

As said depends on type of gun used, user making a note can also be used as they have to do for motorcycles due to no front plate.

The NIP has to be posted to the registered keeper within the 14 days to be valid. I usually give it 4 weeks before my heart settles down every time the pots falls through the letterbox.

DJMK4 · 23 Aug 2008 at 15:38

Finglonga said:
As said depends on type of gun used, user making a note can also be used as they have to do for motorcycles due to no front plate.

The NIP has to be posted to the registered keeper within the 14 days to be valid. I usually give it 4 weeks before my heart settles down every time the pots falls through the letterbox.

Yeah, basically if i dont recieve a letter within 14 days then there could be a loophole "if" i did get caught.

Nebzor · 23 Aug 2008 at 15:59

DJMK4 said:
Yeah, basically if i dont recieve a letter within 14 days then there could be a loophole "if" i did get caught.

He just said it has to be posted within 14 days. Knowing Royal Fail you could well be waiting a month before it turns up