UK Speed Traps

April 25, 2004 3:36 PM

Google has let me down - are speed trap detectors legal in the UK? Some sites seem to think they were made legal in 2001 but some sites say they are legal to own but not to use. Can someone tell me what's correct?
posted by twine42 to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

I don't know what the law is, but what's correct is to obey the speed limit, not try to circumvent it. At least once a week some mad bastard almost ploughs into me and my 5 year old on our way to school - because his (it's always a guy) meeting is so much more important than our lives.
posted by Pericles at 2:22 AM on April 26, 2004

For the record, I never said or implied that this was to break the speed limit.

I personally do break the speed limit when I feel it is safe, and I also travel significantly below the speed limit when I feel it isn't. It is glaringly obvious that a lot of other road users just decide to drive at the speed limit regardless. IMHO this is more dangerous.

The reason I'm thinking about a speed trap detector is this - speed traps are now being set in places where they feel that they can reduce accidents and loss of life. By having some idea of the areas the police consider to be dangerous you can (potentially) get an idea of more dangerous areas when travelling through new territory.

Whether anyone agrees with my reasoning or no, does anyone know the answer?
posted by twine42 at 3:42 AM on April 26, 2004

There's always an ad for Roadangel on the back page of autocar. I checked the faqs at

http://www.blackspotinteractive.co.uk/

and it says the device is 100% legal to own and use.

IMO there's nothing wrong with breaking the speed limit when it's safe to do so. When i'm driving down a road with lots of cameras i find myself checking the speedo every few seconds, which takes a lot of concentration off watching the road. Not to mention all the people who slam on the brakes when they see a camera late.
posted by derbs at 3:59 AM on April 26, 2004

you guys remind me of people who say "personally, I drive much better after 5 pints of beer". You can get "some idea of where the police consider to be dangerous" by looking at the speed limit signs. If people braking in front of you cause you to swerve or nearly hit them, then you're driving too close or too fast. But this isn't the place.
posted by Pericles at 8:33 AM on April 26, 2004

Pericles - And you have helped in answering this question how exactly?

Until you have been in the car with me please refrain from making sweeping comments about things of which you have no knowledge.

derbs - thanks for the link, but if it's done by gps then it's not really a detector as such. I wonder if this is the difference?
posted by twine42 at 8:53 AM on April 26, 2004

ah, good point. You can buy an extra laser detector for it... whether this is legal or not, it doesn't say :)

Anyway i found this site as well:

http://www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk/banned.htm

Gives some useful legal information. It's a pretty interesting site, but you'll have to go back to the homepage to get the framed navigation
posted by derbs at 9:20 AM on April 26, 2004