Go Safe Van Lights

Mint Sauce

Dont usally be out driving late at night, but yesterday evening was going along at about 90 in a 100 zone. Came round the corner to see a Go Safe van, and what looked like a row of LED lights above the back doors came on when me and car in front aproached, and switched off again just before we passed. Was on for about a second or so. Was this the camera flash and do they come on for every car, or would the operator just have been opening the door to look or check for something.

obezyana

Might of been the way they light up your plate in the dark ya know infra red and all that crack.

Mint Sauce

obezyana wrote: »

Might of been the way they light up your plate in the dark ya know infra red and all that crack.

Yes, but for every car?

pippip

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Yes, but for every car?

Were they bright? Are you sure they turned off and not a case of you have to be at the right angle to see them?

ironclaw

This is a GoSafe van, and just above the door on the left you can see a little black box. Thats an infrared flash unit and illuminates for every car. Every car is photographed but only those speeding are kept on file for fine issuing. At least, that was my review from all the DVR footage both myself and others have uploaded. GoSafe has a very clever light compensation system for dealing with rapid light change i.e. Dips to Heads etc.

If you have a DVR, it will appear as a dull white light as you approach and then a bright light as you pass. You can't miss it.

Its generally invisible to the human eye but may appear as a very dull red colour if you are particularly observant. It certainly will not be anywhere near as bright as a brake light for example.

Photo credit is care of another Boardsie here.

Mint Sauce

pippip wrote: »

Were they bright? Are you sure they turned off and not a case of you have to be at the right angle to see them?

Light was bright enough, ie, it stood out, not dazzling, not quite a flash, but stayed on for that second or so, and pretty sure was off before I passed.

@ironclaw. Re the picture, the light I seen did not come from the black box above the left door, but appeared to come from above where the doors meet.

tmg

hey

so I was behind a gosafe van last night headed up into sandyford, and it had a small 4 inch square of green LEDs on the rear of the van, in the center of the roof. sounds like the same place the OP is describing

thought it looked a bit wierd, but it wasnt that bright. I could see it from quite a distance.

No Pants

Could they just be there to stop people from driving into the back of the van in the dark?

pa990

those LED lights on the roof, over the back door are for the operator, so that when he steps out of the van to do the whole setup malarkey he doesnt trip or fall into a hole.

If they flashed on for a few seconds, they guy in the van probably just flicked the switch for whatever reason or by accident.

As has been said earlier, the flash used for the camera is not bright to the human eye.

Bogger77

pa990 wrote: »

those LED lights on the roof, over the back door are for the operator, so that when he steps out of the van to do the whole setup malarkey he doesnt trip or fall into a hole.

If they flashed on for a few seconds, they guy in the van probably just flicked the switch for whatever reason or by accident.

As has been said earlier, the flash used for the camera is not bright to the human eye.

Saw these on a van outside Birr on Sunday night.

Lights are orange in color, not bright, about the same as indicators. They came as the car in front of me approached the van, switched off before they passed, but the car's lights were still shining on the back of the van, so it's not reflection from the victim's lights. (they were doing at least 80kph in a 60 zone) Same occurred when I approached and passed the van, and I was doing 50kph as I knew the van was there.

Seen similar on other vans, it appears to be a new thing, maybe it's being rolled out. Some vans have orange led lights on the back turned on all the time, others seem to have them only turn on when car approaching.

ironclaw

Well, I can categorically say for sure they are not part of the camera system. The camera is IR based, very specialised. As ridiculous as it sounds, and seeing as they are orange, it could be as No Pants says, a warning for drivers as you approach. The chevrons on the back are not reflective (Conveniently) and there could have been a few near misses.

Have to get some DVR footage or similar before we can debunk it for sure.

Bogger77

ironclaw wrote: »

Well, I can categorically say for sure they are not part of the camera system. The camera is IR based, very specialised. As ridiculous as it sounds, and seeing as they are orange, it could be as No Pants says, a warning for drivers as you approach. The chevrons on the back are not reflective (Conveniently) and there could have been a few near misses.

Have to get some DVR footage or similar before we can debunk it for sure.

no one is saying, and I definitely am not suggesting that they're related in anyway to the camera system. Most people know how IR works, and how it can't be seen by naked eye

But there's been a recent shift, and I travel over 300 miles a week after 12 pm, where at night, the van's are using warning lights, and in some cases, they've been sitting with parking lights on where previously they were sitting in total dark

ironclaw

Bogger77 wrote: »

But there's been a recent shift, and I travel over 300 miles a week after 12 pm, where at night, the van's are using warning lights, and in some cases, they've been sitting with parking lights on where previously they were sitting in total dark

Hmm. Interesting. The only reasoning I can think is they were having near misses or from a Health & Safety standpoint. For instance, you can't work on the side of a road without a high Vis. I would imagine the case is the same here.

Mint Sauce

Bogger77 wrote: »

Saw these on a van outside Birr on Sunday night.

Lights are orange in color, not bright, about the same as indicators. They came as the car in front of me approached the van, switched off before they passed, but the car's lights were still shining on the back of the van, so it's not reflection from the victim's lights. (they were doing at least 80kph in a 60 zone) Same occurred when I approached and passed the van, and I was doing 50kph as I knew the van was there.

Seen similar on other vans, it appears to be a new thing, maybe it's being rolled out. Some vans have orange led lights on the back turned on all the time, others seem to have them only turn on when car approaching.

Well these ones were definitely white in colour.

Lardy

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Light was bright enough, ie, it stood out, not dazzling, not quite a flash, but stayed on for that second or so, and pretty sure was off before I passed.

@ironclaw. Re the picture, the light I seen did not come from the black box above the left door, but appeared to come from above where the doors meet.

The light above the doors, in the centre, is a working light so the driver can see what he is doing while setting up at night. It is switched on and off from inside the van. You probably passed the van just as the driver had finished setting up and turned off the light.

Also, the faint red/ orange lights are the vans DVR cameras. They turn off automatically in bright light. (Daylight/ headlights)

Lardy

ironclaw wrote: »

That must be an old pic, the DVR system is missing from it...