GlennS
New member
and its ability to locate speed cameras / camera vans etc.
Whilst I know for a fact that none of us ever exceed the posted (or implied) speed limits when out in our Porsches it is sometimes useful to know where "safety cameras" are located. One example of why is so that you can be prepared to hit the brakes when the doddery old driver in front panics and trundles through one at 20mph in a 40mph zone "just to be sure it won't go off". Tell me that's never happened to you!
For a few years now I've used a TomTom Live combined satnav and speed camera unit. It has merrily bleeped at me with surprising accuracy when I approached a camera or favourite spot for sighting camera vans. However, lately I have noticed that the camera van locations mostly seem to have disappeared and that several fixed speed cameras have been gone missing from the unit's database.
Last Sunday I went through four speed cameras without a whimper from my TomTom unit. All these cameras, one on the A30 and three on the A505 used to be known to the device. I can reassure those of you who might be worried that I went through all the cameras at legal speed; I am not expecting any unwelcome letters.
This sparked a little investigation on my part. TomTom have been unforthcoming when I asked them to a venture an opinion but here are the facts as I now know them. These are based (at least in part) on information received "unofficially".
TomTom formerly purchased the rights to use a database of safety camera locations, the main source being the well-regarded "RoadAngel" database. They have moved away from doing this and are now using their own. They depend on owners adding or deleting camera locations on their units and then sharing them with the wider community to keep this database of locations accurate. It would appear that there is little verification done of this shared information and that cameras now go "missing".
The conclusion and the warning is, therefore, that you shouldn't put any faith in TomTom's current list of speed camera locations.
Whilst I know for a fact that none of us ever exceed the posted (or implied) speed limits when out in our Porsches it is sometimes useful to know where "safety cameras" are located. One example of why is so that you can be prepared to hit the brakes when the doddery old driver in front panics and trundles through one at 20mph in a 40mph zone "just to be sure it won't go off". Tell me that's never happened to you!
For a few years now I've used a TomTom Live combined satnav and speed camera unit. It has merrily bleeped at me with surprising accuracy when I approached a camera or favourite spot for sighting camera vans. However, lately I have noticed that the camera van locations mostly seem to have disappeared and that several fixed speed cameras have been gone missing from the unit's database.
Last Sunday I went through four speed cameras without a whimper from my TomTom unit. All these cameras, one on the A30 and three on the A505 used to be known to the device. I can reassure those of you who might be worried that I went through all the cameras at legal speed; I am not expecting any unwelcome letters.
This sparked a little investigation on my part. TomTom have been unforthcoming when I asked them to a venture an opinion but here are the facts as I now know them. These are based (at least in part) on information received "unofficially".
TomTom formerly purchased the rights to use a database of safety camera locations, the main source being the well-regarded "RoadAngel" database. They have moved away from doing this and are now using their own. They depend on owners adding or deleting camera locations on their units and then sharing them with the wider community to keep this database of locations accurate. It would appear that there is little verification done of this shared information and that cameras now go "missing".
The conclusion and the warning is, therefore, that you shouldn't put any faith in TomTom's current list of speed camera locations.
