From the petrolheads at Max Power, and courtesy of the FHM Newsletter:
“Those new electronic signs on the M4 were switched on last Tuesday. The bad news is that they are rigged with the SPECS speed cameras. SPECS is a computer-camera based system. As you go past the sign a digital camera reads your number plate. When you go past the next sign your number plate is read again. The computer ‘knows’ how far apart the signs are so it can work out your average speed between the two, or three or four. The system is fully automatic and will issue a ticket without any form of human intervention. It does this for every single vehicle that passes. You will not know you’ve been caught as the cameras don’t flash. They work 24/7, 365 days a year, and theoretically, there’s absolutely no limit on the number of tickets that the system can issue. The whole section of the M4 between Theale (J12) and Membury Services (between 14 and 15) is wired, both ways. The system is set to trigger a ticket at 78 mph. Radar detectors will be of no use as SPECS is entirely passive, there is no radar or laser beam to detect. Be warned and spread the news.”
UPDATE: Turns out it’s all a load of tripe – this BBC article reveals its all a hoax. Accelerator down…
UPDATE 12th April 2005: Intriguingly, this hoax has now turned out to be true…
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I got an email like this for the M27 towards Southampton from Fareham same words just different location.
i’ve had an email telling me that this is a hoax!
i shall forward it to you…
try this for peace of mind…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/3233169.stm
I know the new traffic signs are not supposed to flash or have cameras in them but on the M4 by 8/9 they seem to flash every so often and then sometimes I’v noticed you get a big flash on the sign when a speeding car goes past.
Does anyone know anything about this cos this seems a little strange.
Thank f*ck for that!
I do approx 800-1000 miles a week with my job and received a phone call just 20 minutes after I had just hammered it past the new signs warning me, whoever started the email want’s publically flogging.
The cameras on the M4 are just monitoring only as you would need one per lane and have infra-red illuminators on them to be effective. The company I work for use the same VNPR (vehicle number plate recognition) cameras but to open security gates and log people onto site, not for speeding.
What about the M3 and M27 though? They have one camera per lane and the illuminators on them. The same cameras have appeared on the M42, on the slip roads and when I was at a security convention last year the camera manufacturers reckon that the Government are trialling a national speed trap scheme.
Watch this space!
BLOW ALL speed cameras UP
HE HE HE