It may be an unfair assumption, but we\u2019re willing to bet that at some point or another the majority of people reading this have fallen afoul of a speed camera at some point. It\u2019s the single most common driving offence in the UK, so somewhat unsurprisingly, speed cameras are one of those things that so many of us love to hate. They\u2019ve been around since the early 90s, so there\u2019s been plenty of time for some quite pervasive myths to develop.<\/p>\n
Now, here at Scrap Car Network we\u2019re all about making things easier for you when you decide: I need to scrap my car<\/a><\/strong>. So, we thought we\u2019d take a moment to make things easier for you when you\u2019re out on the roads too, and take another look at the biggest myths about speed cameras and enforcement officers.<\/p>\n This is a puzzlingly common one, so you might be surprised to learn that there\u2019s actually no law that says enforcement officers or cameras have to be visible. However, though traffic officers are well within their legal rights to camouflage themselves, very few of them bother, as most are of the opinion that the sight of their vehicles often serves as an effective speeding deterrent in itself. And as one officer quoted in the Daily Mirror pointed out, in theory he wouldn\u2019t even need to be present himself \u2013 he could go on a wander and let the van do the deterring for him.<\/p>\n The same broadly goes for speed cameras. Currently, there\u2019s ongoing work being undertaken to ensure that greater numbers of speed cameras throughout the UK are being painted yellow, but contrary to what a lot of people seem to believe, it\u2019s not a legal requirement. As the AA points out, speed cameras \u201caren\u2019t there to be spotted and dodged \u2013 the point of them is to encourage drivers to stick within the speed limit\u201d.<\/p>\n This is another one that\u2019s so pervasive that the AA thought it was worth taking the time to address it directly. Like so many of the most pervasive myths, it does have some slight basis in truth. Older speed cameras did have a slight drawback in that they could have been \u2018tricked\u2019 in this way, but that\u2019s not been the case for a very long time.<\/p>\n Modern speed cameras rely on more advanced systems that utilise multiple sets of cameras at each point, to track all the lanes and compare average speeds. So whatever lane you\u2019re driving in \u2013 and whatever lane you\u2019re changing to \u2013 if you\u2019re driving over the speed limit, then yes they will still catch you.<\/p>\n This is a slightly less common myth, but still one that gets probably an airing down the end of the bar in your local occasionally. After all, it\u2019s stuff that most of us like believing about public services we don\u2019t like (see also: traffic wardens in major city centres). Sometimes, those suspicions may even turn out to be true.<\/p>\n But not in this case. Traffic officers don\u2019t have quotas they have to meet, or a minimum target that they have to rake in from motorists. Like it or not, they\u2019re just they\u2019re to catch the people who are speeding. Most are perfectly happy to go home at the end of the day not having caught anyone. After all, they\u2019re salaried, not on commission, and if everyone is going under the speed limit, then they know they\u2019ve done their job.<\/p>\n Surprisingly enough, this one is actually not a myth, as technically the answer is yes. It comes under Section 89 of the Police Act 1997, which makes it an offence to \u201cwilfully obstruct a constable in the execution of his or her duty\u201d. However, it\u2019s very difficult to prove, and to be honest \u2013 again, lots of officers aren\u2019t too fussed about it.<\/p>\n After all, as far as they\u2019re concerned, their job is to ensure that people keep their speed down to a reasonable level. And whether it\u2019s the sight of the van or the sight of another motorist\u2019s warning that gets that done \u2013 if it gets people to slow down, then the officer has done their job.<\/p>\n Speaking of doing a job, personally we\u2019re very passionate about ours \u2013 helping you to get the very best price when you scrap your car with us. Don\u2019t just take our word for it \u2013 get an instant online quote today! It\u2019s free, and there\u2019s zero obligation until you decide you\u2019re ready to proceed. enter your car reg and postcode<\/b><\/a>\u00a0into the fields on our site, and within seconds you\u2019ll be looking at your very own instant online quote. Ready to find out how much your car is worth?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It may be an unfair assumption, but we\u2019re willing to bet that at some point or another the majority of people reading this have fallen afoul of a speed camera at some point. It\u2019s the single most common driving offence in the UK, so somewhat unsurprisingly, speed cameras are one of those things that so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":6726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\nMyth #1: They don\u2019t have to be visible<\/h2>\n
Myth #2: You can avoid being caught by changing lanes<\/h2>\n
Myth #3: Traffic officers have targets set by the government<\/h2>\n
Is it illegal to flash your headlights to alert motorists of a speed van?<\/h2>\n