Yes, I know ... this has been covered umpteen times before but this is slightly different (isn't it always ... LOL)

 

I was driving through Solihull this morning (on Monkspath Road to be precise) which is littered with Gatsos. I was approaching a Gatso (ie it was facing me) and as I passed it the bloody thing flashed twice! Now, this particular Gatso is used for traffic going in the opposite direction to which I was travelling. There was no car in front of me, none behind me and none going the opposite way so it was not flashing anyone else.

 

I've done some googling and found that Gatsos are only used to photograph the REAR of vehicles. Truvelo cams are used to photograph the FRONT with an infra red flash so as not to blind the driver. In this instance it was DEFINITELY a Gatso camera (yellow box on a pole with two rectangular apertures at the front).

 

My guess is the Gatso in question was malfunctioning and triggered in error (either that or a very fast bird crossed through the radar beam ;) )

 

However, should this not be the case, how do I go about contesting the penalty? I mean, it flashed in my face, thereby obviously blinding me and I was going in the opposite direction. Can I request a "calibration" report and contest on that?

 

I'm not too worried as I don't think anything will come of it so will wait the next 14 days with bated breath and take it from there.

 

BTW - I was doing 35 in a 30mph zone, slowing down for a Gatso on MY side of the road!

 

Cheerio!

 

Dan

Yes, I know ... this has been covered umpteen times before but this is slightly different (isn't it always ... LOL)

 

I was driving through Solihull this morning (on Monkspath Road to be precise) which is littered with Gatsos. I was approaching a Gatso (ie it was facing me) and as I passed it the bloody thing flashed twice! Now, this particular Gatso is used for traffic going in the opposite direction to which I was travelling. There was no car in front of me, none behind me and none going the opposite way so it was not flashing anyone else.

 

I've done some googling and found that Gatsos are only used to photograph the REAR of vehicles. Truvelo cams are used to photograph the FRONT with an infra red flash so as not to blind the driver. In this instance it was DEFINITELY a Gatso camera (yellow box on a pole with two rectangular apertures at the front).

 

My guess is the Gatso in question was malfunctioning and triggered in error (either that or a very fast bird crossed through the radar beam ;) )

 

However, should this not be the case, how do I go about contesting the penalty? I mean, it flashed in my face, thereby obviously blinding me and I was going in the opposite direction. Can I request a "calibration" report and contest on that?

 

I'm not too worried as I don't think anything will come of it so will wait the next 14 days with bated breath and take it from there.

 

BTW - I was doing 35 in a 30mph zone, slowing down for a Gatso on MY side of the road!

 

Cheerio!

 

Dan

 

Gatsos are not home office approved for forward facing use, so you can't be prosecuted - they do quite often go off as you're approaching them though!

 

I was also going to PM you... HIDs received, they look great, many thanks!

as said above they cant do ya for the opposite direction also the pic prob doesnt even turn out. see if you can get it to flash once ;)

Ive gone through one before on a DC and its flashed me in the face at night from the other side of the road, never heard anything from it m8 so you should be ok.

Ignor the letter, if you get one, throw it straight in the bin

 

I did in March and have heard nothing since.

LOL! :) Thanks for the feedback guys! I'm not really worried, more wondering what can be done to contest these things.

 

Rich666 - glad you got the HIDs mate, drive safely!

 

Happy Christmas everyone!

 

Dan

you can request caliberation, and the fact it flashed in your face could have temporarely blinded you and made you crash, if you get a ticket tell them just after the photo you crashed and caused damage to your car and make a claim, FREE MONEY!!! :)