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National
Mike Kelly

Speed cameras on our roads - which ones can land you with a fine and which can't

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

Gatso - speed camera (Reach plc)

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

Mobile speed camera (ncjMedia)

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

Highways Agency CCTV cameras (Unknown)

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

SPECS speed camera (Publicity picture)

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

Highways Agency ANPR (Reach)

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

Highways Agency CCTV cameras (Unknown)

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.

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