Watch out on the M42 and M6

A sneaky speeding crackdown is set to catch motorists out on the M42 and
M6 in Coventry and Warwickshire.
Drivers could soon be booked for going just over the 70 mph limit.
The threat comes from "stealth cameras" which were introduced to enforce
variable speed limits on “Smart Motorways”.
However it has now been disclosed that these cameras may be used to strictly
enforce the 70mph speed limit during non variable limit hours.
The West Midlands has two sections of Smart Motorways; the M42 to the West
and the M6 to the North of Coventry.
Also sometimes called “Managed Motorways”, the hard shoulder is opened as an
extra lane to ease congestion at peak hours.
Overhead gantries display variable speed limits, supposedly to keep the traffic flowing
as efficiently as possible.
Up until now the cameras have been switched off at quieter times,when no variable
speed limits are in force.

But that's all set to change ..

This misuse of these types of cameras has already happened before, in Kent…
The first victims of the “stealth cameras” (also called Hadecs3) were on a section of the M25.
668 motorists were caught in the first three months after they were switched on.
Of those, 520 drivers and riders received tickets where the limit was set at exactly 70mph.
Now this totalitarian crackdown is set to be rolled out in the near future on the M42 and M6...
So much for the Freedom Bill that was introduced by the Government in 2012!

If you’re driving in these areas any time soon, watch out.

 

And more locally, will be on the M3 as well.

 

Many thanks for the heads up as I do use these motorways...sneaky B*stards!

 

Using the exact speed limits does represent a significant change of practice by the police. Normally they use the 10%+2 rule, so in a 70 mph limit you would be allowed to do 79 mph. When doing Speed Watch sessions in my village we report anyone doing 36 mph or more. I wonder whether this change will become universal?

 

I understood that each county set the limit at what they would prosecute at, I'm in Sussex and i know the 10% + 2mph rule applies here as i have just been on a speed awareness course and they taught you how to speed and get away with it. However i got caught doing 65mph in a 60 zone in Suffolk so was very unlucky.

 

Care to give an explanation..?

 

I think that everyone on those roads should stick to well within the limit (say 30 mph) to be on the safe side. I'm sure the police and motorway agencies would love that.
Seriously though,such draconian enforcement can only lead to motorists spending a disproportionate amount of time looking at their speedometers rather than concentrating on the road.

 

Once I managed to get my Suzuki up to 70mph on a downhill run of motorway. My wife doesn't believe me!

 

I don't agree with speeding as a rule, but however well you drive there will be moments you top the limit. And I agree with Breconsaint that paying too much attention to a speedo can be a hazard in itself. There is one place on the Island where there is a speed camera just before a zebra crossing...not a moment you want to take your eye off the road to check your speed. And I'm talking as a naturally slow driver.

 

It's a bloody conspiracy. Timed to catch me out when I am driving back late from week match and there's a few of those coming.
The M1 has miles and miles of 50mph limit and now now I will have to concentrate on the M42.
Any idea when this is due to start?

 

.......of course I always concentrate

 

Speaking to a plod on FB this morning who assures me that NO TICKETS can be issued for a fixed camera on a motorway where a 70mph limit is in force under 77mph as there has to be a given tolerance for the inaccuracy of car speedometers (most are accurate to about 3-4% but they have to allow 10%)

This does not apply to average speed camera area though for some strange reason

 

Or you could drive within the speed limit...

 

Exactly. Drivers who repeatedly speed, especially in built-up areas, should be made to work as porters in A&E Majors, so they can see first-hand the sort of injuries speeding leads to.

 

This doesn't ring true at all. 520 drivers in 91 days is six a day. I've driven on the M25 often enough to know that if the limit was truly 71mph, they would have caught hundreds, possibly thousands, every single day.

What's the source for the story?

Vin

 

I know the M25 can get a bit congested, but I'm pretty sure it's not yet a "built-up area."
As for speeding, I'd hazard that, at 70mph, taking your eyes off the road excessively is more likely to cause an accident than mistakenly travelling at, say, 75mph.

 

It says when the limit was set at 70.....it doesn't say that those caught were probably doing 80+

 

Just read a few stories on this and there's only one blogger claiming that "Drivers could soon be booked for going just over the 70 mph limit.". Yes, they'll be enforcing the limit but as the numbers on the M25 that I quoted above show, there'll be a higher limit being applied before prosecution.

Vin

 

No, but there is no way in the world that only one person every four hours was exceeding 70mph on the M25.

Vin

 

I agree, but in built-up areas, you are twice as likely to kill a pedestrian if you hit them at 40 mph than at 30 mph. It's the effect of hitting someone that matters, as well as the cause. At slower speeds you have more time to think as well, and you are less likely to be distracted. Unless you are constantly screaming at your children in the back of the car of course. Or applying makeup, or on the phone, or lighting cigarettes, or drinking water. Or eating a bowl of cereal. I've seen all those things.