18 replies to this topic

[Gouldy]

I'm hoping some of you knowledgable people might be able to help me out. This evening on my way home from work I was flashed by a Truvelo camera (the type that takes a pic of your face with a supposedly purple flash). Now this would be fine and I would pay the fine and accept the points, if I had actually been speeding! My speedometer was reading dead on (and I mean bang on the mark) 30mph and I was in a 30 limit. I know from having my road angel in the car that 30mph on the speedometer correlates to approx 28-29mph on the GPS, so there is no way I was speeding. In addition, I was travelling at a constant speed, not braking down to the limit for the camera. (Something I'm sure the class 1 police driver who gave me a pass in my IAM test earlier this year will probably be pleased to hear, being as I was passing a school on a poorly lit damp road and approaching a junction). So my question is, should I appeal the NIP when it arrives based on my claims above, or will they just say it's my word against theirs and what do I expect being a bloke in a sports car? Also, am I within my rights to request a copy of the calibration certificate (if such a thing exists) for the camera? Any advice gratefully accepted.

[mandarinvx]

Don't know the answers off the top of my head I'm afraid but if you have a look around Pepipoo, you should find some good tips

[iceman]

Again, as above, i have no answers for you but wanted to let you know that i'll keep my fingers crossed for you and hope.

[Gouldy]

Cheers chaps. I've had a look round Pepipoo, and joined up! Have put a post on there asking about the cameras, which is probably their equivalent of 'Which brake pads?' or 'What alternative front tyres are available?' Damned newbies ........ only joking!

[ianrm]

I would go and report the camera. There is a scamera in my Sisters street (30mph limit) that used to flash her at 20mph but only when she went past in her Suzuki Jeep, any other car was fine. She never got a ticket

Edited by ianrm, 09 November 2006 - 11:26 PM.

[mal_dun]

I seem to remember a report in a newspaper that someone got flashed by a Truvelo when they were stuck in a traffic jam and not moving. So it's worth asking for all the info Or were there any kids around with tin cans attaced to bits of string. Apparently if you whrl them fast enough in front of the detector they take a piccy

Edited by mal_dun, 10 November 2006 - 07:54 AM.

[john_s]

I seem to remember a report in a newspaper that someone got flashed by a Truvelo when they were stuck in a traffic jam and not moving. So it's worth asking for all the info

Or were there any kids around with tin cans attaced to bits of string. Apparently if you whrl them fast enough in front of the detector they take a piccy

Isn't it radar based Gatso's that works for? I thought Truvelo's worked on piezo strips in the road.

[vocky]

it will still put your actual speed on the pic, so hopefully the 'clerk' will notice you were obeying the speed limit and you should receive nothing nasty in the post

[N19EVX]

I thought a Truvelo was a car and he flashed his headlights in admiration of your car! What a dumbass Still, cheered me up, good luck! Nige

[Ratspants]

"There was no Truvelo. The flash of light you saw in the sky was not a speed camera. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus" It's a pain to have it hanging over your head but it sounds like you have nothing to fear. If you even get a NIP (which I doubt) then it should be easily contested. Ben

[Gouldy]

Lol "The new Nissan Truvelo - coming to a road near you soon".

It could be worse I could have been "flashed" by one of the Truvelo companies other products: Clicky

Thanks for all the advice people, I guess I just have to wait and see if something arrives in the post.

[bugsy]

Were you flashed once or twice? Once - nothing to worry about Twice - if you were going 30 mph nothing to worry about. It flashes twice so they have pictures of you against the white markings on the road. If you were flashed twice, the pictures of your car against the white marking's on the road will show your true speed. No problem

Edited by bugsy, 10 November 2006 - 11:46 AM.

[Ratspants]

According to >this<, you shouldn't be able to see the flash a truvelo produces:

To avoid the 'flash' which is given out by a rear facing Gatso camera the Truvelo system uses an infra red flash which produces no visible 'flash' to the approaching driver. These rely on 3 white-lines in the road, painted just before the camera, and are triggered by strips in the road, used to gain the vehicles speed.

See "Venus" explanation above

Ben

[XXX]

Were there any cars passing at speed in the opposite direction??? This may have triggered camera. Much to my wife's anoyance, one of my fave tricks when passing a camera on opposite side of road is to put my foot down and drive close to centre line - this often triggers camera. Even better when cars are going the other way thinking WTF!?!? Childish, but funny....

[casino]

Ive heard they are flashing the good good law abiding drivers now. You'll get a letter in the post and a summons to court to explain why you were n't braking the law. And could you pay the fine please.And dont do it again.

[Gouldy]

I've done a bit of reading up and Truvelo's are triggered by strips in the road, so it can't have been a car going the other way. Also, they only take one picture! I thought they needed 2, but apparently they take 4 readings as you pass over the strips (2 from each axle I guess). And this somehow means you only need 1 picture. The bit about the flash is interesting though Ratspants. It was definately a bright flash, barely any different to a normal camera. So perhaps the camera was faulty, or maybe it was the light from Venus, or somebody trying to launch a firework from between their bumcakes (ooo topical), or ....... or ........ Alternatively, perhaps as you say Casino it is a cunning ploy to alienate law abiding drivers, such that they think, 'what's the point' speed everywhere and get caught more, thereby generating more revenue. (Conspiracy theories never have been my thing)!

[Winter]

I wouldn't worry. I've been flashed while doing speed limit and nothing's come of it. I've also seen speed cameras on the other side of the road flash spontaneously. I don't know of any scientific reason for this but it happens. If you weren't speeding, there's nothing to worry about. Incidentally, a friend used advice on Pepipoo to get off a speeding fine. He successfully delayed prosecution for six months. He learnt something afterwards and said that if he'd known that at the start, he would have paid up. What did he learn? I have no idea - he wouldn't tell me...

[casino]

Whats really worrying are the shoebox sized units on top of lamp posts. They are out of drivers line of sight. And they put them in highstreets where you dont expect them. They have put them in Hampstead, up hill , but bet they catch loads of mums in their 4x4s taking little Rebecca home from school. Just overthe speed limit, hurrying to catch the god of green lights or that elusive parking space. The day they catch a drunk driver or someone without insurance I will eat my laptop. over.

[djegiant]

Once got flashed in the face by a Gatso traveling at about 4am on the bike. Fookin shat myself and was temporarily blind for a good 30secs. Silly thing was, it was just a plain old Gatso that I pass every day, there were no other vehicles about, although I was in the middle of the road and maybe three times the speed limit. How on earth did it do that?