Cruise

[A1287210]

I was driving back from London yesterday through the 15 miles of roadworks on the M1, and as the route has Specs averaging speed cameras, cruise control was engaged at 50 mph. I noticed that I was sailing past cars (new honda civics and Renault's that had digital speedos) a glance over while I overtook showed they were going 50 and 51 mph.

I have had experience of the 10% error rule using Tom Tom Sav nav speeds as a reference. i.e. Mondeo says 55 mph while my actual speed on the Tom Tom read 50.

Have Audi ditched this 10% rule and now supply cars with speedos that actually show the speed you are doing.......?

By the way I am always staggered by the number of people flying through these cameras at great speed, are they all stupid, driving stolen/foreign cars or is there somthing I am missing?

Boo to the speed camera.

Damo

[jakerade]

against my origin b2 speed camera detector, the speedo is showing 73/74mph at 70mph on the b2

[kodkod.84]

Yes I work in the construction industry and it truly p***** me off when people speed through the roadworks.
The speed limits aren't just there to protect the drivers due to the adverse cambers chicanes and narrower lanes, but also the workforce who have to work periously close to traffic at times.

[HighwayTG]

I was once overtaken on the M1 50mph stretch at about 80mph by a distinctive looking Subaru Impreza with rally paint work... later I stopped at a service station for coffee and noticed the same car with the guy about to leave, curious I asked him if he knew something I didn't about these average speed cameras and he explained that they can only catch you if you stay in the same lane between 2 points, so if you hop lanes before you reach the next camera it doesn’t register !

Not sure how true that is but I havn't risked my license to find out.

[alexcf]

I looked at mine, I've got a NovusAlpha or whatever it is, speed camera GPS thing. That seems to suggest that the speedo is ~2-3mph out on mine around 70ish. Thing is, a friend of mine who had an RS4, his speedo was out by miles, where an ex-copper no less, said his speedo was perfect..!

Hit and miss I think!

[Red 2]

My speedo on digital mode is also only a couple of mph out compared with the TomTom so no 10% margin on mine.

Best use of cruise is for roadworks...

[alexcf]

Yep, totally agree, I put mine on 49mph in Specs. :( I HATE SPECS :(

[A1287210]

After quizzing a fellow member of the Association of British Drivers (ABD)

about whether there is any truth in the switching lanes excuse.

"It is true for the first generation but new specs are being trialed by Home Office which cover all lanes so it won't be true for long!"

[jakerade]

I'm not sure i would rely on lane hopping technique for a clean licence! In theory all they need to do at each gantry is bung all the reg numbers from each camera into a database with the time they pass through and compare them with the times from the previous gantry to work out the average speed

[adamss24]

I'm not sure i would rely on lane hopping technique for a clean licence! In theory all they need to do at each gantry is bung all the reg numbers from each camera into a database with the time they pass through and compare them with the times from the previous gantry to work out the average speed
Actualy it does not work that way. First thing they cannot see ALL numberplates as cars are passing others at odd angles so the camera cannot see all full plates. Also the computer program is trying to focus onto the numberplate and i found that if you switch lanes quick when you close to the Spec camera, the program cannot focus/move fast enough ! It does work switching the lanes and i passed many times without getting a ticket...Thats why they tell you to "Stay in line" so they can fine you ! All these are money making skemes wich are only implemented here first and other eastern countries copy later on ! I would say british motorists are the only ones across europe wich the government forces to bend over and **** without no lubricant ! As regards to the way the construction goes, out of 10 people in the workforce only 1 works, the other watch or drive up and down the closed lanes or take tea-breaks ! This government burries the money in these roads, every night you see miles of red cones being put on the roads so they can come and pick up in the morning! Gues what, they do nothing or very little, many guys i know sleep overnight in their cabs...and some times they put these cones strategically at weekends around shopping centres and/or on busy roads just to make more traffic ! Thats how they mess-up with your brains so when you stay in traffic 2-3 hours every day after a hard day at work, you will pay when they proppose the new "pay-as-you-go" or "pay-per-mile" schemes ! Thats why all the money they spent widening the roads years ago, now they spend to put more traffic islands, more traffic lights and to narrow the streets ! Rant over !

[A1287210]

Driving back from London, what annoyed me was that around Luton, the M1 is now finished a new 4 or 5 lane motorway but still everyone was in the outer lane.

Why do people think that because they are doing 5 mph over the speed limit they have the god given right to sit in the outside lane.

I don't care how fast you go or what vehicle you are in KEEP LEFT.

20 miles of doing 73mph in the outside lane while 3 or 4 lanes are completely empty leads to undertaking, which is very unsafe.

I wish people would just KEEP LEFT:zx11::zx11::zx11::zx11::zx11::zx11:

[k6rff]

Yes I work in the construction industry and it truly p***** me off when people speed through the roadworks.
The speed limits aren't just there to protect the drivers due to the adverse cambers chicanes and narrower lanes, but also the workforce who have to work periously close to traffic at times.


Yes, but have you noticed how we cone of large areas for minimal tasks. A little armco work and cutting the grass in the central reservation on the 2 lane M2 recently included coning off the outside lane on both sides giving just one lane per side. Has anyone compared this with work in France/Begium/Germany. they just arrive, get on with the job carefully and disappear again. We could do with more of that and a little less 'elf and safety'.

Regards