Almost three quarters of all motoring offences concern speeding, recent figures have revealed.
In 2021, a total of 49,027 speeding offences were caught on cameras across the Northumbria Police force area - not far short of 1,000 a week. Drivers have to pay a minimum £100 fine and have three points added to their licence for speeding penalties, unless they are given the option to attend a speed awareness course.
With the cost of living as it is, the last thing any of us need is an extra payments coming our way and it must be bitter pill to swallow for some drivers.
Read more: Warning to drivers as speed cameras go 'live' including on the A1 near Angel of the North
But are all traffic cameras out to get us? Not all of them it seems, as today there are numerous cameras, often with a different role to play.
There are up to 15 different types of road cameras in the UK. But only some of them have the power to fine you. We take a look at the most common ones found on British roads and reveal which speed cameras fine you and which do not.
Gatso - speed camera. FINE
Since the introduction of speed cameras on Britain’s roads in 1992, it’s the Gatsometer BV speed camera which has become the most commonly used camera on the UK’s roads. Now found of course in digital format.
They are found all over the country, particularly near accident black-spots.
Mobile speed camera. FINE
Operated by police officers — these devices are hand-held or mounted in vans that are normally parked in lay-bys. The cameras either use laser or radar technology.
They can appear anywhere at any time.
National Highways CCTV cameras - not a speed camera. NO FINE
They are used to monitor traffic flows primarily for the purposes of traffic management. They also provide the National Highways with a valuable appreciation of how road-users make use of the network. This knowledge helps ensure future public-funded investment is made most effectively.
NOT used to catch speeding motorists, they are found on motorways and major A-roads.
SPECS - speed camera. FINE
These big boys are able to monitor four lanes simultaneously, sets of these cameras are mounted on gantries. These are equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and photograph every vehicle that passes beneath them.
The data is then sent to another set of cameras further down the road (a minimum of 200m away). The time that it takes for the vehicle to travel between these two set points is established, and as a result, a motorist’s average speed between the two points is worked out. Speed fines can result.
Fitted with infra-red illuminators, they work night and day, and in all weathers. They are found on motorways and dual carriageways all over the country.
National Highways ANPR Cameras - not a speed camera. NO FINE
National Highways utilises Automatic Number Plate Recognition ANPR cameras, identifiable by their bright green housings, to support traffic management by sending data to the NTOC from which traffic flow information is calculated.
The ANPR cameras do not capture individual number plates passing a camera installation – they are used to determine traffic levels. There are restrictions, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, on the National Highway’s use and storage of data from these cameras.
The ANPR data is permanently encrypted at the moment of ‘capture’ into a non-unique text string to prevent identification of individual vehicles (i.e. full number plate details are not recorded or stored).
Police Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Fine.
These record number plates of every passing vehicle, then store information to ‘help detect, deter and disrupt criminality at a local, force, regional and national level’.
Records can be accessed for up to two years. If a vehicle is of interest to police, officers monitoring it can order a patrol car team to stop the driver and, if necessary, make an arrest. They are found across the country.
National Highways CCTV Cameras – No Fine
These cameras do not fine you. They are primarily used for traffic management. When an accident occurs or animal runs onto the motorway, these cameras allow the operator to act accordingly, altering the speed limit through the screens mounted on the gantries above the motorway.
