Safe Speed Forums

Hi this is just a query.. Can anyone tell me if there is new technology within the workings of speed cameras that detects if your vehicle is car,van etc?

Nothing new - it merely estimates the size of the vehicle based on the size of the radar reflection as far as I know.

However it can be fooled!
Having once received a ticket for my car while I was actually abroad, my advice is if you get a ticket, ALWAYS ask for the pictures to check it IS your vehicle that is in the frame.
There are other issues which you might spot too.

_________________
Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

As Ernest has pointed out, Radar uses a crude method of differentiating between vehicle types.
Other types of camera sometimes use induction loops buried in the road as another crude method of differentiation (such as SPECS, perhaps even truvelos).

In such cases the vehicle type is confirmed by cross-referencing the VRM mark against the DVLA (?) database.

_________________
Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

SPECS is ANPR, and Truvelos use Piezo sensors so I believe neither can directly determine a vehicle's size (or legal class). However SPECS and any ANPR system could theoretically be linked to a database to find this information out.

The only device I have seen which does appear to have a size detector is the Gatso 24 radar thang.

_________________
Andrew.

i would imagine mobile unit operators could determine between cars and vans, and the permitted speeds

Believe that a few pratnerships have set up Gatsos to differentiate between HGV and cars/vans - as said probably works on the radar return. Warks is one that has set out warnings on it's site ,and this is from 2004

Iwarks site

But i regularly drive in Warks through these sites and to date have had no probs in a transit hi top .

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on