Then thirty seconds later I got stuck in a traffic jam for half an hour.

( Kroney, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:29, 1 reply, 13 years ago)

So if they took your average speed, you would be well under the limit.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:32, Reply)

The traffic jam did seem rather unfair.

( Kroney, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:33, Reply)

55 on the speedo, or real 55?

(localboy purveyor of pisspoor puns, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:36, Reply)

on the speedo

( Kroney, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:36, Reply)

speedos tend to read low, just so you know

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:37, Reply)

no wait I meant high, speedos tend to read high

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:38, Reply)

I'm pretty sure they are required by law to be accurate to 70

( Kroney, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:38, Reply)

prolly, doesn't mean they are though, especially on an old car

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:39, Reply)

The UK law is based on the EU standard, with some minor changes. A speedo must never show less than the actual speed, and must never show more than 110% of actual speed + 6.25mph. So if your true speed is 40mph, your speedo could legally be reading up to 50.25mph but never less than 40mph. Or to put it another way, if your speedo is reading 50mph, you won’t be doing more than 50mph but it’s possible you might actually only be travelling at 40mph.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:40, Reply)

Unless it's fucked.

(PsychoChomp, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:41, Reply)

YOURN FUCKED

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:42, Reply)

No, they are required by law to not underestimate your speed
but they all overestimate your speed. If you have a satnav that actually gives you an accurate speed based on how you move on the GPS, you'll see that if your speedo says 70, you're only really driving at about 65-67.

Also, if you're doing 55 by the speedo, you are only really doing 52. And they give you a 10% leeway on cameras.
(Bazongaloid, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:42, Reply)

Oh look, yet another subject in which Al claims to be an expert.

( Fucking hell Jeff I am not a robot, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:45, Reply)

Oh look it's another piece of very commonly held knowledge that Battered doesn't understand.

(Bazongaloid, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:50, Reply)

Where is it said that I don't understand it?
Lame effort Al. Lame.
( Fucking hell Jeff I am not a robot, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:59, Reply)

No quick, write a witty comeback, quick quick, or the people on the internet won't respect all 4 foot 8 of me

(Bazongaloid, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 15:03, Reply)

The crux of all this is that I'm surprised at how difficult
I'm finding it to put myself in a position of actually being able to pay any resultant fine, rather than the fine itself.

It's all my fault anyway, obv.

I'm just upset there weren't any cyclists I could have run off the road into the van.
( Kroney, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:46, Reply)

The car would stop at the first transistor anyway

(localboy purveyor of pisspoor puns, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:48, Reply)

Speedo is likely 10% optimistic.
maybe more, depends on tyre wear. Not legal to under-read so manufacturers make sure they're over at all times. By GPS mine shows 76 at 70, for example.
(localboy purveyor of pisspoor puns, Tue 19 Feb 2013, 14:40, Reply)