Number plate or speed camera?

[dave2]

Last night, on M8, between J11 and J10 Eastbound.

A white transit style van with blacked out windows in the rear door and a single yellow strip above the windows. No other markings on the van. Van parked at 45 degrees to road up on the verge on the outside of a curve. There was a 'camcorder' sized box on a tripod on the hard shoulder pointing back towards the oncoming traffic. The VMS had no speed messages on approach, and there are no road markings and no other speed camera warning signs on this section.

Any ideas?

[Dave]

Checking tax discs

[BrigitDoon]

Let me know if you see it again. I've got a new camcorder and I'm looking for a tripod...

[dmf]

ANPR - Automatic Number Plate Recognition. I'm surprised you didn't spot a marked polis motor further along the road, the idea being is a vehicle triggers the ANPR, details are passed to the police car, who in turn, stops the offending vehicle.
Perhaps it was out of sight already dealing with someone?
The ANPR can check 10 different DVLA databases in under 2 seconds, including no tax, no insurance, no MOT, unregistered vehicles, vehicles that haved been SORN'ed etc etc.


dmf

[BrigitDoon]

F'k's SORN'd when it's at home?

[onyirtodd]

F'k's SORN'd when it's at home?

Statutory Off Road Notification - for when you don't want to tax a vehicle and are keeping if off the public roads.

[dave2]

I was going the opposite direction, so would have seen, and possibly ignored the Police before I saw the van. Itw as just the odd look of the van and teh absence of warning signs set me wondering.

[dmf]

With ANPR there are never any warning signs........


dmf

[Excalibur]

Most of the Traffic police cars are fitted with their own ANPR cameras. Unless you noticed several traffic cars (which you didn't), it's unlikely to be an ANPR operation.

[Dave]

If you're being tailed by a grey 3-series BMW with much ancilliary equipment attached to the windscreen chances are it isn't a pumped up sales rep. From my experience they tend to be tolerant of overtaking breaches of speed so long as you return to the prescribed speed limit once your maneouvre is complete.

[Alycidon]

Do you know you can now check if you have been caught?

Seehttp://www.i-database.co.uk/index1.php

Jim

[onyirtodd]

Do you know you can now check if you have been caught?

Seehttp://www.i-database.co.uk/index1.php

Jim

:). I nearly fell for that.

[onyirtodd]

Do you know you can now check if you have been caught?

Seehttp://www.i-database.co.uk/index1.php

Jim

I nearly fell for that.

[Dot]

What are you supposed to do if you are stuck at a red light and an ambulance is trying to get past everyone?

On the way home from work on Friday I was walking along the road which has 5/6 lanes of traffic and all travelling
in the one direction. You can't turn off till you get to the crossroads further on up at the traffic lights.
Then an ambulance appeared and of course it was panic stations as people in outside lanes tried to pull
in closer to pavements etc and ambulance had to try and weave its way through.
In a lane in the middle was a poor guy in a Porsche who looked about the place wondering where to go as he was at the front of queue in his lane.
He quickly had to signal to traffic on his right (where traffic comes off a flyover) and
they let him drive straight through on red so that ambulance could also continue on its journey.
There is a camera on same stretch of road which as far as I am aware is to spot people jumping red lights rather than people speeding.

I was talking to girl in work about this and she said some guy in England got fined for doing something along the same lines even though he felt he was doing the right thing in the circumstances.

[Roxburgh]

What are you supposed to do if you are stuck at a red light and an ambulance is trying to get past everyone?

I was coming home from work on Friday and near the office is a road with five/six lanes of traffic all going in one direction. Then an ambulance appeared and of course it was panic stations as people in outside lanes tried to pull
in closer to pavements etc and ambulance had to try and weave its way through.
In a lane in the middle was a poor guy in a Porsche who looked about the place wondering where to go as he was at the front of queue in his lane. He quickly had to signal to traffic on his right (where traffic come off a flyover) and
they let him drive straight through on red so that ambulance could also continue on its journey.

I was talking to girl in work about this and she said some guy in England got fined for doing something along the same lines even though he thought he was doing what he could to assist ambulance.

I think its known as "Catch 22"