I noticed via The Poor Mouth today that Jodrell Bank is to be considered a World Heritage Site. We visited it five years ago, the Sunday after New Year, a day etched on my memory, as well as my driving license.

The trip there & back was unremarkable, but a few days later, something unpleasant turned up on my doormat, in a brown envelope. It was a NIP, or Notice of Intended Prosecution. My vehicle had been caught by a speed camera doing 89 MPH in a 70 MPH zone on the M62 Swinton. I now needed to confirm who the driver was.

Shock! Nicked! I drive to the conditions and frequently exceed the posted speed limit when it is safe to do so, like the majority of drivers in Britain. (I also frequently drive considerably under the posted speed limit, particularly in built-up areas). I’d had a clean driving license for the previous twenty years and to suddenly find myself with three points was a shock. (I’ve been done for parking overstay and bus lane infractions and justifiably so, I was in the wrong but not causing a hazard on any occasion)

I then re-read the NIP rather more closely, trying to work out where I’d been caught. M62 Swinton? That wasn’t very informative, no junction or stretch or road identified. Indeed the M62 doesn’t go near Swinton, although the M60 stretch that passes it was originally the M62. The only speed cameras I saw on the journey were at the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6 between junctions 21 and 20, large hump backed bridge perpetually undergoing roadworks. Even here though, the lanes had been cleared and the 50 limit signs removed.

The more I read the NIP, the more annoyed I got. The tone was intimidatory, bullying even. It basically said that my best course of action was to simply take my punishment, own up and pay the fine, any attempt to challenge or query any part of this (such as to ask for further information) would involve a trip to see the Magistrates.

Now the reality was that I was bang to rights, it was me driving and they probably had clocked me at that speed (alhough it sounded a little high to me), but their paperwork was almost certainly flawed.

The other thing that annoyed me was that the motorway limit was being policed- accepted wisdom at the time was that the motorway national speed limit (70 MPH, but identified by ) was never measured automatically, it was via patrol cars and manned speed traps. In hazardous areas, Gatsos may well be used, but they were clearly marked, as was the speed restriction. (Indeed the variable speed limit systems on the M25 did not catch you doing 80MPH when not activated, i.e. National Speed Limit in force.)

Anyway, in the end, I just got my chequebook out, sent my license off and it came back, endorsed in Biro, no less.

The SP50 code means Exceeding Speed Limit on a Motorway and I am entitled to have it removed from my license as it is more than four years old. It seems there are sub-codes defining the circumstances of the offence, not shown on the license. It is possible to view personal details online, but you have to register for the Photo-ID style driving license. I’d have to do this anyway if I move house, but in the meantime I’m happy to hang on to that scruffy piece of paper that is thirteen years old already but is valid for another twenty years (if the Guvm’nt don’t move the goalposts…)

Now I have come to regard much of the so-called Road Safety Partnerships as being more about revenue streams than safety and the unintended consequences of using speed cameras are often detrimental to the stated purpose. One particular case of this is the average speed cameras, often applied through roadworks schemes. I have been driving through areas artificially constrained to 40MPH where travelling together all at the same speed gives no room for manoeuvre and is an uncomfortable experience. Indeed, people become so twitchy about speedometer watching that it probably causes more accidents when the speed is set too low.

I was very interested to read, therefore, of a surprising limitation of the SPECs/SVDD systems related to linked Cameras (or SCAMeras, as they are known by the jaded). It isn’t a product fault, (the Speed Check Services system seems rather good) it is an approvals thing.

If you want to know more, sign up to Adam Blairs’ Newsletter at beatthespeedtrap.com. He’ll try to sell you a Gatso detector along the way but be strong (unless you have 9 points on your license already, in which case, get your credit card out!)

Also, read up on Safe Speed, the campaigning group for road safety that opposes cameras for the right reasons.

It’s obvious to anyone who drives that drivers must vary their speed to suit the prevailing conditions. We do it naturally, we do it easily and we do it accurately. There’s room for improvement of course, but attempting to deny this essential road safety skill is not only stupid, it’s actively dangerous. One clear side effect of having a nation of drivers who slow down when hazards threaten is that we’re also a nation of drivers who speed up when conditions are clear and safe.

Safe Speed Press Release 573