Do you know if I’ve definitely been ‘caught’ if it’s an average speed area and I did 70mph the whole way through?
Average speed systems are very simple and, because of that, very accurate.
There is simply a camera at the start and end of the stretch. Your number plate is read as you enter the stretch and again as you leave it. The elapsed time between the two readings and the known distance between the two points are used to calculate your average speed.
If you travelled at 70mph over the entire stretch, then there is a strong likelihood that action will follow. The police must serve a “Notice of Intended Prosecution” (NIP) on the Registered Keeper within 14 days of the alleged offence. So if you are the RK, you will not have to wait too long.
If you do receive a NIP, it will also include a “Request for Driver’s Details”. Make sure you complete and return that within the 28 days allowed. Take a copy and get a free certificate of posting from the Post Office.
You should receive your fixed penalty offer within about three weeks. If I doesn’t arrive, contact the police to make sure your response has been received. If I has been lost, you may find yourself on the wrong end of a “Fail to Provide Driver’s Details” charge. On conviction this results in a nasty endorsement which carries six points and an insurance crippling endorsement code (MS90). Although there is usually a way to have the matter reverted to just the speeding charge, it is aggravation you can do without.
Finally, when you accept your offer, you will be required to provide your driving licence details again, even though you will have provided it when responding to the request for driver’s details. Make sure you do so. Many drivers overlook this, believing that providing it once is sufficient. It isn’t. If you fail to do so, you will be prosecuted in court, where the penalty will be harsher.