Any Chance of Getting Caught? Slowed down before a Moving Mobile Speed Camera

I was travelling on Hume motorway yesterday and there was a black Audi SUV on my ass so I had to speed up to move out of the way. The road speed limit 100, since my focus was on the Audi behind me at the time I wasn't sure of my speed, but when I moved to the left lane my speed was sitting at 110k/h on the dash.

That's when I realised there was a moving SUV with speed cameras installed, on the side of the car it also says "thank you for not speeding" something like that. The Audi couldn't get past the speed camera car (not realising it's a speed camera car) in the overtaking lane so he overtook the car from the left

What are my chances of getting a fine?

I never overtook the speed checking car however my speed was sitting around 110k in a 100k zone..
been checking my demerit points on the service site almost every few hours…

Comments

  • +47

    there was a black audi SUV on my ass so I had to speed up to move out of the way

    No you didn't.

    what are my chances of getting a fine?

    6375:17

    • +26

      This is something I don't understand. Other drivers time issues are not your own. If they want to speed and be a road bully, let them, but don't adjust your own driving to appease some other shitbag, time poor douche canoe.

      6375:17

      Aka: 375:1

        • +2

          "as there was a car in my left blind spot refusing to slow down"

          If you get fined, fight it. It's not that often magistrates get a good belly laugh in their job. "I wasn't speeding Sir, it was the guy sitting in my blind spot that wouldn't move out who was speeding…"

        • No, if you’ve been driving long enough, you’d know that you should have stuck to your speed and left the other guy to figure out a way around you if he was in such a hurry.

        • -1

          You should have been taught when you learnt to drive that the right response to some a-hole tailgating is to slow right down, not speed up - they get the message that way. Speeding up just encourages bad behaviour.

      • +1

        Aka: 375:1

        Please don't ruin my fun 😔

        • +1

          Just choose two large distinct prime numbers.

      • If they want to speed and be a road bully, let them

        Indeed. Being right > being safe/ removing yourself from an unsafe situation.

        • +8

          It's not about "bEiNg RiGhT, it's about road safety. "Being safe" means not speeding or breaking the law just because someone behind you cant manage to get to their destination on time. Their time management problems are a them issue, not a me issue.

          Just because you get frustrated in traffic and try to bully other people around, does not mean that they should drive out of their comfort zone and/or break road rules to make up for your piss poor time management.

          And I'm sorry, my "being safe" and "driving within the confines of the law" far outweigh and is of far greater importance than your perceived urgency.

          • +5

            @pegaxs: The other drivers lack of safe driving doesn't mean you shouldn't respond safely and accordingly.
            You can't change the other person behaviour, but you can change yours so it favours you (ie. removing yourself from a dangerous situation). If the bully is targeting you, how is it now not your problem now if your safety is at risk.

            does not mean that they should drive out of their comfort zone and/or break road rules to make up for your piss poor time management.

            Thats being 'right' over being safe. Also, I never suggested breaking road rules, there are other ways to deal with such situation. Let me know when you're done with making funny assumptions.

            • +3

              @Ughhh:

              there are other ways to deal with such situation.

              Yet op did not use any other ways, and pegaxs is discussing the ops method.

              • +1

                @brendanm: Pegaxs is suggesting playing hero, not doing anything while putting yourself in dangers way. I wonder if he would give up his wallet if a robber held a knife to his stomach, or give the same speech about not appeasing anyone.

                • +2

                  @Ughhh: No, he literally said that you don't have to speed, and don't have to break the law to allow others past.

            • +2

              @Ughhh:

              The other drivers lack of safe driving doesn't mean you shouldn't respond safely and accordingly.

              Never said this. You absolutely should respond with safety and accordingly. What you shouldn't do is break the law because you think it is "safer", no matter how much of an arsehole the other driver is. Staying within the confines of the law is not about being "right" it's about being "safe".

              You seem to think that I am telling people to grief the road bullies, when what I am saying is, concentrate on what you are doing, stay within the bounds of the law and let the time poor arseholes fix their own shit. It's not up to me to put myself in an unsafe situation outside the bounds of the law just cause you are piss poor with your time management.

              Thats being 'right' over being safe.

              No it isnt. Speeding up over the speed limit or making an unsafe lane change or doing something else random and outside the road rules is not making you safer. That being said, sticking within the road rules isn't about "being right" as much as it is about "being safe."

              Let me know when you're done with making funny assumptions.

              Nek minnit…

              Pegaxs is suggesting playing hero

              Talk about making stupid assumptions. This is not what I am suggesting at all.

              • +3

                @pegaxs: You've made the silly assumption that I said
                1. What the other driver did was ok,
                2. What the op did was best action possible.

                I never said this, calm down and get this out of your head.

              • +4

                @pegaxs:

                Never said this. You absolutely should respond with safety and accordingly. What you shouldn't do is break the law because you think it is "safer", no matter how much of an arsehole the other driver is. Staying within the confines of the law is not about being "right" it's about being "safe".

                I agree that everyone is responsible for their own actions, and to that end, you are correct. However, I also think that this is a terribly black-and-white view of the world that does not take into account the nuances involved in the way that we view, and as a result, enforce road rules.

                I've been in this situation many times, driving at the speed limit on a one lane road for another driver to be tailgating me extremely closely for many kms on end. This is dangerous for obvious reasons. However, the truth is that we do not invest anywhere near as much time and/or resources into stamping out this behaviour as we do catching people who are driving 3km/h over the speed limit.

                The fact that we basically do not police this empowers bad drivers to continue their poor behaviour. In an ideal world, drivers who tailgate and exhibit other such bad manners / behaviour on roads should be caught and fined / punished accordingly, which will stop this sort of future behaviour.

                For better or for worse, the way we have chosen to enforce road rules is basically fully centred around speed and nothing else at all. If you are of the view that driving 5 km/h above the limit is intentional and punishable, then so should be changing lanes without looking and potentially causing an accident, pulling out into oncoming traffic, poor merging…etc.

                • +2

                  @p1 ama:

                  The fact that we basically do not police this

                  It is policed, it's just that it's very easy to stop doing it if you see police. On a one lane road such as the one you described, odds of police seeing this are very low.

                  I find that if you slow down, and make the tailgating driver well aware that you will not be bullied, they will back off.

                  I happen to after with you regarding the speed centric rules, there are far more dangerous things people do every day while driving, however at the end of the day, op did not have to speed just because someone else did.

                  • +1

                    @brendanm:

                    It is policed, it's just that it's very easy to stop doing it if you see police. On a one lane road such as the one you described, odds of police seeing this are very low.

                    I would say that having to rely incidentally on police noticing is not a comprehensive policing strategy the same way that speed is policed. For example, through an extensive network of fixed, point-to-point, mobile cameras.

                    I find that if you slow down, and make the tailgating driver well aware that you will not be bullied, they will back off.

                    Completely agree, but this wasn't exactly my point.

                    I happen to after with you regarding the speed centric rules, there are far more dangerous things people do every day while driving, however at the end of the day, op did not have to speed just because someone else did.

                    Also completely agree, I said as much in my post that we are responsible for our own actions. However, in saying that, perhaps the more macro view of what I was trying to say is that rules need to be comprehensively enforced in order to have the entire system work. If rules are not enforced (or are only selectively enforced), then basically it means that those who are willing to break the rules will be able to step on those who want to do the right thing.

                    • @p1 ama:

                      I would say that having to rely incidentally on police noticing is not a comprehensive policing strategy the same way that speed is policed.

                      I agree. I assume that they have not yet found a way to do so effectively, as they wouldn't give up a lucrative income stream of it were easy.

                      However, in saying that, perhaps the more macro view of what I was trying to say is that rules need to be comprehensively enforced in order to have the entire system work. If rules are not enforced (or are only selectively enforced), then basically it means that those who are willing to break the rules will be able to step on those who want to do the right thing.

                      This is pretty much the story of life I suppose. Lots of rules are hard to enforce, so people get away with breaking them. I'm sure lots are designed this way, rule for thee but not for me etc. Speed is very easy to capture, and a great source of revenue, so it is the thing that is focussed on. Perhaps I'm too cynical.

                  • -2

                    @brendanm: "I find that if you slow down, and make the tailgating driver well aware that you will not be bullied,"

                    they will push past at the first opportunity, force you to a stop, then go into full bogan rant mode whilst thumping your window and calling you out for a fight.

                    FIFY.

  • +8

    Moving? Didn’t think they operated while moving.

      • +2

        That sounds like a Google maps car. Was it a google maps car?

        • -1

          no it wasn't..but as others pointed out those car only operate when being stationary

  • +11

    We can't possibly know or tell you what your chances are. Find out in the post in about 2 weeks.

    You do not need to speed up to get out of the way for tailgaters. Just drive at the maximum speed limit and move over when it's safe to do so.

    • is checking the demrit points online a quicker option?
      will the demerit points get updated before or after that?

      • +1

        Possibly but it is what it is. Whether you get a fine or not, you can't change anything now so stop stressing about it. If it happens, it happens. Hopefully it won't.

        Seems unlikely to get tagged by a moving speed check car though, if that's what you meant, not sure how they would calibrate it properly.

      • +3

        You don't get the demerit points added until you admit responsibility and pay the fine, if you receive one.

  • +11

    You don't need a whole story about some car tailgating you to ask a question about speed cameras.

    The speed camera cars won't read or record your speed unless it's parked on the side of the road and setup properly.
    Highway patrol cars are the only ones that will read your speed while they're on the move.

    • thanks for the info…
      by the look of things as long as those cars are on the move I'm safe

    • +1

      Highway patrol cars are the only ones that will read your speed while they're on the move.

      HWP also can only issue a fine by chasing you down.

    • Normal police, as long as they've had the relevant training, can also judge your speed and issue a fine.

  • +3

    There are moving speed cameras now? Which state is this?

    • NSW..as I described I spotted a mobile speed camera car driving in front of me
      was not sure whether it was recording at the time/is able to record while moving

      • +4

        NSW..as I described I spotted a mobile speed camera car driving in front of me
        was not sure whether it was recording at the time/is able to record while moving

        They are mobile because they can be operated at different locations, in contrast to fixed speed cameras that are operate at a single fixed location.

        The mobile speed cameras do not record while they are moving from one location to another.

    • +2

      Have just Googled it and it seems they've been rolled out in NSW in February this year: https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/speeding/speedcamera…

      • +4

        Doesn't that just refer to retrofitting rooftop signs in lieu of the roadside warning signs that were removed?

  • +7

    There are no mobile SUV camera cars that are moving while doing speed checks. It was probably a camera cars moving locations.

    There are way to many variables on a moving vehicle to track another moving vehicle with any accuracy.

    Moral of the story, use it as a wake up call and don't use other road users poor driving as an excuse to break the law.

    • noted, thanks for that clarification

    • +1

      VicPol use mobile speed cameras all of the time. Particularly on the freeways and highways. They can measure another vehicles speed with heading towards them or driving away, simply a matter of measuring the time the radar pings take to travel to/from an object

      • +2

        OP is in NSW, and the SUVs they are referring too, I am sure even in VIC, are not taking readings/photos of speeding motorists while the SUV is in motion. I am happy for you to provide information from VicPol or VicRoads that suggest otherwise.

        Police cars are outfitted with radar to check other cars speeds on the road but there is a massive raft of rules and regulations they have to cross off before they can use this as evidence of an offence. What they don’t do, it couple a camera up to it and just let it catch speeding drivers as they drive around and issue automatic fines. These radars are their least accurate when they are coupled to a moving vehicle to try and catch other moving vehicles, hence the reason most cop cars also carry hand held LiDAR speed detectors.

        • In that case maybe I should have challenged/contested the fine I received in Chicago for doing 40mph in a 25mph and had a moving violation recorded on my USA license. Also the time I was booked on the Western Highway (Vic) by a police car traveling towards me at some distance away. Unfortunately by the time my radar detector picked up the radar beam it was too late (naturally)

          • @Ocker:

            maybe I should have challenged/contested the fine I received in Chicago

            Hold on, we are now not only out of OP's state, but out of the country and into a completely different country. What they do in "Chicago" has (fropanity) all to do with what OP is asking. Different rules, different jurisdictions, different technology, different legislation…

            Also the time I was booked on the Western Highway (Vic) by a police car

            Emphasis on "police car" (that I already covered in my comment above)… It wasn't a road side mobile speed camera SUV in NSW driving down the highway.

            Unfortunately by the time my radar detector picked up

            Also, illegal.

            • -2

              @pegaxs: The comment about Chicago was intended only for interest sake !!

              "I am sure even in VIC, are not taking readings/photos of speeding motorists while the SUV is in motion" - WRONG !!

              "Police cars are outfitted with radar to check other cars speeds on the road but there is a massive raft of rules and regulations" - Purely academic as the fact is they and do use mobile radar to check other cars speed, AND ISSUE FINES WITHING THE "MASSIVE RULES AND REGS"

              In Victoria it is only illegal "use or possess a device the sole or principal purpose of which is to prevent the effective use of a prescribed speed measuring device or to detect when a prescribed speed measuring device is being used." I have a custom made unit that incorporates a dash cam - the dash cam is the principal purpose of the unit

              https://www.automoblog.net/best-radar-detectors-with-dash-ca…

              • @Ocker:

                WRONG !!

                Source. (Other than anecdotal run ins with Chicago police)

                Purely academic as the fact is they and do use mobile radar to check other cars speed

                Yes "police cars" do. But they are not mobile speed cameras. Mobile speed cameras are operated by private companies contracted out to state transport authorities.

                In Victoria it is only illegal…

                Rightio, champ. See how that plays out in court if you get busted with a "radar detecting dash cam".

                Hell, why not have a radar detecting "ash tray"? I can see that conversation now; "Well, officer, its principle purpose is to butt me ciggies out in, it's just a coincidence that it's secondary function is to scan for police speed radars."

                • -3

                  @pegaxs: Just accept the fact you are not the be all and know it all on the subject. There are others that know somewhat more than you think you do
                  Leave it ther

                  • @Ocker: Ok, champ. It's ok if you cant provide sources to back up any of the misinformation you are spewing forth.

                    • -1

                      @pegaxs: Like hello - I have already provided several examples. Just accept the fact you are out of your depth on the issue and save your image further embarrassment by making sill claims and accusations.

                      • +2

                        @Ocker: You didn’t supply anything. You posted some anecdotal experience (in Chicago of all the relevant places) and a link to a radar detector site… that sells illegal radar detectors.

                        So, please cite a source that says that in Victoria, there are vehicles driving around with speed camera equipment and that these vehicles are in motion when they are taking these photos…

    • I they have been rolled out in NSW this February: https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/speeding/speedcamera…

      • +4

        And just in case I missed it… where exactly on that page does it say that mobile speed camera cars are now just roaming around the streets and highways and can now ping motorists while that camera SUV is in motion?

        Motorists will be advised their speed is being checked with signs to appear on the roof top of mobile speed camera vehicles across the state, with rollout starting from February 2022.

        This does not say that these cars will be in motion when the motorists speeds are checked.

  • Unless they actually know who is driving the vehicle, how can they update demerit points?

    Touching wood as I haven't ever been booked, but don't you have to receive the notice and they nominate the driver?

    • +1

      Depending on state strict liability laws, the fine goes to the registered owner by default and the RO has to nominate or pay fine. Don't know who? You can request photo evidence but even if it doesn't show RO or anyone, RO still has to pay.

      When someone hits your car and run with face caught on dashcam, police say don't want to follow up and insurer insists on a name or you pay excess

      That is life

      • Okay - understand that… but our cars are registered in my name and my husband's name - so we'd get a letter asking us to nominate which one of us was driving.

        • +1

          No. The registered owner gets the fine, and the opportunity to nominate another driver if they believe someone else is more deserving of the demerits.

        • +1

          It will go to whoever is nominated as primary on the registration.

  • +7

    my speed was sitting at 110k/h on the dash.

    Depending on your car, 110k/hr on your dash might only actually be around 100-102. Check with your phones gps next time.

    • "with your phones gps next time"
      Sophie's law?

  • +5

    I share the road with Muppets like this? FFS

    • +4

      Of course. They're the ones asking for your diagrams

  • +4

    and there was a black Audi SUV on my ass so I had to speed up to move out of the way.

    Did it have a mounted machine gun on it? I'm just curious as to why the only option was to speed up to get out of the way as opposed to, say, letting them pass to the left like an impatient tw*t or waiting until there was a safe space on the left for you to pull into…

    That's when I realised there was a moving SUV with speed cameras installed, on the side of the car it also says "thank you for not speeding" something like that. The Audi couldn't get past the speed camera car (not realising it's a speed camera car) in the overtaking lane so he overtook the car from the left
    What are my chances of getting a fine?

    There's no such thing as a mobile speed camera, so zero, but stop blaming your choices on others.

    • We do a mobile speed camera vehicles in NSW but they look more like oversized UTE rather than SUV i think and they do have a sign on the roof now so if OP saw a car with a sign on roof about speeding then very real chance of him getting the fine

      • We have mobile speed cameras in my state too in that they can be moved to multiple different locations in a day, but while the camera is active the vehicle is always parked on the side of the road.

        That's when I realised there was a moving SUV with speed cameras installed

        Could've been a speed camera moving to its next location, although considering it was the Easter long weekend I wonder if it might've been some sort of sneaky deterrent?

  • +1

    Gm fam,

    Old news but hopefully it will come to Australia sometime in the future.

    Police to use speed camera drones to catch motorists breaking traffic laws
    POLICE officers are set to use a speed camera in the sky to catch motorists breaking road laws across London.
    By LUKE JOHN SMITH PUBLISHED: 07:15, Sat, Jul 13, 2019
    https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1152091/Speed-came…

    • +1

      I remember when the police did this with spotter planes back in the late 80's and early 90's. There were markings on the road that could be seen from a plane circling above and a copper with a stopwatch and a radio.

      I remember it, because there was a section of road on the New England Highway out of Newcastle heading up past Muswellbrook that had these warning signs and the white lines parked on the road.

      • +1

        Big signs on the road ‘Aerial speed monitoring’ or similar to which I recall someone spray painted additional description of ‘pigs in space’ to one of them.

  • -1

    Next time you go through road works keep an eye out for the speed checking signs that show you speed and check out how far below (usually) your speed is compared to the real speed and then it is probably out by the same % when you are doing 100 or 110. In my car 104.x on the speedo is 100 and 115 is 110. When I do 80 on the speedo the signs say 86 or 87 and when I do 100 the speed signs say 95 or 96.

    • Or better still get a gps to display your speed so you can work it out. I set my cruise control to the speed limit+10% -1 To be confident of not getting exceeding the limit.

  • so I had to speed up

    f'n lol

    Tell us what you reckon was totally going to happen if you didn't

  • Next time you go through road works keep an eye out for the speed checking signs that show you speed and check out how far below (usually) your speed is compared to the real speed

    I wouldn't put to much faith in the accuracy of the roadworks speed checks - I drive past one frequently and they seemed to be showing almost random numbers so I checked later at night.
    My stationary car was shown to be doing 58 km/hr.

    • Yes those speed checks are totally unreliable I had to set some up maybe 13-14 years ago and the guidelines to set them up didn't have explanations for the odd speed readings that would come up. Different windscreens angles, car colours and cars leaving the sign in the opposite direction would conflict with what was supposed to be happening. Management would end up telling us to set to the middle of the adjustment range and leave it at that.

  • +1

    If your Audi said you were going 110, you were actually only going 100, so no problem.

  • 100% chance you will get the fine. Plus an extra fine for trying to slow down to avoid it.

    Best of luck

  • Good luck should you choose to challenge if you actually receive the fine…
    There is pretty much no excuse for speeding that will get you out of an infringement…

  • Yes most likely you will get a fine, those mobile vehicles churn out fines like crazy. Two of my friends got fined by the same van doing 106 and 109 in 100 zone at xmas time.

  • -2

    As others have said, mobile camera van has to be stationary to do speeding recording. You should be fine.

  • use your phone and download a speedometer app, check what 110 is on the app. most likely won't get a fine as most speedos are off by 6 at 100 and the cameras don't fine you at 104kmh

  • been checking my demerit points on the service site almost every few hours

    there goes the work productivity for the week…

    Aren’t you supposed to get a notice first before demerit applies?

    • Yep. Need to receive and pay the fine before demerit points are allocated. OP might need to keep sweating it for a while until the mail arrives.

  • How ya going Mr Drifter

  • The situation where drivers can feel they need to speed up to get out of the way is where they are in the right lane and the speed limit is >80, they are right on the limit, and there is a car on their left doing about the same speed as them. Then someone steams up behind them, and the only way they can get out of the way is either speed up a bit, or slow down and face the ire of the vehicle right behind them. It isn't surprising that because of their own need to be courteous they speed up enough to move far enough ahead of the vehicle beside them to pull over to left safely. People shouldn't be criticised for showing courtesy, even if it is towards someone who is speeding. Its courtesy, but its illegal.

  • I think you were probably only going about 106kph and they have to capture at least 3 seconds of footage. I would contest it.

Login or Join to leave a comment