New way to measure Motorway Speeds

Hundreds of motorists are being caught speeding every single day on the M1 near Leicester by a series of linked cameras.

They measure drivers' average speed through the stretch of road currently being resurfaced between Junction 21, Leicester and Junction 20 at Lutterworth.

Speed cameras (such as Gatso and Truvelo cameras) normally check speed at a specific site, but motorists are being clocked by a series of cameras which work out speed over a longer stretch. These are SPECS cameras.

SPECS use ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) to register your vehicle at a specific point on the stretch of road then the registration number is read again at another site by another SPECS camera. Like VASCAR, the speed of the vehicle is calculated from the time the vehicle takes to travel the pre-defined distance.

The vehicle details are logged and a speeding ticket is issued to the driver.

Some 2,000 fines have been handed out in the last fortnight.

Roadworks will be in place until November, affecting several miles south of the main junction into Leicester and the start of the M69.

SPECS cameras are not the most reliable speed monitoring system in use.

Read our article on Cheating SPECS Cameras