Gatso got me at 70mph. How fooked am i?

30-6shooter · 27-02-2005 10:40am #1

Gateo flashed me at about 70mph -ish whilst overtaking on a national road, with its new 50mph limit.

Am i completely fooked now. Im on my 1st insurance policy in my own name, on a provisional. I cant believe my retardedness. Will this be only 2 penalty points or more??? Im insured with Quinn direct, will it put my renewal up by much? I hope to have a fiull licence by then anyway.

lomb · 27-02-2005 10:41am

30-6shooter wrote:

Gateo flashed me at about 70mph -ish whilst overtaking on a national road, with its new 50mph limit.

Am i completely fooked now. Im on my 1st insurance policy in my own name, on a provisional. I cant believe my retardedness. Will this be only 2 penalty points or more??? Im insured with Quinn direct, will it put my renewal up by much? I hope to have a fiull licence by then anyway.

only 2 points shouldnt affect insurance. that gatso may not have even had film in it-wait and see.

AlienGav · 27-02-2005 10:51am

Cough.... ehem.... check this out...

Click here

Crazy Japs, they think of everything!

D!ve^Bomb! · 27-02-2005 11:03am

you really are a moron

AlienGav · 27-02-2005 11:09am

D!ve^Bomb! wrote:

you really are a moron

Oh little D!ve^Bomb! Are you really this sad and pathetic?
Are you going to troll every fcuking post I make?

Fcuk off please.
-gav

D!ve^Bomb! · 27-02-2005 11:11am

AlienGav wrote:

Oh little D!ve^Bomb! Are you really this sad and pathetic?
Are you going to troll every fcuking post I make?

Fcuk off please.
-gav

you're doing that just fine by yourself

elexes · 27-02-2005 11:53am

a well he did give you what looks like a good solution to your problom for future reference .

30-6shooter · 27-02-2005 12:00pm

How long should it take to come in the post, if i did get caught.
Once the gatso flashes,,, does that not mean there is film in it?

Dingatron · 27-02-2005 12:05pm

They flash regardless of whether theres film in them or not AFAIK.

D!ve^Bomb! · 27-02-2005 12:06pm

30-6shooter wrote:

How long should it take to come in the post, if i did get caught.
Once the gatso flashes,,, does that not mean there is film in it?

you're probably gonna loose your licence and get a fine that you'll be payin off for the rest of your life.. jail time would be much better imo

Shing · 27-02-2005 12:14pm

- Two Penalty Points
- Around €80 Speeding Fine

As said before, this is provided that your photograph was taken. As for the insurance, it's really down to the policy of the insurance company with regards to the penalty points.

Regards,
Wai Shing

30-6shooter · 27-02-2005 12:53pm

Thanks for the advice lads.
Should i know within 2 weeks whether i got caught or not?

Shing · 27-02-2005 12:56pm

I heard that all the details are sent out at the end of each month. But I can't be certain. So depending on when/if you photo was taken, it could be over the next few days or at the end of March.

Regards,
Wai Shing

Rew · 27-02-2005 1:02pm

Isn't 20mph over the limit counted as dangerous driving?

John R · 27-02-2005 2:10pm

AlienGav wrote:

Cough.... ehem.... check this out...

Click here

Crazy Japs, they think of everything!

'tis a pity the gatsos take a picture of the rear number plate.

30-6shooter · 27-02-2005 2:19pm

Is it the rear plate they take the pic of for definite???
How clean would the plate have to be for them to be able to read it? Mine was a tad dirty.

highdef · 27-02-2005 5:19pm

What speed were you traveling at before you began the overtaking procedure: ie: what speed was the car in front going at?

30-6shooter · 27-02-2005 5:23pm

Hey, I was stuch behind 3 cars. The car in front was doing about 40 and causing a tailbk. As usual in this country, the car behind the slow lad wouldnt overtake. So i had to overtake the 3 of them in 1 go. I was doing 35-40 before i began to overtake.

cormie · 27-02-2005 5:33pm

From another thread I was informed it's ok to break the limit if you are overtaking :eek:

ando · 27-02-2005 5:43pm

your misinformed

Shing · 27-02-2005 5:54pm

Perhaps each of the three drivers knew that there was a GATSO in the vicinity. And that's why they were at 40 mph. Can't really blame them now, can you?

Overtaking is definitely not an excuse for going over the speed limit. At most, I think it's arguable to be over the speed limit by 5%. In a 50 mph zone, that's 52.5 mph.

There's really no way to appeal. Just accept the penalty and learn from your mistake. You never know, you might get away with the penalty.

Regards,
Wai Shing

Our man in Havana · 27-02-2005 6:03pm

D!ve^Bomb! wrote:

you're probably gonna loose your licence and get a fine that you'll be payin off for the rest of your life.. jail time would be much better imo

If you have nothing constructive to say then please stay quiet.

highdef · 27-02-2005 6:08pm

Ok so the car in front was doing about 10mph under limit (I'll stick with imperial limits for this thread!) and was therefore obstructing the flow of traffic. Now AFAIK, the ROTR book says that maximum amount of cars you may overtake in one go is 3, provided it is safe to do so (correct me if I am wrong). Now I'm assuming the the overtaking procedure went through without a hitch (ie; no oncoming cars having to swerve to avoid you or anything like that). The ROTR also states that an overtaking procedure should be made as quickly as possible. This leads to a grey area. If 30-6shooter were to increase his speed from 40 - 50 to overtake a car, it will take some time to do so and it does not appear to a particularly safe thing to do. But then this is where the grey area in the ROTR comes in. Whilst it does not directly say that you can travel above the speed limit in order to overtake, it does say that you should complete the manouver as quickly as possible. This can easily be interpreted as signal, accelerate and begin to overtake. In order to complete the overtake quickly, you must travel above the speed limit or else you could spend far too long on the wrong side of the road. If it was completely illegal to go 1mph over the limit whilst overtaking, then 1 car traveling 10 mph under the limit could literally cause a tailback miles long and after a while, actually slow down the economy of the country (ever so slightly) due to late deliveries, etc. When you get the photo, tell us what the pic looks like? If it shows the slow moving car traveling along with a huge line of traffic behind it and you on the "wrong" side of the road, could you argue that is is obvious that you are in the middle of an overtaking manouver and that accounts for your high speed. Although personally, I think needing to accelarate to 30mph more than the car in front does appear a bit unneccessary, unless of course you knew there was traffic approaching from the opposie direction and you just floored it hoping to get past in time - Not accusing you of this. Just thinking of different scenarios. I myself wouldn't leave myself in a situation whereby I need to have my speed 30mph higher than the car in front in order to overtake it a car. The only reason I can see for this unneccessary amount of accelaration is that there was oncoming traffic approaching and you were trying to get passed as quickly as possible.

Alun · 27-02-2005 6:08pm

Shing wrote:

Perhaps each of the three drivers knew that there was a GATSO in the vicinity. And that's why they were at 40 mph. Can't really blame them now, can you?

That's typical Irish behaviour too ... see a police car in the distance? Slow down to at least 10mph below the legal speed limit "just in case". All they had to do was stick to the actual speed limit which in this case was 80km/h (~50mph). I've seen people slam on the anchors from 100km/h down to about 80km/h on the N11 because they saw a police car on the other side of the carriageway!

30-6shooter · 27-02-2005 6:15pm

I dont mind paying the E80 fine,, and ill make sure i dont get any more points, so the 2 points wont be too bad.

But is there a case of dangerous driving here too??? As some1 mentioned, which im more concerned about.

highdef · 27-02-2005 6:18pm

That's typical Irish behaviour too ... see a police car in the distance?

I really hate that too. The amount of people driving northbound on the M50 who literally (well not really literally!!!) drop anchor when they get to the speed camera towards the end of the M50, even though it's still a 120Km/H speed limit at this point. And to make it evn worse, the majority of the cars are already traveling UNDER the limit before they decide to slam on the brakes and drop down to, oh maybe 80KM/H :mad:
Still, 30-6shooter, let us know how you get on with your ticket, if you even get one that is!!!

Our man in Havana · 27-02-2005 6:19pm

There will be no Dangerous Driving charge. The burden of proof is too high to be proven from a single photograph.

For a DD charge they must witness you driving dangerously, this requires a Garda witness to actaully stop you.

I would not worry. A friend got a ticket for 61mph in a 40 and it was the standard €80 fine.

highdef · 27-02-2005 6:21pm

I bet there wasn't even film in the camera!!! The chances are that there wasn't anyway! As a matter of interest, where did this happen? Can't remember a location being mentioned.
Going off-line for a while now so I'll read the reply in an a few hours.

Rew · 27-02-2005 6:24pm

Yeah i said it about the DD. By the sounds of it you were lucky, over taking 3 cars at 70mph in a 50mph, they probably could have pulled you for DD. But it probably sounds alot worse written down then it was in real life. Had you L plates up BTW?

30-6shooter · 27-02-2005 6:29pm

I had just pulled in i think when the camera went off (or was pulling in),, so i doubt they`d see the other cars. At most they might see one i reckon.

I have L plates up, but my bk window is tinted and u can barley see the back one.

Ps: it was practically a straight stretch of road. Camera is located before Balbriggin. Its before the turn off i have to make in order to head for Balbriggin.(if i drove straight on i`d be heading onto the motorway or dual carraigeway i believe).

D!ve^Bomb! · 27-02-2005 6:36pm

put it this way..overtaking 3 cars??? get real man.. there was absolutely no reason for you to do that.. you got what you deserved... think next time

Our man in Havana · 27-02-2005 6:47pm

D!ve^Bomb! wrote:

put it this way..overtaking 3 cars??? get real man.. there was absolutely no reason for you to do that.. you got what you deserved... think next time

Did I tell you to be quiet?

D!ve^Bomb! · 27-02-2005 6:50pm

no

Pataman · 27-02-2005 7:15pm

NTL technical: unless you have a blue light on the roof you cannot break the spead limit regardless of whether you want to complete the manouver or not.

Rew · 27-02-2005 7:26pm

Actually there are more exemptions to the speed limits then just those with blue lights just not us us mere mortals.

BrianD · 27-02-2005 8:47pm

Where was the GATSo?

Fixed GATSO's take a photo of the rear of the car, mobile ones (van) get the front.

lomb · 27-02-2005 9:03pm

Pataman wrote:

NTL technical: unless you have a blue light on the roof you cannot break the spead limit regardless of whether you want to complete the manouver or not.

i remember about 8 years ago, there was an ambulance driver in dublin who killed a pedestrian speeding in the call of duty. all drivers were obviously told to obey the limits for a short time after.

i remember i was driving along the nass road when the limit was 40 around harris hino, and an ambulance had his lights flashing. i thought he was going rather slow and overtook him doing 50mph.
i saw the look on his face in my rear view mirror. absolutely priceless ill never forget it.

is_that_so · 27-02-2005 9:15pm

Gatso cameras are supposed to be set to the Speed limit +10% plus 2 m.ph ( guess that's 5 kph), although this may be a UK setting only.
There was a pilot project to roll out digital cameras for Gatsos, It was used initially at Islandbridge. I am not sure how far this rollout has now gone but it is not impossible that the camera is DIGITAL inside your Gatso.
You might get some allowance for being 10% over but beyond you're likely to get done.
As a small aside the German points system operates on the basis of the percentage you are over the speed limit. Double the speed limit means automatic licence loss. Big fan of that myself

Stark · 27-02-2005 9:19pm

i saw the look on his face in my rear view mirror. absolutely priceless ill never forget it.

I can just imagine

I can't believe ambulances aren't allowed bend the speed limits anymore. I mean if a pedestrian gets knocked down by an ambulance with full sirens blaring, then he/she's a Darwin award candidate. Do they know how many lives were lost by extra time taken for ambulances to arrive at their destinations?

I remember being in the car with my parents in France before and we were nearly run off a road by an ambulance overtaking us with the lights flashing (it started pushing inwards as it was overtaking). Once the ambulance overtook us it turned off the lights and drove along in front of us at something like 50kph in a 90kph zone. Apparently the driver was in a bad mood and just wanted to be a prick

As a small aside the German points system operates on the basis of the percentage you are over the speed limit. Double the speed limit means automatic licence loss. Big fan of that myself

That does sound like a good idea.

Capt'n Midnight · 27-02-2005 9:21pm

is_that_so wrote:

As a small aside the German points system operates on the basis of the percentage you are over the speed limit. Double the speed limit means automatic licence loss. Big fan of that myself

I also like the Finnish way of relating the fine to the defendants income, in the past far too many people thought the £50 was a tax and not a fine. Also like the Canadian idea of doubling the fine for each 10 mph you go over the limit, some guy got caught doing 130mph in a 30mph zone - ouch...

is_that_so · 27-02-2005 9:24pm

30-6shooter wrote:

I had just pulled in i think when the camera went off (or was pulling in),, so i doubt they`d see the other cars. At most they might see one i reckon.

I have L plates up, but my bk window is tinted and u can barley see the back one.

Ps: it was practically a straight stretch of road. Camera is located before Balbriggin. Its before the turn off i have to make in order to head for Balbriggin.(if i drove straight on i`d be heading onto the motorway or dual carraigeway i believe).

Quite likely you will get a ticket from that camera. End of next month if it comes. Overtaking 3 cars is particularly silly and doesn't warrant boasting about at all. One day you'll meet a truck coming the other way.
I do empathise with your frustration but at times like this turn up the radio, look around and chill out.
As Hibernian say in their course , "Speed limits are not targets to aim for" .
Your aim in driving is to get from A to B without putting you or anyone else in danger.

lomb · 27-02-2005 9:25pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

some guy got caught doing 130mph in a 30mph zone - ouch...

must have been hard to explain.....

is_that_so · 27-02-2005 9:26pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

I also like the Finnish way of relating the fine to the defendants income, in the past far too many people thought the £50 was a tax and not a fine. Also like the Canadian idea of doubling the fine for each 10 mph you go over the limit, some guy got caught doing 130mph in a 30mph zone - ouch...

Absolutely, a lot of common sense in all of that.

Seth Brundle · 27-02-2005 9:43pm

There is so much incorrect information within this thread.
1. Points do not affect insurance unless you are insured with Hibernian (even via a broker dealing with them).
2. there were originally 22 Gatsos. There have been a number of them vandalised so even though it is more likely that it was empty (yet still flashing), there is an increased chance of it containing a camera.
3. This would only amount to a speeding offence and there is no issue of a huge fine or jail.
4. Apparently the cameras can still get the reg even if the plate is filthy (told to me by a garda)
5. it is not ok to exceed the speed limit unless you are an emergency services vehicle or a TD's chauffeur driving the TDs wife home from a footie match. The fact that the ROTR state that an overtaking manouvre should be done asap, this does not give carte blanche to exceed the speed limit - if it did then in theory everyone driving in the overtaking lane should be allowed to speed.

Squirrel · 27-02-2005 9:57pm

Stark wrote:

I can just imagine I can't believe ambulances aren't allowed bend the speed limits anymore. I mean if a pedestrian gets knocked down by an ambulance with full sirens blaring, then he/she's a Darwin award candidate. Do they know how many lives were lost by extra time taken for ambulances to arrive at their destinations?

From what I remember it was a person with a learning disability from Cheeverstown, I'm sure you didn't know, but it could be taken in bad taste

mike65 · 27-02-2005 10:42pm

D!ve^Bomb! banned for a week. The next time its for good.

Mike.

Stephen · 27-02-2005 10:56pm

Thank christ. Its about time.

Our man in Havana · 27-02-2005 10:58pm

mike65 wrote:

D!ve^Bomb! banned for a week. The next time its for good.

Mike.

Good call there Mike! My 2000th post aswell woot!

30-6shooter · 27-02-2005 11:18pm

Overtaking 3 cars is particularly silly and doesn't warrant boasting about at all. One day you'll meet a truck coming the other way.

Its a straight road. There was nothing coming the other way at all. And i wasnt boasting about anything.

I was practically in line with the camera when i saw the flash, i was directly opposite it more or less when it flashed, so i dont understand how it could have gotten a decent pic of the bk of my car?? If the pic was taken when it flashed then it would seem to me that it has a nice pic of my face and the side of my car. Ill just have to stress it out and hope nothing comes in the post.

Shing · 27-02-2005 11:28pm

It would not make any sense for the camera to be positioned to take the photo of the side of the car.

There was a feature on Top Gear where they tried to determine what speed you must be at in order to beat the camera. It required over 200 mph.

Two photographs are taken. And they are compared. Meaning that there will be no mistake in wrongfully fining any cars around you.

Regards,
Wai Shing

Seth Brundle · 27-02-2005 11:32pm

If it flashed just as you were passing it then it probably would not have caught your car. Was there another car speeding just in front of you?

Gatso got me at 70mph. How fooked am i?

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