So I traveled to London and Glasgow this past week. I anticipated seeing lots of Jaguar XKs in the motherland. Instead I saw a ton of Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Maseratis, Lambos, Ferraris, Aston Martins.....and only two XKs - one in London and one in Glasgow. They're made in the UK and I expected to see a lot of them. What gives? Chance?

I was at the Melia White House in London and the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow, for geographic reference. Still, anywhere upscale I expected to see the XK...

 

I drove from Nottingham past Coventry, the home of Jaguar, to Portsmouth. Then sailed to Santander and drove the length of Spain. I saw one other XKR in the whole 850 miles. This was in the south of England.

A rare beauty!

 

London is out on its own regarding exotic cars due to the amount of money floating around!! Plenty of XKs AND XKRs here in Scotland mostly trying to avoid speed traps and average speed cameras!!!

 

I went on a two week tour of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland last september. Only remember seeing one XK the whole time.

 

What the heck is an average speed camera? I know what it sounds like but really??? OMG.

Here in Texas at least they have to catch you in person. Texas is fairly lenient and we have the highest speed limits in the USA:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/us...-the-land.html

But don't speed in Virginia!:Never Speed In Virginia: Lessons From My Three Days In Jail

This looks pretty bad too: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/wo...-one.html?_r=0

 

Average Speed Camera - records your registration (tag) and time at one point (the start of the speed trap) and then again at a second point (which could be 20 miles away!) and then calculates your average speed in between the two cameras. If you are over the speed limit for that stretch of road then they send you a nice photo and a fine! Loads of them in the UK.

I did see a tongue in cheek letter about these stating "Why oh why are the UK government implementing so many average speed cameras. If we are going to do this surely they should invest in some good camera equipment". :-)

 

They usually use the SPECS average-speed system in roadworks, to make sure people behave themselves and don't endanger the guys working on the carriageway. There are a few other places, usually where a road is considered a blackspot for accidents. From the authorities' point of view, it's a good deterrent because it gives blanket coverage of an entire section of road rather than just spot coverage with a normal speed camera or cop with a laser. Almost everyone sticks to the limit in the SPECS zones, unlike pretty much everywhere else, so it does work.

My standard procedure: set the cruise to a mile or two over the posted limit (because you get some leeway), and just plonk along listening to the music. They're only a temporary inconvenience; I'd be much less happy if the gummint started putting them all over the place.

 

I thought that under British law, with due process, you have the right to confront and cross examine your accuser, which in this case is a camera. I sincerely hope someone has challenged this violation of rights in a court so this type of government interference comes to an end.

Surely a QC, or someone of such stature, has been sent one of these 'violation' notices and has responded through the courts.

I find it interesting that Britain has more CCTV cameras than most of the other European countries combined. What is the British Government so afraid of?

 

The 'accuser' is the authority that issues the infringement notice - the images & timestamps are just the evidence, and you can ask to be given a copy of them. They do get checked, i.e. there's a human in the loop.

 

A non-human accuser, the camera, is presenting 'evidence' that is construed by the authorities to be a violation. So, who is to be cross examined on the relevance of this evidence? Surely not the camera. I imagine the courts regard the 'evidence' as prima facie and circumvent due process.

Amazing.

 

No, if you challenge it and actually go to court, I believe they present the two photos taken, the times they were taken, evidence of the distance between them, and test certificates for the equipment. The rest is physics. Your only hope is that one of the photos doesn't actually show your plate no. clearly, but that should get caught before a notice is issued, so it's unlikely. Unless they're charging you with more than speeding (e.g. dangerous driving because you were a long way over the limit), or you're at risk of losing your license due to points accumulation, or you know that there's actually a mistake, it's better to take the £100 fine & 3 points.

 

Sorry, it appears to be a 'fishing expedition' without probable cause. Randomly taking photos and measuring speeds of all vehicles negates probable cause since it assumes that at some point a motorist is going to speed or violate a law.

Having spent time at one of the Inns of Court in your country, I find it difficult to grasp the legal basis for admitting 'evidence' gathered by these cameras that have appeared all over Britain. Of course, if everyone was to just pay the hundred quid...

 

We just had a QC whose car was pinged by a camera defend on the basis that he wasnt driving and by reason of spousal privilege didnt have to say who was (which is usually the prerequisite to avoiding the penalty, so that they send the notice to the nominated person).

No decision as yet...

 

So far in the US the states have not passed any laws regarding average speed violations. We have that capability on all toll roads with the entrance and exit tool booths. Most of them have driver and licence plate cameras coupled with either the easypass system or the paper ticket. Average speed can be calculated for any run and in the case of the easypass system they even send you a warning if you speed through the easypass lane. The penalty here is they will discontinue your easypass for to many violations. I suspect someday they will pass a bill to capture some of the camera speed avg. violations for the state and feds. Time will tell.

 

Spent a week in London (am in Paris now) but I am happy to report that I did see plenty of X150s--probably about 10. However, I saw a lot more Astons and other more exotic cars!

 

During my stay in Devon, Somerset and Cornwall on a 5 day tour, we encountered 1 XKR during the 1000 miles we covered overthere. The XKR driver sounded his horn and waved as he drove by.
Saw two xk8's and a couple of Bentley continentals and a TVR. That was about it as far as luxury coupes/convertibles were concerned.
Was a lovely tour in awsome landscapes.