Speed cameras trap you even if no limit is shown

MOTOriSTS are being caught out because they do not realise that speed cameras on ‘smart’ motorways are always on.

The new generation of roads have the capacity to display variable speed limits to regulate the flow of traffic and reduce congestion.

But some motorists believe the overhead speed cameras are only active when a reduced speed limit is in force.

however, they work even if no speed restriction is displayed – catching drivers who exceed the regular 70mph limit.

Police in Derbyshire have confirmed that, as well as catching those breaking the lower variable limits, cameras on the M1 can trap those doing more than 70mph when there is no restriction shown.

The rAC said it had heard that other forces also kept motorway cameras on permanently.

The cameras are already proving highly lucrative. A Freedom of information request, submitted to police by the Derby Telegraph, revealed speed cameras between Tibshelf services and junction 29A at Duckmanton on the M1 are permanently switched on and trapping motorists when no variable speed limit is in place.

The four cameras on that stretch trapped 8,382 speeding drivers in 2017, making them the most profitable cameras in the county.

The minimum penalty for speeding is a £100 fine, meaning the cameras generated at least £838,300. But the maximum fine can be much higher for the most serious offences – and one driver was caught doing 128mph. Cash raised from speeding fines goes directly to the Government but local police get money from sending offenders on a speed awareness course to avoid a fine and points on their licence.

Derbyshire Police said the cameras ‘are not there to generate money... they are to catch speeders, get reckless drivers off the roads’.

But motoring campaigners fear speed cameras are often used as an easy way to raise money by penalising drivers who stray slightly over the limit. They claim the drop in traffic police officers means that genuinely dangerous drivers often get away with it.

howard Cox, founder of campaign group FairFuelUK said: ‘excessive speedsters should of course be fined, but not for doing just a few miles over the limit.’

There are 236 miles of smart motorways in england, including sections of the M25 and the M6. Another 276 miles are under construction or planned.