M6 yesterday going throu some road works in b/ham area, 40 Limit, but i was pottering along with the general flow of traffic (as u do) 55 - 60 mph (oops). noticed something i have not seen b4. on the gantry above the outside lane.

it looked like a CCTV camera with what i can only describe as infa-red units each side. was this specs?

if it was, 14 days biting me nails

S.

 

That's exactly what a SPECS looks like but I don't know of anyone who has been done by one yet.

Get biting those nails over Christmas though.

Andy

 

They are indeed specs cameras, although some of them dont appear to be working !

They measure your average speed so it will always be lower than your actual speed, and they wont wont be set at exaclty 40mph !

[Edited by Ian Cook - 12/18/2001 3:55:08 PM]

 

ive got none left

tell u what, if this camera WAS active the revenue from it would be massive! just about everyone was going above the limit! at a guess i would say 50+ cars a minute.

im in the wrong business!

by the way, are they detectable?

hope my speedo reads THE FULL 10% over


[Edited by Steve001 - 12/18/2001 3:56:35 PM]

[Edited by Steve001 - 12/18/2001 3:57:59 PM]

 

not detectable but a geodesy/origin bluei (if they exist) should know where they are.

 

I noticed them and slowed right down to 40mph, I may have got caught on the one at the Coventry junction (this was the first one I had ever seen). There is one both North and South bound on the gantry. I was doing about 80-85mph (in the 70mph limit)......... we'll have to wait and see.

 

HAS ANYBODY EVER been caught by these types of cameras.........or are they just using them as a means of getting flows/speed information at the moment?????

 

SPECS cameras only operate in the outside lane of the carriageway.

If you are in lanes 1 or 2, you are not 'tracked' at all.

 

Incorrect mate!!!

The M6 has specs on ALL THREE carriage ways - at the Coventry junction anyhow - (one over each carriageway).....except for the road works section, which only has one on the fast lane.

 

Just to check are we talking about ones mounted by the side of the road or over head on a bridge / gantry?

They have bridge mounted ones on the M27 at junc 2, just before some road works. Slowed down the first few times, six weeks ago, don't really bother now. I was hoping they were just to monitor flow through the 'works. Fingers crossed...

 

i went through that same strech of motorway on my way to trax in september and on the way down was doing 50-55 60ish with the rest of the traffic like you , but on the way home i was stuck in traffic on the oppesite side (heading to birmingham)and seen the cameras , but never herd any more about it .


is this no letter in 14 days thing no fine true

 

specs cameras have been used in nottingham for a couple of years now, on the A610.

Rob

 

I came up the M6, from Spaghetti northwards today, and noticed that the SPECS cameras seemed to have a large yellow square behind them - making them more visible. Not much use however, as 90% of drivers haven't a clue about the technology.

They are actually quite dangerous in the M6 roadwords, because HGVs continue in lanes 1 and 2 doing 40-50mph (bearing in mind that SPECS only covers the outside lane in this section). Thus cars are almost forced to exceed the ridiculously low speed limit in lane 3 - and even if you are in the know, ever tried pulling in between two 40 tonners??

Shaun,

are you serious - a normal stretch of 70mph motorway (around Coventry) has SPECS installed. Thats disgusting [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

mb

 

Boomer,

Unfortunatley mate. Not sure when they were put up, but it's quite recently.

 

I don't know how accurate this is but... I've been told that the DTI haven't approved them for use cross lanes - thats to say if you pass the first in say lane 2 and then change to lane 3 before the next one then they can't / won't clock you. There is apparently some accuracy issue / technical reason for this.

So IF it's true, just make sure you pass the second in a different lane.

I notice theres been some on the M27 J9 - J11 for a while now eastbound.

 

The M25 recently had a number of SPEC's like cameras fitted (around Jn19). I had heard that these were actually new Road Tax cameras (ironic....) tracking number plates against cars which didn't have an up to date tax disk. Maybe b*ll*cks...

 

Just another thought on the danger thing.

If you suss out what's going on you either need to stop, or slow right down.

That's going to help road safety innit?

 

Shaun,

Agreed. But they only work in lane 3. This info comes from a very reliable source.

 

I've been through the M6 Specs Cameras on several occasions during the past couple of weeks. There are several sets (4-5), some across all three lanes and others just focussing on lane 3. I don't know how many are operational, but given the cost of the units, the time to fit and the low maintenance i.e. no film to collect since they're wired in to he DVLA, then I'd be suprised if they were't operational. My Geodosey picks them up a treat.

Phil