M42 and M6....what's with the cameras? (or lack of)

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ptruman

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I've been driving the M6 (J5 to J1) and M42 (J8 to J3) for nearly the last 20 years. I have watched the M6 Toll get added in, and the introduction of HADECS/variable speed limits etc.

In the last 2 weeks, all (and I mean all) the gantry mounted GATSOs on the M42 have gone. The only things visibly left are the HADECS 3 cameras on a few gantries - which are harder to spot unless you know what you're looking for (as clearly some don't, judging by the flashing...)

Conversely, on the M6 from J5 all the way through J2, they are adding in "managed motorways" - but no GATSOs - this stretch is all now (or going to be) SPECS (average speed camera) monitored. These ones are much more obvious to spot, as they are massive and yellow. Going the other way, just before the J4 on ramp and approach to J5 exit, there is a HADECS 3 as well.

So, presumably GATSO is being retired, and we're all going to enjoy ever more camera coverage?
 
HADEC are easy to spot, before the HADEC there is a pole with 3 smaller mounted cameras on the left side. Look for those.

Also, use WAZE to be alerted to them
 
I noticed the same on the M1, all the grey boxes on the overhead gantries have gone, in favour of fewer yellow boxes on the side. Waze is good for warning of them.
 
Conversely, on the M6 from J5 all the way through J2, they are adding in "managed motorways" - but no GATSOs - this stretch is all now (or going to be) SPECS (average speed camera) monitored. These ones are much more obvious to spot, as they are massive and yellow. Going the other way, just before the J4 on ramp and approach to J5 exit, there is a HADECS 3 as well.

So, presumably GATSO is being retired, and we're all going to enjoy ever more camera coverage?

Currently have average cameras here with 2 years projected for the works to be completed. Nightmare!
 
I think HADECS 3 is the weapon of choice on smart motorways now as they only need one box (off to the side) covering all the lanes, rather than a gantry with one GATSO per lane.
 
...which I'd agree with, however shoving one of them in every mile with the "advance cameras" (which scan the overhead signs) SURELY could be linked to be SPECS? It's baffling they want varying standards. If you're going to enforce 70mph, just enforce 70mph - not hope someone misses looking at a gantry...the average ones are much more annoying (although I suppose they are more annoying with variable limits to figure out if someone ignored them etc).
 
HADEC are easy to spot, before the HADEC there is a pole with 3 smaller mounted cameras on the left side. Look for those.

HADECS 3 have those. HADECS 1 & 2 are different :) (and use the GATSOs).
(former friend/colleague used to work at Highways when HADECS one went in) :)
 
I was on the M6 on the weekend and noticed a lot of people getting flashed by the HADECS 3 units.

I probably saw 5 or 6 sets of flashes for the whole journey there and back in these sections.
 
I have a question. There have been HADECS boxes on the gantries on the M6 in particular for some time, but the last time I went that way there were no road markings for them to use as reference points, and cars were zipping through at quite high speeds (over 85; don't ask why I believe that...) with no flashes. Are HADECS installations entirely self-contained, and therefore require no road markings?

Keep a good look-out...
 
I have a question. There have been HADECS boxes on the gantries on the M6 in particular for some time, but the last time I went that way there were no road markings for them to use as reference points, and cars were zipping through at quite high speeds (over 85; don't ask why I believe that...) with no flashes. Are HADECS installations entirely self-contained, and therefore require no road markings?

The link above says
In total three photos are taken when a passing vehicle triggers the speed threshold of the HADECS camera e.g. 50mph. These photographs are then automatically encrypted and sent to a back-office to be analysed by enforcement staff. Two of the pictures provide a secondary check of the vehicle's speed as they show the position of the car in relation to the check marks on the road and allow enforcement staff to determine which vehicle is exceeding the speed limit. The third photograph provides a close-up view of the vehicle registration plate for identification purposes.

:dk:
 
I missed that bit. Thank you; that's what I thought, and very glad I am to hear it. I read on down, and the Redflex Hadecs cameras also require road markings. Keep a good look-out...

Dennis - 18.1 litres, 32 cylinders, 18 wheels, 1486 bhp... :)
 
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Another thought occurs to me. Once every motorway is a smart motorway, presumably every section will be policed by self-contained cameras, needing no road markings, as happens now in roadworks. They can equally well police the NSL as a lower limit, so the only answer if one wants to exceed the NSL (as if...) will be to hope the locals use the NPCC (ACPO as was) enforcement guidelines.

Keeping a good look-out won't help. It may be time then to get rid of the E63...
 
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Another thought occurs to me. Once every motorway is a smart motorway, presumably every section will be policed by self-contained cameras, needing no road markings, as happens now in roadworks. They can equally well police the NSL as a lower limit, so the only answer if one wants to exceed the NSL (as if...) will be to hope the locals use the NPCC (ACPO as was) enforcement guidelines.

Keeping a good look-out won't help. It may be time then to get rid of the E63...

I thought they’ve started enforcing the NSL already? or so I’ve heard...
 
I thought they’ve started enforcing the NSL already? or so I’ve heard...

Well, they always have and always will, up to a point; it depends what you mean by enforcement. Hypothetically, if I were exceeding the NSL and was about to pass a speed camera installation, I'd slow down to about 75 mph, well within the '10% + 2' mph allowance the NPCC guidelines recommend. The crunch really will come if there are average speed monitoring installations on long stretches of motorway.

Have you heard of a crackdown in any particular area? Apart, of course, from North Wales, where you are liable to be shot for travelling at 71 mph. The monomaniac Brunstrom's legacy lives on there, so I'm assured.
 
I suspect that's just an attention-grabbing headline. None of the quotes in the article (or any of the linked one) seem to confirm that.
 
Colleague has a pending for 102 on the M25 (he'd been held up and was rushing to catch a flight and didn't think the cameras worked when there was no speed limit set).

I heard of someone getting done on the M62 smart motorway in the Leeds area but can't remember the speed, although it wasn't that high (mid-80's I think).
 

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