which direction can mobile camera vans detect?

Bunty1948

Sorry to appear a little stupid here, but can/do mobile camera vans parked on the highway verge detect speed of vehicles travelling in one direction only or are they capable of prosecuting both directions of travel.

Many years ago, as a young highway engineer I regularly used the "old" radar guns to assess vehicle speeds on sections of highway subject to redesign, and the radar was capable of accurately recoding speeds of vehicles approaching and receding from the weapon. Does anyone know if the camera vans can do the same.

I only ask as I currently have my CamerAlert app set to notify me of mobiles that I believe record vehicles in the same direction of travel as myself so as to reduce the number of warnings.

Alan

M8TJT

DennisN

M8TJT · Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 10:56 pm Post subject:

I would suspect north, as those travelling south would notice the big camera van parked there and slow down if necessary.

Bunty1948

Privateer · Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 1:34 pm Post subject:

Hi Bunty1948,

A very quick reply (sorry, I'm late for work):

The main thing is to submit details of a new camera site, then if you can get it as accurate as possible then it does does help but MaFt and the verifiers will take each site and recommend improvements if necessary i.e. a slight move if the coordinates are out, change of speed limit, heading, and whether it is one direction or both directions.

I'm sure that Dennis will give a longer and better answer on his return. Thumbs Up

Regards,
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DennisN · Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 3:48 pm Post subject:

I don't know if I can give a longer answer, although I often tend to ramble on a bit!

I confess this is something which somewhat confuses me. Bear in mind, I am no more knowledgeable about how the App works than anybody else except the designer/developer. It has been my assumption that if I tap "other side" it (the App) will get it right and position the camera and heading as not trapping my current direction, not positioned my side of the road, but trapping the opposite direction from the other side of the road. That became somehow important to me when I submitted a report of a fixed camera "other side" when I was travelling anti-clockwise on the M25 - the overhead gantry-mounted camera array was trapping clockwise traffic. I hoped the app got it right, because I was too far from home to remember where it was!

With fixed cameras, I think that is pretty definite. But with mobiles, what I was trying to say was that the camera may be looking south, but none of us know whether it is trapping approaching or receding traffic, do we? I think it might help if we generally consider most mobiles as bi-directional, it only takes a small shift of the thingy between right and left to get this side or other side, innit? I've never seen inside a mobile van, but surely it can be wiggled a bit from side to side and up and down?

Not all that long ago, as a Verifier, I would have rejected a camera this side reported as trapping other side when it was on a dual carriageway, on the grounds that interference from the intervening central reservation safety barrier would prevent it from operating in that direction. That theory went out the window when a member reported getting a ticket from one of my local ones. As verifiers, we often will report back that the single direction mobile should be accepted as bi-directional, simply because the location allows for a switch of direction at will.

As Privateer says, the main thing is to submit reports of cameras and MaFt and the verifiers will look at it - we've been doing this for nearly ten years now, so we have come across most things. It doesn't bother us if somebody gets the direction wrong because we realise it can be misunderstood. You do have the chance, by the way, when submitting a camera, to add comments to clarify what you intend.

In general, I believe M8TJT was pretty accurate in inferring that most camera vans operate against approaching traffic, not receding, simply for the gotcha factor.
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M8TJT · Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 4:27 pm Post subject:

I think that what "This side" and "The other side" really means is that if the camera is trapping in YOUR direction of travel, it is "This side". If it is trapping in the opposite direction it is "The other side". My rational for this is that when the camera is entered into the database, if you have reported "This side", then the trapping direction will be entered as your heading at the time of the report. If it is reported as "The other side" then MaFt will enter the camera trapping direction as the reciprocal of your heading at the time of reporting.
Perhaps MaFt will confirm/deny this assumption.

Kremmen · Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 5:08 am Post subject:

There is a location near Woking outide McLarens that is in the database as a mobile site.

The van that sometimes parks there is backed up with Plod motorcyclists on both sides of the road both close to the van and more a short distance away. What they are doing from what I can tell is checking tax, mot and insurance as the vehicles I see stopped are often wrecks.

The transit style van has twin high mounted cameras front and rear within the rear section so has to be both directions.

Whether it is also checking speed ?
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Privateer · Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 12:02 pm Post subject:

The question "which direction can mobile camera vans detect?" has been asked before, in the thread Mobile Speed Camera Van Detection Direction. Here's what I wrote in that thread:

Privateer · Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 4:54 pm Post subject:

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