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[Essex_Andy]

Some drivers at work have been going on about a 'smart' GATSO on the A303 just outside Yeovil.

Its positioned on a national limit stretch of single carriagway...60mph for cars bikes and small vans...then 40mph for heavies.

They say it reads the reg, decides if the vehicle is over its specific limit then flashes once to capture you.

Is this true? ? ? ?

Are there any other 'smart' GATSO speed cameras out there?

[Jay w]

Some drivers at work have been going on about a 'smart' GATSO on the A303 just outside Yeovil.

Its positioned on a national limit stretch of single carriagway...60mph for cars bikes and small vans...then 40mph for heavies.

They say it reads the reg, decides if the vehicle is over its specific limit then flashes once to capture you.

Is this true? ? ? ?

Are there any other 'smart' GATSO speed cameras out there?

I do this route every week and cant remember a GATSO that is on a 60 limit in a single carridgeway  :-?

There are a few that are dual carridgeway and a couple on 50 limits, the one i am thinking of is a 50 limit camera.

I have been told that there are some cameras around that have some method of calculating the size of the vehicle before decided the speed and takinig a picture, this sounds more plausable than ANPR as that would need to have a link to DVLA and we all know that the goverment doesn't have a network that could see a number plate, talk to DVLA, make a decision based upon speed and then take a picture in the time it takes to cover the photo area that the camera covers.

[rickyboy]

They measure the wheel base - my uncle got done by one driving the lorry!

[Dave-C]

ANPR seems to be the common denominator in this one!!

I recall one in Cornwall which had height sensors about 50 yards before the camera..  which served/serves as a reminder for a low bridge ahead..

DC

[Andy B]

Can a Gatso tell whether I have a caravan on tow thereby reducing my limit to 50mph in a national speed limit?

[Gaffers]

I am not sure the gatso would have a quick enough connection to send a request to a server, have it processed and returned over what must be a fair distance, and then received.

It prob has some other means of checking size/weight/wheelbase/height, etc to make the distinction.  Then some plastic copper in a back room serves as the final filter no doubt!

[Mr Skrunts]

Out side my mates that had a Gatso plus annother box,  maybe an ANPR, or maybe they have a way of monitoring weight or size of vehicles instead.

Lets face it, they are out to catch who ever they can and make as much as they can.

[hotel21]

Unless the technology has moved on somewhat, a straight Gatso camera works on radar and does not read a number plate.  The gubbins senses that something is passing it above the speed preset within the device and then takes two pictures one second (or thereby) apart.

Once the pics are manually examined, the number plate is read by the mark 1 eyeball of the admins at the office and the speed is confirmed by the distance between the ruler marks on the two pics.

The yellow 'SPECS' cameras do use ANPR to read the plate as it passes the first then the later camera.  The distance between them is known and thus the average speed between them can be established.

Its unlikely that the computer systems and databases currently in place will be sufficiently quick or accurate to discern between types/weights of vehicles.  But there again.......  

[albitz]

talking about SPECS cameras.i read recently that they are only type approved for single lane usage ,so if someone changes to a different lane before reaching the 2nd camera a prosecution would not be lawful.? :-/

[hotel21]

talking about SPECS cameras.i read recently that they are only type approved for single lane usage ,so if someone changes to a different lane before reaching the 2nd camera a prosecution would not be lawful.? :-/

The flaw in that cunning plan is that the sets of SPECS cameras are generally sited in batches of 3 or 4 along the length of the motorway and you must take an edumacated guess as to which camera is paired with which camera further along the road.

Take a 3 lane motorway....

1-----2-----3-----4
2-----3-----4-----1
3-----1-----2-----4

In lane one, camera 1 may be paired with either 2,3 or 4.  As you change lanes along your route, which is the partner camera, if you follow??   :-?

[albitz]

if they were paired in that way then staying in lane would be the get out of jail card ?

[Lazydocker]

talking about SPECS cameras.i read recently that they are only type approved for single lane usage ,so if someone changes to a different lane before reaching the 2nd camera a prosecution would not be lawful.? :-/

This used to be true but I believe this loophole has now been closed  :-/ :-/ :-/

The only safe bet is to stick to the limit!! I love cruise control!!!  

[albitz]

or ride a motorbike,they photograph from the front and bikes dont have front number plates.

[Kevin Wood]

Its unlikely that the computer systems and databases currently in place will be sufficiently quick or accurate to discern between types/weights of vehicles.  But there again.......  

This is public sector IT after all. By the time it's burnt the data onto CD, left it on a train along with another load of sensitive documents, posted it somewhere never to arrive.....

I have heard that they can differentiate between sizes of vehicles when deciding on a trigger speed. Once this blunt instrument has been used to obtain a picture, the specific vehicle type can be identified during the processing and the limit for that vehicle decided.

Kevin

[hotel21]

To my knowledge, it is no more complex than setting a trigger speed, say 40 mph in a national speed limit area.  After that, the office operative simply ignores the cars piccies if they are looking for speeding heavies.....