West Midlands - M6 cameras to snare speeders

**StlouisX50** · 04-12-2006, 02:20 AM

M6 cameras to snare speeders
Apr 12, 2006

Long-suffering Staffordshire drivers face more misery on the motorway as Big Brother-style speed cameras have gone live on the M6.

The controversial cameras have sparked an outcry among critics who have branded the scheme yet another money spinner for highways chiefs.

Eight cameras, four on each side of the carriageway, have been erected between Junction 12 at Gailey and Junction 13 at Stafford.

They are the first of their kind to be installed in Staffordshire and have already been met with anger from many motorists.

Drivers will be slapped with fines of £60 if they are caught flouting the temporary 40mph limit and will have their licences endorsed with three penalty points. But the Highways Agency says the system has been put in place to protect construction staff who are carrying out resurfacing work on the stretch. The temporary speed limit will be in force during the roadworks which are expected to last for 20 weeks.

The system has been piloted in other parts of the country with the installation of 59 cameras on the A34 in Birmingham and 14 on the A452 in Walsall.

It measures the speed of drivers as they travel between a pair of cameras.

When a vehicle passes the first camera its registration plate is recorded and sent to a computer which calculates its average speed when it passes beyond the second device.

**laserblaster** · 04-12-2006, 05:01 PM

that will be the specs system then....

some type of gps system is a must if your driving on unknown out of local area roads!

lucky i never travel far, and i dont use the motorways..

**laserblaster** · 04-12-2006, 05:08 PM

quite funny that a local lad thought that when theses specs were first out on the m6, he said that its just a rumor and they dont have the technology etc.......

i said they are real..... obviously i was right.....

they have had the specs technology thats the automatic number plate reading stuff since 1993!!! as they cameras were trialed around london on the m25 i think....

only 7 years later did they start to use the technology all over the uk...

they are now known as speedcheck http://www.speedcheck.co.uk/marketAreas03.htm

Early 1990's Dave Robertson of Travers Morgan transport consultancy started working to develop origination/destination surveying tools using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.

He had the idea of using the resulting technology to develop a speed
measurement system, and applied to take it through Home Office Type Approvals (HOTA). The project was managed in various stages with a number of different partners.

Mid 1990's Travers Morgan was acquired by Symonds Consultancy.

Symonds created a dedicated Speed Check team and ‘SPECS’ began
development as a Joint Venture project (SVDD) with Sureway Parking, a decriminalised parking contractor.

April 1999 SPECS (or SVDD) received UK Home Office Type Approval on 3rd April 1999.

Speed Check Services Ltd was incorporated, and formally launched to take SPECS Digital Average Speed technology to market.

October 2001 After 2 years, Symonds acquired Sureway Parking’s interest and Speed Check returned to being owned by a sole parent company. The Speed Check Board of Directors remains the same group of people who were involved in its foundation.

October 2002 Symonds demerged Speed Check, which becomes a wholly independent, privately owned limited company.

March 2004 Speed Check relocates from Kensington, London to Camberley, Surrey.

April 2005 Speed Check renames itself SCS Speed Check Services to reflect the new, wider scope of activity.

Today, SCS is one of the UK's foremost providers of intelligent transport solutions for the road traffic market sector, and remains the sole provider of digital average speed enforcement to Police and highways authorities.

theres 2 scs's in the uk one makes sofas and the other traffic enforment!

i might ring then up and ask for a sofa!!! because martin kemp told me to get down to scs now!!

i want a sofa not a speed camera

**Hob** · 05-03-2006, 04:05 AM

I just got busted by this speed camera! Argh!

Doing 54mph in a temporary 40mph zone on the motorway...

I'm a new driver, so I only have half-points (or double-penalties, depending on how you look at it) for another 6 months.

I'm quite worried now, because I've driven down that stretch twice recently, and ignored the speed camera signs to some extent. I've just been pinched for the first one. If I get another letter - not only is it another £60, but it's the end of my license - gutting.

Are these camera ever switched off? Do they rely on film at all? If not - I don't see how they would be admissible in court? (I was told you can't submit digital photography as evidence?)

Hob

**StlouisX50** · 05-03-2006, 07:49 AM

OH man, welcome to the board. I'M not sure how these cameras work. Hopefully somene on the board can help you. If you don't get a reply in this section of the forum. Try asking it under real experiances. Or how to beat a ticket section. Sorry to hear about your specs encounter!

**Hob** · 05-03-2006, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by StlouisX50

OH man, welcome to the board. I'M not sure how these cameras work. Hopefully somene on the board can help you. If you don't get a reply in this section of the forum. Try asking it under real experiances. Or how to beat a ticket section. Sorry to hear about your specs encounter!

Thanks for the welcome

I'll get posting on that other board!