According to recent figures, almost three quarters of all motoring offences involve a driver speeding.
At present, drivers have to pay a minimum £100 fine and have three points added to their licence for speeding penalties - unless given the option to attend a speed awareness course.
And with the likes of petrol prices and energy bills soaring, the last thing any car owner needs is a hefty fine on top of this.
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In Scotland alone thousands are handed out every year with the Government warning under rule 146 drivers should not "treat speed limits as a target" as it's "often not appropriate or safe to drive at the maximum speed limit."
There are up to 15 different types of road cameras in the UK according to Chronicle Live but only some of them actually have the power to fine you.
So when it comes to which is why, here's what you need to know...
Gatso speed camera
These cameras can result in a 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
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 and can result in a fine.
National Highways CCTV cameras
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.
These cameras are not a speed camera and do not hand out fines. They are are found on motorways and major A-roads.
SPECS speed camera
These big boys can result in a fine and 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
This is not a speed camera and won't result in a 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).
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
These cameras do not fine you and 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.
