Fear of speed cameras

hughjohn

Why oh why do people slow down to 80 km/h when they encounter a camera while driving in a 100 km/h?

I was driving on the N25 last week at 100 km/h .A carcame up behind me and overtook . Then he spotted the van ,stood on the brakes and cut right in front of me and slowed to 80! I had to move into the outside lane to avoid hitting him, and proceeded to overtake him . In order to do this I sped up to 110 and you can guess the rest , I end up on the camera with the fine and points. Idiot does a dangerous manoeuvre and gets away scot free. Very annoying.

I was considering challenging this . What are your experiences of doing this?

allthedoyles

Its a mental block and spur of the moment .-- possible that driver has already accumulated too many penalty points , and cannot take a chance again

Ded_Zebra

80! most people slow down to 60 at least :rolleyes:

Stheno

hughjohn wrote: »

Why oh why do people slow down to 80 km/h when they encounter a camera while driving in a 100 km/h?

I was driving on the N25 last week at 100 km/h .A carcame up behind me and overtook . Then he spotted the van ,stood on the brakes and cut right in front of me and slowed to 80! I had to move into the outside lane to avoid hitting him, and proceeded to overtake him . In order to do this I sped up to 110 and you can guess the rest , I end up on the camera with the fine and points. Idiot does a dangerous manoeuvre and gets away scot free. Very annoying.

I was considering challenging this . What are your experiences of doing this?

I was driving on the M1 tonight at about 130kph *yes I was speeding* and spent my entire time keeping an eye out behind me for Northern Drivers who driver like the clappers so I'd know to move in, and also watching the inside lane as I approached traffic (it was busy so I was lazy and chose to drive in the outside lane rather than move in and out like a yoyo)

I saw a slow moving vehicle 500m in front in the inside lane with a car behind it, and anticipated that they would try to close the gap and overtake, sure enough they did with about 75m between me and them, I slowed down having anticipated that they would and all was fine.

I tend to take the view as someone who does chose to drive at/above the speed limit that it is up to me to anticipate the road ahead and read it appropriately, so if that was me, I'd give myself a good smack for not seeing the van (they are positioned so you've a fair bit of time to slow down/adjust your driivng) and wait for the nasty letter in the post.

edit: slowing to less than the speed limit is just a calming thing for the other driver, it's a guarantee they can't be fined etc.

flazio

I'll admit, I was driving on the N63 Galway bound the other night, and approaching Mount Talbot I encoutered a Go Safe van, Was doing 90-100 in what I'm sure now was a 100 zone but my initial thought was, 'What if I missed a lower speed limit sign, so I slowed to 60 before the back of the van could see me. (the van was on the other side of the road with driving cab facing me as I approached)
I'll admit it wasn't the brightest thing to do, thankfully I was completely alone on the road. I could have legally gone on at my current pace but as soon as you see those vans, a doubt comes in (Am I sure about the speed limit here?) That's my rationale.

Also, the cut i speed could have been for other reasons, (obstruction on the road for example) Overtaking them again might have been dangerous, plus once you're both clear of the van, the other car would probably be back up your bumper again.

Stheno

flazio wrote: »

Also, the cut i speed could have been for other reasons, (obstruction on the road for example) Overtaking them again might have been dangerous, plus once you're both clear of the van, the other car would probably be back up your bumper again.

That was pretty much my point, be aware of other road users and how they might behave, and drive on that basis.

Not saying I'm perfect or anything, but that mantra has stopped me from many a potential accident, let alone a fine for speeding.

djimi

Its human nature; even when I know Im below the speed limit my first instinct upon seeing a camera is to think "oh ****" and check my speedo.

Also OP, if you had to react like that for a car that slowed from 100 to 80 then you were driving far too close to them to begin with.

whomitconcerns

same thing as people do when they spot a garda car, the amount of people who seem afraid to pass them out is unbelievable, even when they are doing under the speed-limit on the m50!

Gokei

Of guess a lot of drivers have no clue what the speed limit is on the road they're on at the time, so err on the side of caution and throw out the anchors.

Truckermal

hughjohn wrote: »

Why oh why do people slow down to 80 km/h when they encounter a camera while driving in a 100 km/h?

I was driving on the N25 last week at 100 km/h .A carcame up behind me and overtook . Then he spotted the van ,stood on the brakes and cut right in front of me and slowed to 80! I had to move into the outside lane to avoid hitting him, and proceeded to overtake him . In order to do this I sped up to 110 and you can guess the rest , I end up on the camera with the fine and points. Idiot does a dangerous manoeuvre and gets away scot free. Very annoying.

I was considering challenging this . What are your experiences of doing this?

If you had been driving at a safe distance from the vehicle in front you would have been able to slow down in plenty of time. Dont bother appealing it just open your eyes and watch where you are going.

Jordan5372

Truckermal wrote: »

If you had been driving at a safe distance from the vehicle in front you would have been able to slow down in plenty of time. Dont bother appealing it just open your eyes and watch where you are going.

Sorry but im on Hughjohn side of the argument here. He said the car behind him overtook him, the car overtaking may have cut in to early which would have put a unsafe distance between him and the overtaking car, the overtaking car then slammed in his brakes, forcing "hughjohn" to have to overtake as the distance was to little to stop caused by the guy overtaking. From what i can see "Hughjohn" did nothing wrong at all.

Anan1

Jordan5372 wrote: »

Sorry but im on Hughjohn side of the argument here. He said the car behind him overtook him, the car overtaking may have cut in to early which would have put a unsafe distance between him and the overtaking car, the overtaking car then slammed in his brakes, forcing "hughjohn" to have to overtake as the distance was to little to stop caused by the guy overtaking. From what i can see "Hughjohn" did nothing wrong at all.

Did he force the hughjohn to accelerate to 110km/h?

Truckermal

Jordan5372 wrote: »

Sorry but im on Hughjohn side of the argument here. He said the car behind him overtook him, the car overtaking may have cut in to early which would have put a unsafe distance between him and the overtaking car, the overtaking car then slammed in his brakes, forcing "hughjohn" to have to overtake as the distance was to little to stop caused by the guy overtaking. From what i can see "Hughjohn" did nothing wrong at all.

Even so he still should have maintained a safe distance, remember the two second rule..

It BeeMee

Truckermal wrote: »

Even so he still should have maintained a safe distance, remember the two second rule..

How do you keep 2 seconds from a vehicle that's overtaking you?

Anan1

Truckermal wrote: »

Even so he still should have maintained a safe distance, remember the two second rule..

Which he did, by moving into the overtaking lane. Thing is, he then accelerated to over the speed limit..

Truckermal

It BeeMee wrote: »

How do you keep 2 seconds from a vehicle that's overtaking you?

By adjusting your speed appropriately, god this is very simple ROTR stuff. I do agree the guy that was overtaking the OP was a clown but I cannot understand why he accelerated again.

Truckermal

Truckermal wrote: »

By adjusting your speed appropriately, god this is very simple ROTR stuff. I do agree the guy that was overtaking the OP was a clown but I cannot understand why he accelerated again.

So if somebody overtakes you and proceeds to pull in 0.1 seconds in front of you, you have to do an emergency brake just before he pulls in to stay withing rules of the road?

Anan1

samih wrote: »

So if somebody overtakes you and proceeds to pull in 0.1 seconds in front of you, you have to do an emergency brake just before he pulls in to stay withing rules of the road?

Forget about the ROTR for a minute - if someone pulls in on top of you on a dual carriageway then safety dictates that you either brake or swerve.

discombobulate

Is the N25 a dual carriageway where it happened? I don't understand how someone pulled in front so you had to speed up to overtake them. If you were going 100 and they pulled in front of you at 80 do you not swerve out at the same speed your travelling instead of accelerating?

Anan1

discombobulate wrote: »

Is the N25 a dual carriageway where it happened? I don't understand how someone pulled in front so you had to speed up to overtake them. If you were going 100 and they pulled in front of you at 80 do you not swerve out at the same speed your travelling instead of accelerating?

In fairness, you do want to get past them smartly and then back in. Just not in front of a camera.

Supergurrier

Sounds like someone was going to fast and/or driving too close to the car ahead.

This is purely going by the OP

discombobulate

Anan1 wrote: »

In fairness, you do want to get past them smartly and then back in. Just not in front of a camera.

On a single lane road yes but if its a dual carriageway there's no rush in overtaking?

pa990

Why didn't the op see the speed cam.
The other driver did.

If cars ahead are lighting up their brake lights, it usually means something is up.

Read the Road

Anan1

discombobulate wrote: »

On a single lane road yes but if its a dual carriageway there's no rush in overtaking?

Even on a dual carriageway there's a lot more to go wrong when you're alongside another car than when you're not - and perhaps this car more than most.

discombobulate

Anan1 wrote: »

Even on a dual carriageway there's a lot more to go wrong when you're alongside another car than when you're not - and perhaps this car more than most.

Still doesn't explain my point or provide a genuine reason why the OP thinks they'd have any chance of appealing. My reaction if someone pulled in front of me would be to hit the brakes not the accelerator!

Anan1

discombobulate wrote: »

Still doesn't explain my point or provide a genuine reason why the OP thinks they'd have any chance of appealing. My reaction if someone pulled in front of me would be to hit the brakes not the accelerator!

I think the idea of appealing is a joke too!

mickdw

Sounds to me like op didn't see van at all. He just saw car cut him up then decided to pass him again in a fit of bravado. Op then gets caught by speed van.
The op reads like the worst excuse ive ever heard. There is no valid reason for the acceleration if the situation was as described.

Zubeneschamali

Truckermal wrote: »

If you had been driving at a safe distance from the vehicle in front you would have been able to slow down in plenty of time.

Read the OP again: he was cruising, a car overtook him, pulled in in front and stood on the brakes.

I probably would have stood on the brakes myself, but it depends on just how mad the maneuver the overtaker made. We weren't there.

ironclaw

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Read the OP again: he was cruising, a car overtook him, pulled in in front and stood on the brakes.

I probably would have stood on the brakes myself, but it depends on just how mad the maneuver the overtaker made. We weren't there.

If someone pulls in front of you and jams on the brakes, your first instinct may be to move left or right to avoid , but that certainly isn't followed by immediate hard acceleration to pass

Also its pretty ridiculous that in the time it took for the person to cut in front, slow the OP to 80km/h, OP notices they are doing 80km/h and then have the time to overtake and accelerate to 110km/h, that they still hadn't passed the van. 5 seconds at those speeds is over 100m travelled.

And anyway, above all, OP was speeding. So its case closed and an appeal is utter nonsense.

I always slow down passing vans, at least 20% under the limit and then drop a gear when I pass and hoon back to the limit. Personally I just feel it lets other drivers now there is a government ATM near by and also highlights the fact that they don't work because you only slow down when you see them

Zubeneschamali

ironclaw wrote: »

I always slow down passing vans, at least 20% under the limit

I'd never slow below the limit as shown on my speedo, which overreads a little.

Slowing to 80 km/h in a hundred zone is taking the pee, nobody needs to know there's a van there if everyone is doing 99 max.

Scartbeg

hughjohn wrote: »

Why oh why do people slow down to 80 km/h when they encounter a camera while driving in a 100 km/h?

I was driving on the N25 last week at 100 km/h .A carcame up behind me and overtook . Then he spotted the van ,stood on the brakes and cut right in front of me and slowed to 80!

This grinds my gears too. These people obviously don't know the speed limit on the road, hence why they react in a panic. I frequently end up the back end of these types while I cruise along at the speed limit.

An if anyone says, they don't know what speed they were doing... as good as admitting you're not fit to be on the road, if you can't eyeball the speedo every 30 seconds.

_Kaiser_

ironclaw wrote: »

I always slow down passing vans, at least 20% under the limit and then drop a gear when I pass and hoon back to the limit. Personally I just feel it lets other drivers now there is a government ATM near by and also highlights the fact that they don't work because you only slow down when you see them

I don't slow down at all.. I might lift off the accelerator but this idea of creeping past camera vans or afraid to pass a squad car is something I think is ridiculous!

I also have no problem flashing oncoming traffic to let them know there's a camera van ahead either as 99.9% of the time they're positioned in a location to maximise revenue/stats, not safety

Oh and speaking of stats: 250k km in the past 5 years and 0 points.