Speed camera van parking.
Discussion
Not sure if this has been covered elsewhere.
Driving along the A14 recently, I saw a speed camera van parked in a lay-by which had double yellow lines and a sign which said 'no stopping except in emergency'. I'm going to assume the camera was operating rather than broken down as one of the rear windows was open and I could see the operator sitting in the back.
I guess my question would be, are these vehicles allowed to park and operate in these type of locations?
Driving along the A14 recently, I saw a speed camera van parked in a lay-by which had double yellow lines and a sign which said 'no stopping except in emergency'. I'm going to assume the camera was operating rather than broken down as one of the rear windows was open and I could see the operator sitting in the back.
I guess my question would be, are these vehicles allowed to park and operate in these type of locations?
Best one I've seen is after a blind bend, on a downslope of a hill, up on the grass 2/3 hidden by someone's fence. Almost impossible to see until "too late". It enraged me so much that I complained. Eventually an officer called me to say that they only park near places where at least one person has complained about speeding so NOT places that have bad accidents associated with speeding.
TX.
TX.
There will be a traffic regulation order which sets out the circumstances in which you can park there. These will be a bit broader than "emergency only" and will almost certainly include exceptions for police vehicles, ambulances, road maintenance vehicles etc etc.
The sign just says "except in emergency" because that's the only exception which is likely to be relevant to the average motorist, rather than the only exception full stop.
The sign just says "except in emergency" because that's the only exception which is likely to be relevant to the average motorist, rather than the only exception full stop.
Police and other emergency services have a blanket exemption from parking regulations. Indeed, any of the aforementioned can park in the middle of a motorway and "fend off" or completely block it if they want to.
So a camera van on double yellows isn't going to concern anyone (except speeders).
So a camera van on double yellows isn't going to concern anyone (except speeders).
Terminator X said:
Best one I've seen is after a blind bend, on a downslope of a hill, up on the grass 2/3 hidden by someone's fence. Almost impossible to see until "too late". It enraged me so much that I complained. Eventually an officer called me to say that they only park near places where at least one person has complained about speeding so NOT places that have bad accidents associated with speeding.
TX.
Yes, that's my understanding too. If people complain the vans / guns get sent out to check. Judging by the whining types on Facebook I am surprised they don't have a list of thousands of locations in my town alone!TX.
After getting caught by one in the dark recently, I saw one at 7.30am on my route to work (known place so I always check). Don't think I have ever seen them out so early. They provided an excellent check of a half mile stretch of dual carriageway where no-one walks.
Terminator X said:
Best one I've seen is after a blind bend, on a downslope of a hill, up on the grass 2/3 hidden by someone's fence. Almost impossible to see until "too late". It enraged me so much that I complained. Eventually an officer called me to say that they only park near places where at least one person has complained about speeding so NOT places that have bad accidents associated with speeding.
TX.
Many years ago, I saw one parked at the bottom of a hill on the A47 after driving over a blind summit. You couldn’t see it on the upslope and by the time you’ve crested the brow if the hill it would have been too late to slow down, it would have zapped you.TX.
It was a very convenient place for the speed camera van to park. And I doubt there was any accident black spot on such a straight stretch of dual carriageway. It was practically in the middle of nowhere so I doubt anyone complained.
It was too good to be true that I looked at speed camera locations for Norfolk and no that location wasn’t listed. I’m no conspiracy theory fruitcake but are they using official / approved sites or using sites that’ll improve their numbers?
I’m guessing the brow of the hill was here?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/LfS7YKdd69GHAFUA9
Edited by Mr Miata on Monday 12th May 14:56
They are very good at showing figures that say places have had lot of accidents. What I noticed was that, for example, near where I live there was a road with 35 accidents, one fatality and two serious injuries. Sounds bad until you realise it was over 10 years and the death was a motorcyclist's passenger 7 years ago.
The van that got me a couple of weeks ago was parked in the central reservation of a six lane road servicing an industrial estate (3 lanes per carriageway). Central reservation consists of a pavement either side of metal railings/divider. Is the van allowed to park in the central reservation on the pavement?
To park in this position, the van would have had to reverse from the 'fast' lane - this appears to be a very dangerous manoeuvre, possibly more dangerous than my recorded speed of 36 in a 30mph limit.....
To park in this position, the van would have had to reverse from the 'fast' lane - this appears to be a very dangerous manoeuvre, possibly more dangerous than my recorded speed of 36 in a 30mph limit.....
RS_MAN_CHILD said:
A14 they park in unsafe locations....few years back the highly visible van parked right next to the 50 sign (from a 70 zone) leaving drivers little time to scrub 20mph......that's seriously unsafe...designed to gather funds & catch people out nothing to do with safety!
Isn't the idea to scrub off speed before reaching to sign, just as you're supposed to accelerate inside the 70 zone, not before you reach it?
RS_MAN_CHILD said:
A14 they park in unsafe locations....few years back the highly visible van parked right next to the 50 sign (from a 70 zone) leaving drivers little time to scrub 20mph......that's seriously unsafe...designed to gather funds & catch people out nothing to do with safety!
I too am scratching my head on what you're doing when you encounter a speed limit change. Most of the time I'm able to go from (say) 70mph to 50mph smoothly, not even using the brakes (for fuel efficiency).paul_c123 said:
Police and other emergency services have a blanket exemption from parking regulations. Indeed, any of the aforementioned can park in the middle of a motorway and "fend off" or completely block it if they want to.
So a camera van on double yellows isn't going to concern anyone (except speeders).
Is that still true if it’s crewed by someone without a warrant card - a civilian if you will?So a camera van on double yellows isn't going to concern anyone (except speeders).
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