Randy Butternubs
Über Member
Hi all. I recently went on a (motor) Bikesafe course run by the police. It was rather good and I recommend those of you with motorbikes to check it out. One of the officers said a couple of things I hadn't heard before which I thought were pretty significant.
There's been a lot of talk about 20 limits - they they're great and we should have more of them, or that they are useless in practice as they are rarely enforced. Or even that it's been publicly announced that a new 20 limit will not be enforced.
What I hadn't heard is that 20mph limits are legally impossible to enforce. Apparently car speedometers are only legally required to be accurate over 30mph. For this reason speed cameras in 20mph limits are set to trigger at 36mph as they are for 30mph limits. Given that most speedometers read optimistically to help prevent drivers from getting into trouble you would likely need to be traveling at an indicated 40mph to set off the camera!
The other thing he said was that, as of last week, red light cameras will now be triggered by (motor vehicle) ASL violations. This seems rather harsh to me as the penalty is apparently the same as if you jumped a light - 3 points and a (£60?) fine. It would be nice if it stopped people parking in them though.
I would be interested to know if anyone has heard anything about the above points and can confim/deny. Please weigh in with opinions too
There's been a lot of talk about 20 limits - they they're great and we should have more of them, or that they are useless in practice as they are rarely enforced. Or even that it's been publicly announced that a new 20 limit will not be enforced.
What I hadn't heard is that 20mph limits are legally impossible to enforce. Apparently car speedometers are only legally required to be accurate over 30mph. For this reason speed cameras in 20mph limits are set to trigger at 36mph as they are for 30mph limits. Given that most speedometers read optimistically to help prevent drivers from getting into trouble you would likely need to be traveling at an indicated 40mph to set off the camera!
The other thing he said was that, as of last week, red light cameras will now be triggered by (motor vehicle) ASL violations. This seems rather harsh to me as the penalty is apparently the same as if you jumped a light - 3 points and a (£60?) fine. It would be nice if it stopped people parking in them though.
I would be interested to know if anyone has heard anything about the above points and can confim/deny. Please weigh in with opinions too