Anyone know what the tall grey boxes next to the SOS phones are on the M74? I got flashed by 2 orange lights at one point on the same box…so are they speed cameras…and should i be expecting a fine heading my way?

Could be mobile base stations? Or traffic monitoring camera’s (for checking congestion). Unlikely to be speed camera’s on the motorway.

Where did this happen?

I sometimes go on the M74 from the A725 interchange down to Lockerbie and back and the only speed cameras I see are the mobile ones in vans.

I’ve always assumed that they just show where the emergency phones are. They’re always flashing at night.

Found it

“On some motorways, particularly in Scotland, you may encounter this type of signal mounted at the side of the carriageway. Flashing amber lamps indicate that thereis a hazard ahead. You should not exceed a speed of 30 mph until you have passed this hazard”

Old versions of this sort of thing…

Jesus, you actually didn’t know that? Surely they’re not only in Scotland!!
And dont call me Shirley!!

smogmonster – if what you saw was what thegreatape refers to then please surrender your driving license to the DVLA as you shouldn’t be on the road.

Oh – and thegreatape – they are not “always flashing at night”. If they are lit they are either faulty/under test (a one off) or drawing your attention to a hazard.

I’ll rephrase it – whenever I drive between Glasgow and Carlisle at night, I always see some of them at some point.

And to be fair to the OP, are those old ones in the current Highway Code?

What poly said.

smogmonster – if what you saw was what thegreatape refers to then please surrender your driving license to the DVLA as you shouldn’t be on the road

To be fair, we don’t have them in England so they may well have been a puzzle to him, although I’m not sure how you’d confuse them with a camera

Also to be fair, very few people actually slow down when they see these anyway, even if they do know what they mean.
65mph maybe, but not usually to 30mph unless the hazard is obvious.

Cheers folks..was the flashing part that had me worried…as you say, we dont have them in England..never seen them before. They may be in the Highway Code, but i havent opened that for about 20 years, so there you go, my bad 😉
Ive never driven the M74 either, and know the Scots Police love their speed cameras…the road over the Border to Hawick being a prime example.
Thought they were very unusual to be speed cameras, but at 3am, pitch black, and warning signs of speed cameras everywhere, paranoia was overtaking me.

smogmonster – you needn’t have worried that they were speed cameras if you were sticking to the limit 😉

These were common place across the UK from around the late 60s (I think the “English” version were different in that the local police activated them with a remote control and were battery powered, whereas the Scottish ones are controlled from the central traffic control room). They were certainly in the Highway code in the late 80’s/early 90’s.

GrahamS – indeed very rare to see anyone slow to 30 for one, but the 30 is only an “advisory” (should not must).

I remember a report on the BBC news website that said that the M74 has the highest average speed achieved of any road in the UK.

probably correct … from hamilton south till the border, its pretty much 3 lanes and not particularly busy most of the time …. 70mph cruising without hold ups from hamilton to the border is easy normally.

once you hit lancaster tho …. thats a different story

last time I drove on the M74 we were overtaken by one of those ghey audi’s with the fairly lights that must have been doing about 130mph. He narrowly missed several cars in front of us by weaving through them and nearly put himself into the central reservation as a result, hopefully he’ll wipe himself out soon and not take anyone else with him.

I remember years ago, I was head down the M74, was in the middle lane doing 75 to 80. Then from nowhere this bently wafts past me like i’m standing still … never forgot it. of all the supercars and sports cars, this thing just made it look truely effortless.

I do agree tho, you do get some daftie drivers on it

Here’s the link to that survey about the M74

https://www.insureandgo.com/press/UKs_fastest_routes_revealed_10768.html

Ive never driven the M74 either, and know the Scots Police love their speed cameras…the road over the Border to Hawick being a prime example.

Scots police speed camera happy? On one or two roads, otherwise this country is the least speed camera’d I’ve ever driven in!