Mk7's front Radar

[marnie]

I have a Roadhawk dashcam in front of my rearview mirror, just as a record of my journeys and a witness. It records speed and location displayable on Googlemaps, useful on cases like the OP. I installed this after winning my case against a denying third party by getting CCTV from the local council.

[Finglonga]

I'm only asking in here as a conversation I was having with my old father in law totally unrelated about radar and how they tried to block it during the war, made me think about the Golf and its front radar. Could that in some way interfere with the signal from a radar gun?

First post, lurking for a while..... UK Police use laser speed detectors mostly now so basically if they can see you they can clock your speed even if you are in heavy traffic as all they do is make sure a dot on the view screen is on your vehicle. The distance they say they got you would be impossible with radar in heavy traffic.

[mrlapou]

Having used a hand held myself which is held in a hand and thus not a steady platform...at 400m I doubt they can accurately record speed. The gun can also record speeds of car going away from it too. Were there cars coming towards you at the time?

[p3asa]

Having used a hand held myself which is held in a hand and thus not a steady platform...at 400m I doubt they can accurately record speed. The gun can also record speeds of car going away from it too. Were there cars coming towards you at the time?

Yes there were quite a few cars coming towards me as they all flashed me to warn that the police were there but I didn't think there would be a problem as I was well out of their sight and made sure I was doing under 30 when I came up the hill and in to their view. They showed me the + sign though which they say means the cars speed was recorded coming towards them.

[phazer]

The laser units that are almost exclusively now (as the post above says) have an effective range of around 1Km in clear weather. It can clock your speed in something like 0.3/second and they take 2 readings to confirm, so 0.6 of a second to get a confirmed speed check. A photograph close up will be taken at a point chosen by the operator to prove who was driving should there be an argument.

Dipping in and out of sight doesn't really make a difference with the kit they have. The front radar wouldn't make a difference with the old hand held devices. It certainly has no impact on laser.

Bad luck though.

[p3asa]

If you're copping for the points without going to court, it will be a standard £60, it's not a sliding scale unless a judge gets involved. Got caught doing 47 in a 30 (that used to be a 50, then a 40 - and a non-residential area), and it was 30 points SP30 and £60.

I don't know if the laws are different in England but the police told me they couldn't offer me a Fixed Penalty Notice of £60 & 3 points as it was a certain % over the limit. So it was up to the procurator fiscal to deal with.
The citation came in today (hand delivered) and I've to go to court in a couple of weeks!!
Seems a bit excessive if its just the standard £60 & 3 points!

[p3asa]

Dipping in and out of sight doesn't really make a difference with the kit they have. The front radar wouldn't make a difference with the old hand held devices. It certainly has no impact on laser.

Bad luck though.

Cheers that sounds fair enough.

Dipping out of sight though and then reappearing, for all they know could have been a totally different car since there is no way they could identify the car or reg number from 400 metres. They can't be 100% sure especially since there was a new housing estate that they couldn't see. For all they know it could have been the car in front of me that got clocked doing that speed, turned out of their view and then I came tootling along.

[monkeyhanger]

If you're copping for the points without going to court, it will be a standard £60, it's not a sliding scale unless a judge gets involved. Got caught doing 47 in a 30 (that used to be a 50, then a 40 - and a non-residential area), and it was 30 points SP30 and £60.

I don't know if the laws are different in England but the police told me they couldn't offer me a Fixed Penalty Notice of £60 & 3 points as it was a certain % over the limit. So it was up to the procurator fiscal to deal with.
The citation came in today (hand delivered) and I've to go to court in a couple of weeks!!
Seems a bit excessive if its just the standard £60 & 3 points!

Seems like the law is different in England. They try to avoid taking you to court if you're willing to cop to the points with a statutory £60 fine and 3 points. I'm sure there must be some threshold somewhere in English law, maybe going twice the speed limit carries a different penalty code, and if you're caught doing 100 on the motorway you will certainly get a short ban and points (unless you're a Football manager with the sh!ts). I was doing a smidge more than speed limit +50% and I just got the usual 3 points and £60 fine. Something else you should have asked for with devolution! 

[vidman2]

As well as offering proof of fault in an accident a decent traffic camera can offer you proof of speed and location if you are caught speeding. If nothing else they can confirm that you were over the limit and save the was I wasn't I conundrum.

I have a Blackview DR400G fitted which offers full GPS based speed and position recording which links into Google maps on a PC and can be used for daily journey recording, accident proof of fault and offers good video for recording Track Days, including speeds attained around the track.

While the video recorded might not be officially allowed as evidence in court it could be offered as proof that the the police speed recording was at the very least suspect.

[mattlittle]

If you're copping for the points without going to court, it will be a standard £60, it's not a sliding scale unless a judge gets involved. Got caught doing 47 in a 30 (that used to be a 50, then a 40 - and a non-residential area), and it was 30 points SP30 and £60.

I don't know if the laws are different in England but the police told me they couldn't offer me a Fixed Penalty Notice of £60 & 3 points as it was a certain % over the limit. So it was up to the procurator fiscal to deal with.
The citation came in today (hand delivered) and I've to go to court in a couple of weeks!!
Seems a bit excessive if its just the standard £60 & 3 points!

I can speak as someone who was caught driving 'enthusiastically' on a clear, straight country road in good weather.

My speed was 3 mph above the limit it which they *could* offer a fixed penalty notice (3 points and a fine). So I got a summons. You do not have to appear in person if you are pleading guilty. Something to note is that they *can* opt to take you to court for any speeding offence (even 1 mph above the limit) but they won't as it would clog up the courts.

If they intend to take your licence away, they will recall the case and let you know that you must attend.

Interestingly, a relation was done about 4 months later doing the same speed in a 60 zone and although a very different part of Scotland, they got the same points and fine. I guess that there is a table that they use to work it out.

My fine was £250 and I got 4 points. My relation got exactly the same. I was caught in Midlothian he was caught in the Highlands.