Camera visibility

[Endeavour]

Apologies if this has been asked before. I thought it was the law that speed cameras had to be visible and identifiable, which is why they're now painted yellow or have yellow plates behind them.

So how does this match up with deliberately hidden cameras that are completely invisible from the road, and cameras that aren't marked at all (ie: hidden in unmarked vehicles etc)?

One other question. More than once I'm pretty sure I've gone from a 40mph zone into a 30mph zone without passing a single new speed limit sign. There is a camera in the 30mph zone that will obviously catch people doing 40.

If I can drive a route from a 40mph zone to a 30mph zone without passing a new speed limit sign, can I be prosecuted if the camera catches me?

It's not happened to me, I'm just curious.

[Brickie64]

I think you'll find that the Department For Transport state that a road in a built up area which is "Street Lit" is automatically a 30 mph limit.

Guess this gives them the right to not sign it as a 30 mph limit.

Quoting the DFT document below:-

30mph Speed Limit
The 30mph speed limit is
predominately used in urban areas
(and more recently in many villages)
and usually is indicated by the
presence of a system of streetlights.
The presence of street lights is the
way we recognise this speed limit and
it is the reason why you do not see,
apart from where the limit starts,
30mph speed limit signs. Some
believe this to be an odd way of
indicating a speed limit, but really it is
simple. If there are streetlights and no
signs to the contrary a 30mph speed
limit is in force.
There are a number of unlit roads
where a 30 mph speed limit applies.
In these circumstances the traffic
authority must place 30 mph
repeater signs.

Hope this goes some way to answering your question.

Gav
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[Endeavour]

Thanks, but it doesn't answer my question as such. Quote:

[Brickie64]

I take your point, and don't think I have any vested interests in enforcing the rules, I'm just another confused road user like you.

I guess you could argue that the minute you turn off the road that is posted as 40 mph you could immediately be on another road that has a 30mph limit. Reading the document implies this to me and it seems they've used this "assume it's a 30mph if there are lights" to their own advantage.
_________________
"A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible"

Garmin Nuvi 3598 + GO 720 (+USA Map Card) + NavFree for iPhone in case all else fails ;-)

[Darren]

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