Caught Speeding By A Bloody Mobile Speed Camera!

Man, I got a speeding ticket. Or, I’m about to get one. Guess I was a little
too excited about my race day out
at Thruxton. I got nabbed by one of the many speed cameras in Wiltshire on
the way to the track! The picture above is me in action, as downloaded from the
convenient Wiltshire &
Swindon Safety Camera Partnership site. I got a letter telling me to go
there and verify if it was me.

I don’t drive that fast. Well, actually Rebecca at SEOmoz did occasionally
have a death grip on the door of my Mini and inquired about the local speed
limit when she was here a few
weeks ago. But honest, I don’t think it’s that bad. It can’t really be.

My last speeding ticket was like 15 years ago when I was heading to Zion
National Park in my old Honda Del Sol convertible. Such a nice car. Such a mean cop, just
across the border in Utah. And
everyone finds is funny when someone named Danny Sullivan gets a speeding
ticket, let me tell you. You know, the
other one who actually races cars and won the Indy 500. I sometime imagine
him doing a search on his name thinking, who the F- is this other guy dominating
the search results. Sorry, Danny — it’s a different type of track on the
internet. And the court clerks laugh at me, not you.

Since that ticket, nada. I typically drive like only 10 percent over the speed limit
if I’m going to exceed it at all because somehow, I heard the speed camera
only kick in above that level. Occasionally, I even have my GPS that screams at
me if I’m near a speed camera. But I know where all the ones are in our area, so
it’s not that useful.

Ah — but this was a mobile speed camera! They parked along the road and
caught me heading by, 82 mph in a 70 zone. Here’s what they looked like:

See the white van? There’s a guy in there with a laser-based speed camera.
Here’s me:

It tells you I’m doing 82 mph on a road that, the speed camera site tells me,
has an average speed of 83 mph. I was average. Note the car on my tail. Fair to say, I’m not the fastest out there. In fact,
I’m pretty sure I moved over to let the other car pass. I also probably saved
him from getting a ticket.

Sadly, there seems no mention of traffic school, so common in California
where it is a necessity to ensure people can keep their licenses. No license,
practically no life, not in Southern California. Up in the north of England,
Mike Grehan

got to go to traffic school. So far, nothing here in the Beautiful South
suggests this is an option for me.

Instead, now that I’ve sent back the letter saying yes, I was driving the
car, I should receive notice I’m getting 3 penalty points on my license plus a
60 pound fine ($120). The fine’s not that bad. Penalty points suck. Get 12 in
all, and you lose your license.

The best part about Britain is they actually put the infraction on your
license. A driver’s license is this big piece of paper that also comes
with a photo license. Technically, you don’t have a license unless you have both
parts (but unlike California, you don’t have to have your license with you when
you drive). I’m going to have to send the license in, then they’ll put the
infraction on the paper and send it back to me. Four years from now, I can have
it removed.

Well, point made. I’m driving slower now even on the giant empty road where
the speed was totally fine and I was average. Average!