myguideBritain Blog

The Land of a Thousand Speed Cameras

January 9th, 2008

This is by way of a warning when driving on British Roads. We have speed cameras everywhere. I think we’ve got as many speed cameras as rabbits - they seem to be proliferating at the same rate anyway. A debatable number of these yellow boxes are there in the name of road safety. The vast majority however are cash generators for our esteemed government. You have been warned. Even Britain’s top traffic cop, Meredith Hughes fell foul of the cameras recently and was fined and disqualified from driving for 6 weeks for driving at 90mph in a 60 mph area. I shouldn’t gloat as I’m nearly in the same position as Mr. Hughes, being only a couple of minor speeding offences away from a statutory driving ban. I’m not alone however as it’s calculated that there are over 1 million motorists in the same predicament. If you think that the fact that you’re not British and that you’re driving a rental car will protect you …think again.

You may not get points on your license, as we natives do, but you will get fined through your rental company who will legally pass the fine on to you through your credit card. As the majority of roads in Britain have signs telling you that there are speed cameras ahead (whether there are some or not) please take this warning seriously. Do not become contributors to the British Government’s coffers. STICK TO SPEED LIMITS. You never know when one of these yellow perils will appear to take an unwanted photo of you on vacation.

There’s one thing for certain - we don’t want to see any of these photos appearing in our great $1400 January photography competition. Drive safely!

Entry Filed under: All of Britain, England, Scotland, Wales