was i or wasn't i caught speeding yesterday?

laoisfan

Hi

now before ye all start...I do not break the speed limit ever (as far as i can recall that is).

yesterday was on my way home, was in a bit of a hurry (still no excuse). i was just passing the curragh (kildare), heading towards laois. there was a motor cycle cop with a speed camera. i was doing between 80-85 mph (too lazy to convert to km).

now the thing is everyone was more or less moving constant i.e. it was not like i was suddenly catching up on everyone. cars in left/right lane were all equally spaced apart and doing the same speed.

so my question....was i caught? if i am i will take it on the chin (it was stupid of me but i was in a hurry to get home, no excuse though).

and, if i am caught what is the consequences? fine and/or points and/or court appearance?

lesson learned believe me!!

--laoisfan

jd

laoisfan wrote:

Hi

i was doing between 80-85 mph (too lazy to convert to km).

Was this on a motorway?
80 mile an hour = 128 km/hr.
Speedos are often out by about 10% so you may have been doing 116 or so, which is less than the speed limit.
jd

laoisfan

yeah this was on the motorway....so really not sure what his camera was registering......

to be fair...i was speeding so if i was caught i will take my punishment (no choice really )

but what is the punishment? is it 2pts and a fine (and do i have to go to court or can i pay the fine at my local cop shop?) or is it 4pts and a fine?

it would be my first offence ever but sure it was my own fault!!! no else to blame except myself!!

--laoisfan

BrianD3

You weren't caught. He would have stopped you had he wanted to give you a ticket. He will have been using a radar or laser speed "gun" NOT a speed "camera".

laoisfan

hmmm so i was not caught? are you serious? well good then (if it is true).

but it was a wake up call. i will pay more attention in future (and have a bit more consideration for others and myself....well for the next few weeks that is!! )

--laoisfan

daymobrew

Of course the question remains, why was a Garda on the motorway (safest class of road AFAIK)?
We could all list a ton of locations were his/her presence would make more sense.

delly

As said, you were defiently not caught. lol, i'd like to see a Garda biker with all the eqipment needed to take a recording, he'd be all over the place trying to hold on to his printer and monitor.

I have seen a biker at the middle flyover of the 3 Balbriggan exits of the M1 now and again. I've often been going over the limit, but for him to go to all the trouble of coming back onto the motorway to catch someone, i reckon that you'd have to be doing some speed. He'd be after the big prize, 160km/h+ maybe?

kippy

.I do not break the speed limit ever

You admit to driving between 80-85 mph. This is breaking the speed limit.

80 mile an hour = 128 km/hr.
Speedos are often out by about 10% so you may have been doing 116 or so, which is less than the speed limit.

What manner of science are you basing your 10% on?
I dont think they would be allowed on the market with a margin of error that big.

You look to be in the clear though especially since you werent stopped-most likely because as you mention

now the thing is everyone was more or less moving constant i.e. it was not like i was suddenly catching up on everyone. cars in left/right lane were all equally spaced apart and doing the same speed.

so the guard would really have to stop everyone in that line of traffic or pick out one unlucky person.

Of course the question remains, why was a Garda on the motorway (safest class of road AFAIK)?
We could all list a ton of locations were his/her presence would make more sense.

Fair point but speeding on any road is against the law-and in my opinion there arent enough of them on any roads.
Its good to see you got the wake up call this time and have another chance.

jd

Quote:
80 mile an hour = 128 km/hr.
Speedos are often out by about 10% so you may have been doing 116 or so, which is less than the speed limit.

What manner of science are you basing your 10% on?
I dont think they would be allowed on the market with a margin of error that big.

I have heard that speedometers tend to overstate the speed by as much as 10-15 %

a bit of googling

as it appears.

This is due to a strict EU car

manufacturing regulation which

ensures that a speedometer may

only overstate the speed at which

a vehicle is travelling. The variation

may range by up to 15pc.

In other words, a car clocked at

31mph by garda equipment could

be registering a speedometer

reading of up to 34mph.

In such circumstances, gardai

could argue that a driver should

have been aware from the speedometer

reading that he or she

was driving well in excess of the

limit.

Despite this, there was widespread

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/frontpagepdfs/2003/8586.pdf

laoisfan

i guess what i meant to say i have never broken the speed limit (actually serious about this) until yesterday......

but anyway, it certainly made me think about it and even though i was not caught...i will consider this a let off...so when i am going home this evening i will be more carefull to make sure i stay within the limit.

--laoisfan

kippy

Cheers for the clarification.
10-15% is a shocking amount to be out by.
I suppose as long as its overstating your speed then you dont have too much to worry about.
I did some more searching for more scientific info but couldnt get any.

cdebru

It could be 2 things

1 he was surveying the traffic in that area to see if speeding is a problem possibly for the site of a permanent speed camera in the future

2 he could be trying to frighten the ****e out of people like yourself who were over the speed limit and get you to slow down which I am guessing you did

memorex

Has anyone ever seen a Garda with a speed camera as opposed to just a speed gun? In my experience I've seen 2 main types of manned speed check:

1) motorbike gardai with speed gun - handheld, if they clock you speeding they'll either flag you down if its a straight road or go after you in pursuit

2) garda car with speed camera (sometimes on a tripod) similarly if they clock you they'll flag you over or radio to another garda who'll go after you

I've never seen a garda with a speed camera, unless they look exactly like speed guns. Do speed cameras like these these exist?

I am slightly suspicious that they do. I was on the limerick by-pass (100Kmp/h limit) and probably going 120-130. I passed a garda with a speed gun (not sure if it was mounted on a tripod, might have been). Pretty sure he must have clocked me. I slowed down expecting to see the blue lights, but they never appeared. So I thought he might have had a camera instead... Anyone any experience of this?

-mem

laoisfan

cdebru wrote:

2 he could be trying to frighten the ****e out of people like yourself who were over the speed limit and get you to slow down which I am guessing you did

yes i did slow down to the actual speed limit...did not frighten me but did make me realise what i should not have been doing....breaking the speed limit!!!

lesson learned!!

parsi

jd wrote:

Quote:
80 mile an hour = 128 km/hr.
Speedos are often out by about 10% so you may have been doing 116 or so, which is less than the speed limit.



I have heard that speedometers tend to overstate the speed by as much as 10-15 %

a bit of googling

as it appears.

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/frontpagepdfs/2003/8586.pdf

That's something I don't understand - ihow can they manufacture something taht will always at lease overstate the quantity it is measuring ? Any engineers out there who can explain it - I always thought that accuracy was measured in a plus/minus spread...

Victor

memorex wrote:

Has anyone ever seen a Garda with a speed camera as opposed to just a speed gun? In my experience I've seen 2 main types of manned speed check:

There are a handful of "special" bikes.