All You Need to Know About the Camera Tolerance Level in 2024

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Have you ever been driving around the speed limit or slightly above it, only to realize that you did not get fined for it? This is because speed cameras have a certain threshold for tolerance. You won’t actually get fined if you’re right on the speed limit or just above it. Here’s all you need to know:

Setting Speed Tolerance

There are around 43 individual police forces in England and Wales. They have permission to set a speed camera threshold for the speed limit. Essentially, even if the legal limit of a road is 35 miles per hour, you could be going slightly above that speed but you wouldn’t get fined for it.

If the legal authorities wish to, they can set fairly strict speed tolerances to prevent speeding in areas where it might be an issue. However, it has been observed that speed tolerances are fairly lenient.

The Numbers for UK Fixed and Mobile Speed Camera Tolerances

The important question is how many mph can you exactly go above the speed limit? UK police forces responded to Auto Express and reported that they do enforce a tolerance on the speed limit. Generally, it’s set at 10% plus 2 mph above the limit. If you’re driving on a road with a 30-mph limit, the camera won’t detect that you’re speeding if you’re going at 35 or beyond.

Keeping that equation in mind, roads with higher speed limits will have slightly higher thresholds.

Police Force	Number Of Cameras	Camera Activation Threshold
Avon and Somerset	41	10% + 2mph
Bedfordshire	38	Would not reveal a threshold
Cambridgeshire	32	Would not reveal threshold
Cheshire	15	10% + 2mph
Cleveland	4	10% + 2mph
Derbyshire	18	10% + 2mph
Devon and Cornwall	98	10% + 2mph
Durham	0 fixed	10% + 2mph
Essex	63	Don't use a standard threshold
Greater Manchester	235	Would not reveal threshold
Gwent	21	10% + 2mph
Hampshire	36	10% + 2mph
Hertfordshire	53	Would not reveal threshold
Kent	109	10% + 2mph
Lancashire	34	10% + 3mph
Leicestershire	30	10% + 2mph
Merseyside	18	10% + 2mph
Metropolitan Police/TfL	805	10% + 2mph
Norfolk	26	10% + 2mph
North Wales	28	10% + 2mph
Northumbria	55	10% + 2mph
Nottinghamshire	48	Refused to confirm if a threshold exists
Police Service of Northern Ireland	12	10% + 2mph
Scotland	173	Would not reveal a threshold
South Wales	137	10% + 2mph
South Yorkshire	25	10% + 2mph
Staffordshire	286	Would not reveal a threshold
Suffolk	4	10% + 2mph
Thames Valley	294	10% + 2mph
Warwickshire	28	10% + 2mph
West Mercia	23	10% + 2mph
West Midlands	33	Would not reveal threshold
West Yorkshire	402	10% + 2mph

According to the table given above, if a car is in an area with a speed limit of 20, it cannot go above the speed of 24 mph.

Important Things to Note

There have been reports that speed tolerances might be more lenient in some parts, going as high as 10% plus 3 mph. Regardless of the fact that speed offers some leeway, you shouldn’t be taking advantage of this and should stay well within the limits. Considering how rough UK traffic can get, it’s best to stay within the speed limits and drive safely.

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