Right, I was driving over a long bridge which is 30mph and on the downhill stretch I was going above 30 (considerably). I know this is bad and I shouldn't have done it but I did.

As I levelled out I saw a BMW traffic car and a motorbike pulled up. One of the guys was holding a camera like in the picture. As I went past he lowered it. Obviously he had caught me speeding but did he get a photo of me/my car and my details?

In the layby with the police vehicles was a woman in a clio giving her details so I assume they had pulled her over for speeding. As I did not get pulled over (and I was stopped next to them for some time at traffic lights and they didn't even look at me and made no attempt to pull me in), does this mean they will just send me an NIP in the post?

I heard that if it is a handheld camera then they have to pull you over there and then because they don't actually take pictures? If anyone can shed some light on this I would be very grateful, this is the type of camera that was being used:

Thanks, Chris

I'm affraid only time will tell. If they didn't get you for speeding they could still do you for careless or dangerous driving.

You now have the long 2 week wait to see if your caught.

get a snooper and laser detector !

I'm affraid only time will tell. If they didn't get you for speeding they could still do you for careless or dangerous driving.

You now have the long 2 week wait to see if your caught.

Oh man, does this mean that those cameras definately take a photo and get your details? I heard that they only clock your speed and that you have to be pulled over and issued with the punishment there and then, otherwise it is too late and there is no way of doing the speeder?

Does anyone else know a bit more about what these specific cameras do?

Gotta love the bad advice mongers.

For the 100th time since I've been here.....

If an officer measures your speed with a handheld speedgun, you have to be pulled over there and then, or shortly down the road and issued a ticket. They cannot do a prosecution by post for speeding based on a handheld gun.

I got done by a handheld camera.

Police pointed it at me, he took a picture, he sent me a letter.

No vans, traffic cars or bikes near the scene, just a police man, hiding in a bus shelter with a camera watching me drive like a tool.

I got done by a handheld camera.

Police pointed it at me, he took a picture, he sent me a letter.

No vans, traffic cars or bikes near the scene, just a police man, hiding in a bus shelter with a camera watching me drive like a tool.

Dude, are you sure? Was it like the one in my pic above?

Or was it one on like a tripod or something? Yeti seems quite sure that you can't get done by any handheld camera.. this is starting to worry me now!

i've heard you have to be pulled over there and then. they must have different types of handheld guns? one which measure speed only, another which takes a picture?

just gonna have to swet it out

With the handheld speed cameras, they have to pull you over, I've been caught before doing 40 in a 30 zone. all i got was a ticking off.

If you do end up getting a fine, contest it, because handheld speed cameras arent accurate as they rely on the steadiness of the users hand.

If it was a radar one, they dont work if theres more than one vehicle in range.

handheld speed cameras arent accurate as they rely on the steadiness of the users hand.

'Actually officer, i was only going at thirty. Your arm must have been going at least 20 mph towards me to make it appear i was speeding......'

Gotta love the bad advice mongers.

For the 100th time since I've been here.....

If an officer measures your speed with a handheld speedgun, you have to be pulled over there and then, or shortly down the road and issued a ticket. They cannot do a prosecution by post for speeding based on a handheld gun.

Not strictly true, although pulling over there and then is certainly best practice. A speeding driver has to be

a) warned there and then (verbal NIP) OR

b) reported for summons within 14 days OR

c) a NIP has to be sent to the registered keeper within 14 days through the post.

Ideally a) + c) will both be done but c) by itself is enough, even for handheld speed guns.

In the case of the OP I'd suggest a nervous 14 day wait although perhaps a good sign if you weren't pulled over at the time.

Bear in mind though that even if a NIP is declared to be invalid, you can still be prosecuted for other offences e.g. driving without due care etc...

thanks for all the responses although I'm still feeling no clearer than when I first asked. I sure have got a nervous 13 days ahead of me..

just to squeeze some more info, as I mentioned before.. the traffic cop didn't even give me a second look as I pulled up alongside him at the lights after he had done me. What you guys mentioned about receiving an NIP in the post, how will he know where to send it? If I had been done, wouldn't he need me rego? If he does need it, he definately made no effort to get it, and just kept looking at the road I just travelled along. My worry is that he got a photo of the car and didn't need to look at me again, so can anyone with enough info about the camera in my above pic say whether it can actually take photo/video evidence or not? I think it's a fairly new device

i have a lurking suspicion that the guy just didn't get a reading off me, which is why he ignored me and kept looking for more... but I suppose i will have to wait and see

thanks for all the responses although I'm still feeling no clearer than when I first asked. I sure have got a nervous 13 days ahead of me..

just to squeeze some more info, as I mentioned before.. the traffic cop didn't even give me a second look as I pulled up alongside him at the lights after he had done me. What you guys mentioned about receiving an NIP in the post, how will he know where to send it? If I had been done, wouldn't he need me rego? If he does need it, he definately made no effort to get it, and just kept looking at the road I just travelled along. My worry is that he got a photo of the car and didn't need to look at me again, so can anyone with enough info about the camera in my above pic say whether it can actually take photo/video evidence or not? I think it's a fairly new device

i have a lurking suspicion that the guy just didn't get a reading off me, which is why he ignored me and kept looking for more... but I suppose i will have to wait and see

The NIP is always sent to the registered keeper, which is traced from your reg number. I'm not familiar with any handheld gun that captures reg numbers/pictures but traffic cops get new gear all the time so it's technically possible. Also can you say for certain that he deffo didn't get your reg?

Unfortunately the only way to be 100% sure is to wait for the NIP period to expire.

handheld speed cameras arent accurate as they rely on the steadiness of the users hand.

'Actually officer, i was only going at thirty. Your arm must have been going at least 20 mph towards me to make it appear i was speeding......'

yeah fair point lol

The NIP is always sent to the registered keeper, which is traced from your reg number. I'm not familiar with any handheld gun that captures reg numbers/pictures but traffic cops get new gear all the time so it's technically possible. Also can you say for certain that he deffo didn't get your reg?

Pretty sure mate, I noticed him as I saw the camera pointed at me, when he dropped it though he didn't really look at my car as it pulled up alongside, he just kept looking at the road behind me. I thought either..

1. His device has caught all the data it needs, and he doesn't need to look at my car for any reg number or driver indentification as he has photo/video footage

2. He didn't manage to get a speed reading and so he just wanted to move onto the next person to bust asap.

I sooo hope it's 2, and the fact that he already had someone pulled in (his female colleague was getting their details) makes me think that if he had actually caught me speeding then he would've signalled to me to pull over. Especially seeing as I was in red light traffic alongside and he could've easily have signalled me over.

But obviously this rides on whether that equipment can actually record the rego and take a photo/film (it looks like it has a camera or something on aswell) so really I just need to know if anyone here has any technical knowledge on the camera above. Just to hopefully ease my pain over these next 13 days?

was his female colleague fit?

was his female colleague fit?

haha she was indeed quite fit. but in my view the uniform always does them favours lol

and the woman she had busted in the clio was fitter!

girls in clios are always fit.

......nearly as fit as girls in polo's