 With over 4000 locations on UK roads, the Gatso camera is by far the most popular choice for police forces and local authorities across the UK. Gatso cameras are manufactured by The Gatsometer BV, a Dutch company founded in 1959 by Maurice Gatsonides; Mr Gatsonides was a famous rally driver of his era and winner of the 1953 Monte Carlo Rally.
The Gatso camera uses radar technology (radar type 24) to measure the speed of passing vehicles. If the radar emitted by a Gatso camera installation determines that a passing vehicle is travelling above a pre-determined trigger speed, two images are taken of the rear of the vehicle with a half second interval. The markings on the road in front of every Gatso camera are used to establish how far the offending vehicle has travelled in the half second between the two shots and, using this information, the vehicle speed may easily be calculated.
Fixed installation post (FIP) Gatso cameras are always rear facing (ie they takes images of the rear of passing vehicles) as they use a 'flash' to capture the image required for prosecution; this would be a dangerous distraction to drivers if forward facing. Gatso sites are usually of the fixed installation variety in the UK, but they can be used from trailers and tripods, which will be temporary sites – for example, during roadworks.
The images are stored on a standard 35mm 'wet film', which needs to be changed and processed. With each film reel only having the ability to take 400 pictures between changes, cameras in busy places or where speeding offences occur more often can only last a few hours before the camera film needs changing. Even when the camera film is full, the Gatso will still flash at speeding vehicles – leading to an anxious wait by driver of flashed cars!
Some Gatsos can also tell the difference between a car and an HGV so if, for instance, the limit was 60mph for cars and 50mph for HGVs, the camera could be set with a lower trigger threshold for passing HGVs.
The trigger speed of Gatso cameras (and, indeed, all UK safety cameras) varies. Some are set to trigger at 2-3mpg above the prevailing speed limit and others much higher. The APCO (Association of Chief Police Officers) guidelines suggest that a fair trigger speed is 10% plus 2mph above the speed limit (ie 57mph on a 50mph limit), but this guideline is only a guideline and is far from being universally implemented.
Gatso cameras need to be calibrated regularly; they only record traffic in one lane at a time (except on the M25 in Surrey, where Gatso cameras have been placed in gantries above all four motorway lanes – one camera per lane). Some Gatsos, usually sited on a central reservation, are reversible and may be turned to vary the traffic direction-of-travel being targeted (but only one direction at a time may be targeted). All Origin and Pogo products are equipped with “Directional”; this essential feature means that full camera alerts are only provided if the user is travelling in the safety camera’s direction of operation. For example, if a safety camera is targeting only the southbound traffic flow on a particular road, and a Pogo user is travelling north on that road, the Pogo user will not be troubled by a warning for the particular camera. A warning for a camera on the opposite side of the road, which poses no “threat” to the driver travelling in the other direction is, essentially, a false alarm.
Any motorist caught speeding by a Gatso camera and receiving an NIP (Notice of Intended Prosecution) in the post will receive a minimum of three penalty points on their driving licence and a minimum fine of £60. The level of fines and penalty points in currently under review and may be increased in the future.
Note: Origin Technologies Limited, manufacturer of Pogo products, holds granted patents on Directional (and other features) in the UK, several European countries, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The validity of the European patent (in force in ten European countries) was recently challenged by a competitor of Origin. The case was heard in the European Patent Court in The Hague in November 2009; Origin won an easy victory in the hearing. Click here for more information on Origin’s patents
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 Although broadly similar in appearance to Gatso cameras, Truvelo cameras work in a very different fashion. Truvelo cameras are forward facing, thus taking images of the fronts of speeding vehicles; the resulting shots will also capture images of vehicle drivers (so registered vehicle keepers cannot evade prosecution by arguing they were not driving their vehicle at the time the offence was committed, which is becoming an increasingly common plea in the UK). Truvelo cameras do not flash; instead, a small, infra-red muted type flash is given, which does not distract passing motorists. Unlike Gatsos, Truvelo cameras do not emit any radar waves, instead using a “loop impedance” system: three piezo sensors (the wires containing the sensors are often visible) are buried in the road immediately ahead of the camera; the progress of passing vehicles is measured over the strips and vehicle speed is instantly calculated. The cameras are triggered to capture images of vehicles travelling over a pre-determined trigger speed.
Truvelo cameras are only able to capture traffic in one direction of travel at a time. Some are reversible, meaning they can be swivelled to vary the traffic direction-of-travel being targeted. All Pogo products are equipped with the patent protected Directional feature to minimise false alarms from cameras located to only capture traffic in one direction of travel. Click here for more information on Origin’s patents [link to Patent section]
Any motorist caught speeding by a Truvelo camera and receiving an NIP (Notice of Intended Prosecution) in the post will receive a minimum of three penalty points on their driving licence and a minimum fine of £60. The level of fines and penalty points in currently under review and may be increased in the future.
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 SPECS camera installations are often misunderstood by drivers, usually feared and regularly missed. The SPECS system utilises a high tech video surveillance system incorporating ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition). Every SPECS installation will consist of a minimum of two cameras located on gantries over the road or at the side of the road; the cameras may be sited a few hundred metres apart or several miles apart. Many SPECS locations use multiple cameras – one road in Nottingham has twelve cameras in each direction. Each camera is equipped with infra red lenses so they may be operational day and night and in all weather conditions, including fog. Every camera in the series of cameras along a particular road digitally records the registration number of every passing vehicle, together with the exact time; as the exact distance between the camera installations is known, the average vehicle speed between two cameras is easily calculated. The registered keeper of any vehicle travelling above a pre-determined speed will be issued with an NIP (Notice of Intended Prosecution). SPECS cameras operate digitally, and as no film is involved they are constantly live.
SPECS installations are becoming increasingly popular around the UK, despite their high installation cost. They are often used in long term roadworks on motorways to police the temporarily reduced speed limit. SPECS is currently on trial in the east of London in urban/residential areas, and the possibility of covering large parts of London with the system is currently being debated.
Any motorist caught speeding by SPECS camera installations and receiving an NIP (Notice of Intended Prosecution) in the post will receive a minimum of three penalty points on their driving licence and a minimum fine of £60. The level of fines and penalty points in currently under review and may be increased in the future.
All Pogo safety camera warning systems provide users with warnings/countdowns for every SPECS camera in the series, together with the average vehicle speed since the last camera was passed.
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 PEEK safety cameras operate in a similar way to Gatso camera installations and utilise radar technology. They will flash and take images of the rear of speeding vehicles in the same way as Gatso cameras.
Any motorist caught speeding by a PEEK camera and receiving an NIP (Notice of Intended Prosecution) in the post will receive a minimum of three penalty points on their driving licence and a minimum fine of £60. The level of fines and penalty points in currently under review and may be increased in the future.
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 Speedcurb camera installations are relatively rare in the UK and are always located at road intersections controlled by traffic lights. They double up as both red light camera and speed camera, being red light cameras when the traffic light is on red and speed cameras when the traffic light is at green. Like Truvelo camera installations, Speedcurb cameras use a loop impedance system, with wires and piezo sensors buried in the road. The camera is triggered when a vehicle passes the sensors when the traffic light is showing red and is also triggered when a vehicle passes over the sensors above a pre-determined trigger speed. Like Gatso cameras, Speedcurb photographs the rear of offending vehicles.
Any motorist caught speeding or for a red light offence by a Speedcurb camera and receiving an NIP (Notice of Intended Prosecution) in the post will receive a minimum of three penalty points on their driving licence and a minimum fine of £60. The level of fines and penalty points in currently under review and may be increased in the future.
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 Watchman safety cameras are rear facing devices which combine 2 cameras within it, one for speed monitoring and one for ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition ); they are not very common in the UK.
Watchman cameras are similar to Gatso cameras in that both deploy radar technology to measure the speed of passing vehicles, and both capture images of the rear of speeding vehicles. However, unlike Gatsos, Watchman devices calculate the speed of approaching vehicles before they reach the camera, using their rear facing “eyes”. As such, they monitor a much larger road area than traditional Gatso camera installations. Watchman camera devices do not use film; data is stored digitally and transmitted wirelessly.
Any motorist caught speeding or for a red light offence by a Watchman camera and receiving an NIP (Notice of Intended Prosecution) in the post will receive a minimum of three penalty points on their driving licence and a minimum fine of £60. The level of fines and penalty points in currently under review and may be increased in the future.
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Also known as Speedmaster, Autovision or Autovision 2.
DS2 is a semi-permanent camera installation which may be set up to cover two lanes of traffic travelling in opposite directions. Sometimes DS2 sites are manned and sometimes they are unmanned. In common with Truvelo cameras, DS2 sites work via a loop impedance system with three piezo strips either on top of the road surface or just below it. Unlike Truvelo sites, where the piezo strips are close together, the strips at a DS2 installation are typically one metre apart; the speed of passing vehicles is easily and instantly calculated by measuring their progress over the three strips. The piezo strips are linked to a short grey post at the roadside; when the installation is live, the post will be connected to a safety camera partnership van or unmarked police car where details of speeding vehicles will be recorded on video and NIPs (Notice of Intended Prosecution) will be sent in the post to the registered keepers of vehicles travelling over a pre-determined threshold speed. Alternatively, the police may position a police car a few hundred metres from a DS2 installation and messages will be relayed to it with details of speeding vehicles passing the DS2 site; the police operatives manning the police car will stop offending vehicles and issue NIPs at the roadside.
DS2 installations are notoriously hard to spot, and many safety camera warning systems do not include them within their databases. However, Origin includes all DS2 sites on its safety camera database, so all Pogo systems will provide full DS2 warnings.
Any motorist caught speeding by a DS2 camera installation and receiving an NIP (Notice of Intended Prosecution) in the post will receive a minimum of three penalty points on their driving licence and a minimum fine of £60. The level of fines and penalty points in currently under review and may be increased in the future.
Make sure you only drive with the best licence protection system available – a Pogo system. 
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