Re: Caught at last
Originally Posted by
Primus1
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It’s usually 10% + 2mph because speedometers are not that accurate, so an allowance is made for over reading
I've wondered about this often.
Here's what I figure.
Firstly, most cars have their speedometers set to be 2-3 mph faster than you are actually going. So if your speedo says you are doing 73mph, you are really only doing 70mph.
Secondly, when police calibrate their speed detector equipment at the start of each day they SURELY are making sure that it records ACTUAL SPEED.
So if it shows a car travelling at 70mph, then that car REALLY IS doing 70mph actual speed no matter what the car speedo says.
Thirdly, the police generally allow cars to go at the speed limit plus 10% plus 2mph.
So in a 30mph zone, you can be doing 30+3+2 = 35mph.
On a motorway you can do 70 + 7 + 2 = 79mph.
Putting all this together means that when looking at your speedometer you can go much faster than the speed limit.
For example, on a motorway, if the police won't stop you at ACTUAL speeds of up to 79mph then you can drive with your speedo showing 82mph (assuming it shows 3mph over actual).
This explains why, when you are on the motorway in those long stretches of 50mph limit roadworks, there are people whizzing past you all the time. You may think they are going to get speeding tickets but they won't.
If you are sitting there at what appears to be 50mph on your speedo you are actually only doing 47-48mph.
In a 50mph limit (and if police allow 10% + 2mph) then you can do 57mph before they will give you a ticket. That means on your speedo you can do what appears to be 59-60mph.
Things have changed somewhat though in the last year or so because speeding has been outsourced/subcontracted to private firms who have now created a multi-million pound business with speed awareness courses.
These private firms ARE NOT the police and WILL stop you at speeds just over the speed limit. Therein lies the problem now. I believe they would ticket you at speeds of 33mph and up in a 30mph zone.