Speed Cameras :-(

[celsteve]

Chaps,

Think I may have just been had by one, gutted.

Got 3 points 2 months ago doing exactly 40 in a 30 (I go past that blighter every day and i know it's a 30, but I was stupidly thinking it was a 40 limit).

3 points 2 years ago, 47 in a 30 - fair cop

Today, probably doing 35 - 40, is this worth 3 points?

Also, I know some fixed cameras can get you from both directions, but this was one of those vans with the guy shooting out the back window. Can they get you as you're going away from them aswell as coming towards them? Just really worried, 9 points would be a nightmare, I need to drive for work. :-(

Please someone tell me they only get you as you're coming towards them! Please!

[GT4 BOOSTER]

yes they can mate, invest in a snooper or similar or you may end up being banned.

[celsteve]

yes they can mate, invest in a snooper or similar or you may end up being banned.

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:( That is not an option (being banned), just spoke to girlfriend about it and we decided that I definatly need a snooper. Any ideas on which ones are best/ ones to avoid? Any help appreciated, don't want to end up with something that doesn't do the job properly.

[GT4 BOOSTER]

roadangels pick up everything , my snooper s3 picks up all gatsos and fixed lazers , so it does me , picked it up on eBay

[celsteve]

Cheers boost,

Gonna start looking on net for one now. And there lies a problem in that being an import my car has a smaller cig lighter socket so I can't use any accessories in it. Can I just replace it with a Uk one? Will the larger one fit in the hole left by the old one? Don't s'pose anyone's done this?

[GT4 BOOSTER]

my gt4 is import !Removed! lighter is same as uk , weird ,

my snooper fits into the hole anyways and always stays switched on.

[mikeb]

Mobile camera vans can get you travelling towards or away from them. Road Angels are GPS based and alert you when you are approaching known camera locations. You can get lots of false alerts though, due to the sheer number of mobile camera locations. Rader detectors alert you to hand held rader guns (if they are still used?) and Gatso style fixed cameras (i.e. not all fixed cameras). Laser detectors work on mobile camera vans, but by the time they are triggered and alert you, the camera operator will already have your speed. Laser jammers are much more useful but borderline legality.

Check out www.pepipoo.com for advice on how to deal with speeding charges.

[celsteve]

That is weird, I thought all imports would have been the same. I THINK that uk ones are 23mm and imports (except Gt4 B's!) are 21mm.

Why oh why?

Any other import owners shed any light on this? Do your UK accessories fit in your cig lighter socket?

[SyCelicaGT]

Just buy a UK cig lighter module to fit in place of the old one!

Road angels are the best I have seen for radar detection. I would not recommend the radar detectors as they go off at most things even sliding doors, so round town they are a nightmare. The GPS/laser/radar detector devices such as the road angel keep warnings to a minimum becasue it kinda knows where all the danger spots are but if it picks up a stong signal then it will start beeping. Basically what I am trying to say is do not buy a cheepo device as it will be a false investment as I found out to my peril when I brought a snooper 715i. (however it was great on the m25 and saved my butt twice! but it got me braking every two seconds in town with all the false alarms.)

In referance to the incident when it saved me was:

Late at night I had a golf right up my rear on the M25 so I thought lets see how big your balls are so I started to speed up we were running along over the limit in the camera heavy zone and my snooper 715i device started to go balistic so I pulled in to the middle lane and slowed down to 70, the golf went flying past me and the camera got him, it was sooo satisfying! There was onther time on the road which goes into southampton from the M3 some of you will know it where it is a very wide road and everyone uses it like a duel carrageway, same thing happened there too. Ha ha, laughed my balls off when the old bill pulled him over and I cruised by.

But apart from those two times it just went off all the time for no good reason. So get a road angel. I am soon!

[pint_of_stella]

Origin B2 or road angel 2

[celsteve]

Thanks Mikeb for that site, I'm going to take some time to look through it now.

As for which type to buy, I wont buy a cheap one. The Road Angel seems a popular choice.

I mainly want it to detect roadside lasers as I know where all the fixed cameras are within the region where I do 99% of my driving. From what I gather these are the hardest to detect. I do half city, half rural driving and all 3 times it's been in the city where I've been caught.

I'm thinking my only option is to actually drive at 30 at all times It is so hard to do, I have to actually concentrate and keep looking at the speedo to stay below 30. Can that be safe?

[adamgt]

I know that it is likely that there will be a law coming out end of 2005/early 2006 to bann these snooper devices. They have been planning to bring this law out in december 2005 since last year. Hope not tho as i have a cobra detector :ffs:

[pint_of_stella]

They have only been legal for about 5 years haven't they? Now they are going to bad them again.

I know some come with 3 second lazer jamming. Gives you enough time to get the speed down, but not too long to make police suspect of faul play. Not legal though!

[celsteve]

I know that it is likely that there will be a law coming out end of 2005/early 2006 to bann these snooper devices. They have been planning to bring this law out in december 2005 since last year. Hope not tho as i have a cobra detector :ffs:

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:( We have our rights and deserve to be able to know where these accident blackspots are!

Just been looking at jammers, anyone know if using one will give you points or community service?!!

I'd take a couple weeks inside than a year of not driving anyday!

[adamgt]

Im sure people will argue against the bann and stop it for a while...

I done quite well, got 0 points and im out racing every night :P

[pint_of_stella]

Not sure on the jammer - its a risk that i wouldn't take.

I'm prob going to put a road angel down on my christmas list.

The first road angel is nasty to look at - by the newish road angel 2 is rather nice

[chris202]

slightly more expensive but you'll keep your license longer - move up to glasgow ! been driving for 5 years never stopped or done for speeding!........ until i drove to manchester to see 50cent some english van got me just outside manchester 92 in a 70 :P

Our cops spend all their time chasing junkies and smack heads , drive like a muppet here !!

[parmo]

Are you sure it was a speed trap and not a tax disc checkpoint as cameras are available now that read your licence plate as you drive by and check you tax expiry date on the fly as it where, these are normally in white vans as well...

[SyCelicaGT]

When the law comes in to ban the detectors at least if you buy a road angel you can still use the GPS feature of the unit to tell you when you get to an accident blackspot, so you arn't breaking the law.

[sotal]

Are you sure the !Removed! lighter is different?? I've got the UK model ST and the damn thing is slightly smaller than any other car. I can still force a normal size adapter in, but it's a right pain to get out again.

As for lazer detectors - as has been said above they normally work too late, once they detect the lazer it's too late!

Radar/Lazer Jamming equipment is illegal but also has a bit of a question on how well it works. In one of the bike mags they tested one of them. They stuck it under the windscreen at the front but whilst testing they could still get a good lock on the riders back, they ended up, with one in the windscreen, one under the bike and one on the riders back in order to effectively block the lazer gun. So that's 3 needed on a small vehicle - imaging how many you will need on a car.

It just leaves one solution - drive slower :P

[mikeb]

Radar jammers are illegal, no question (telecommunications act).

Laser jammers are a grey area, the law will obviously tell you that they are illegal because they don't want people to use them - the reason they don't want you to use them is because they really do work. They are not illegal to posess or even use, they might try and do you for 'obstructing a police officer' - their interpretation of that particular law. But quite a few mobile cameras are operated by civilians now, not sure if that has any bearing on it. It is quite acceptable to use one of these devices as a remote garage door/gate opener. If you go through several mobile cameras with a jammer they will likley get suspicous and inspect your car. The worst that is likely to happen is they confiscate the thing. Take a look at the Snooper (I think it's the 920 model?), it is allegedly undetectable by camera vans.

Of course the jammer only works in the direction it is pointing. There is no need for a rear facing unit though - you would have had to go past a mobile unit before they could target the back of your vehicle, and if you haven't seen them by then you deserve to be done. Also bear in mind that their laser guns need a reflection to measure your speed (front of car = headlights, number plate, any chromework). Camera operators are trained to target your number plate. If your car is dirty, it will be less reflective, and it will take them longer to lock onto your speed. ;) Another advantage of pop up headlights too!

One of my friends has just bought himself a Bentley GT, and believe it or not, a laser jammer is factory option! They call it something else though. There is a secret button hidden under the dash to disable it as well.

[Sketchy]

When the law comes in to ban the detectors at least if you buy a road angel you can still use the GPS feature of the unit to tell you when you get to an accident blackspot, so you arn't breaking the law.

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Yea Your still gonna be able to use the GPS ones, but there changing the law to get rid of the radar detector ones because they say they tell you where the cameras are switched on or not, rather than just the position on accident hotspots like the gps systems.

[sephton19661]

Dont know if this is any good but looks like a good deal to me has anyone got one or seen one working..

http://www.speed-camera-detector.tsemedia....age/2356637.htm

[sotal]

I don't like the fact that you have to pay for updates,, I would rather spend a little more and get free updates for life

[celsteve]

One of my friends has just bought himself a Bentley GT, and believe it or not, a laser jammer is factory option! They call it something else though. There is a secret button hidden under the dash to disable it as well.

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I'm off to get me a Bentley!!!! :D

I don't like the fact that you have to pay for updates,, I would rather spend a little more and get free updates for life

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Me too, most of them seem to charge per year or whatever :(

The thing is, I am not a crazy driver that is endangering people's lives. The roads where I've been caught are all fairly wide and straight with good visibility, not very built-up, hardly any pedestrians and when there are no others infront of you it is just so easy to stray over 30. The last time I didn't even see the van as it was parked so that it was obscured by a big hedge, I only saw it in my mirrors ,is this legal? I thought they were meant to be visible?