Glossary

Blackspot

A section of road with a high rate of accidents which usually results in a high incidence of mobile speed camera vans.

Gatso

Generic term for a speed camera which specifically refers to the manufacturer of the first speed camera installed in the UK.

GPS Detector / Locator

A database driven speed camera locator which co-ordinates its database of the latitudes and longitudes of the fixed and known mobile speed camera locations with your own location provided by the GPS based satellite system and provides alerts accordingly.

Laser

Refers to the 904nm lightwave used for the handheld police laser speed guns that bounce a series of packets of light off the car to calculate your approach speed. Also used in the back of mobile vans and similar to the police flashing a torchlight down the road.

Radar

Refers to the 24Ghz band range used for speed and presence measurement generally specifically called K band, Ka band and Ku band. There is also an X band but this is not used in the UK. This is like a radio wave transmitted by some speed cameras and as you pass at speed you distort the waves and trigger the camera to take your picture.

Safety Camera

Politically correct term used by the government to describe what is generally referred to as a Speed Camera.

SPECS

A speed camera system that measures your average speed using digital CCTV style cameras between 2 or more locations. Named after the developing company SPEed Check Services.

SP30

The Legal / Police offence code for speeding in a 30 mph zone. The standard penalty for which is 3 points on your licence and a £30 fine.

Truvelo

A digital forward-facing camera that uses an infrared illuminator at night. This captures a picture of the offending driver behind the wheel.