What are the Rules Regarding a GATSO Camera?

Q.

I am wondering if it is possible to be prosecuted from a GATSO camera pointing in the wrong direction? I was leaving a 30 mph speed area late at night and accelerated to about 35 mph about 100yds before the area finished. There was a GATSO on the far side of the road pointing towards my vehicle and it flashed me as I passed.

I thought this to be very dangerous as it was raining and it temporarily blinded me as I was looking at the camera when it went off. I didnt think it was possible to set off a GATSO unless it was looking at the back of the car? Will I get prosecuted?

A.

To properly answer your question, we need to look at the two most popular types of speed camera used in the UK today.

Truvelo Speed Cameras

Forward facing cameras that are designed to take images of the front of a vehicle as it passes from the front of the camera. In many cases this allows authorities to be able to identify who was actually driving the car at the time the offence was committed.

When forward-facing, Truvelo cameras utilise an infra-red flash system, which means there is no bright flashing light to blind an oncoming driver. The infra-red trigger relies on the painted white lines and strips in the road that are used to measure vehicle speed.

Gatso Speed Cameras

The most common type of speed camera used in the UK, traditionally rear facing, so that the flash set off when the camera captures a vehicle image does not blind approaching motorists. It is common for authorities to position Gatso cameras so that they can be turned around to check both sides of the road, but they can only do this in one direction at a time.

Caught Speeding?

So, although many motorists believe that you can only be caught out by a speed camera pointing towards the back of your car, this isn’t the case. However if you are flashed from the front by a Truvelo, as explained above, they do this with the use of infra-red technology which removes the questionable safety aspect of having a camera flash in someone's eyes while they are driving.

New Technology

In addition to the two main types of camera used, there are new smaller gatso-style cameras, popular on the continent, and currently being tested in various parts of the UK. These are able to take shots from both the front and back of a vehicle passing through the camera calibration area.

If a camera of this type is being used, you will see camera calibration lines on both sides of the road in question as the camera can cover both lanes of the carriageway, detecting and recording the speed of vehicles passing over the calibration lines, regardless of which side of the road they are being driven on. If there were no lines on the side of the road you were travelling on, then your speed won't have been measured and you won't receive an NIP.

In your case, if you think the camera that ‘flashed’ you from the front was a gatso then it would raise the question as to why a camera that uses a blinding flash rather than a safe infra-red beam is being used to capture on-coming motorists. The best thing to do would be to wait and see if you receive your Notice of Intended Prosecution and if so, find out who maintains the camera and make a formal complaint to them detailing your reservations about the safety of the cameras that they are using. Hopefully this will get you some answers. If you don't get an NIP you might want to consider doing this anyway.

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