What Speed Camera Data Is Included?
Current navigation SD card updates for most factory sat nav systems include a database of fixed speed camera locations in the UK and across Europe. When your route takes you past a known camera location, the system typically displays a warning on screen and plays an audible alert — usually several hundred metres before the camera.
Fixed Speed Cameras (Gatso, Truvelo, SpeedCurb)
Fixed cameras at known, permanent locations are the most reliably covered type. These have fixed mounting positions that don’t change frequently, making them straightforward to include in a pre-loaded database. UK map data includes the locations of Gatso, Truvelo, SpeedCurb and similar fixed installations on A-roads and at junctions.
Average Speed Cameras (SPECS, VECTOR)
Average speed camera systems — which measure your speed over a distance between two fixed points rather than at a single location — are included in navigation map data as zones. The entry and exit points of average speed zones are typically flagged, along with the speed limit applying to that section. Major UK average speed camera sections on motorways (M1, M6, A1(M) etc.) and dual carriageways are included in current map releases.
What’s NOT Included
- Mobile speed cameras — vehicles operated by police or safety camera partnerships that move between locations are not in pre-loaded map data, as their positions change constantly
- Temporary cameras — cameras deployed for roadworks or events are not in static map data
- Newly installed cameras — cameras installed after your map data was compiled won’t appear until the next map update
- Variable speed limit cameras on smart motorways — cameras enforcing variable limits shown on overhead gantries operate differently to fixed cameras and are not always included
How Current Is the Camera Data?
Speed camera data in navigation SD cards is updated with each annual map release. If your map data is from 2022 or earlier, newly installed fixed cameras from recent years won’t be in your database — and the UK installs new cameras regularly. A current 2025–2026 map release includes camera data as of the map compilation date.
Legality in the UK
Using a device that warns of speed camera locations is legal in the UK. This applies to both pre-loaded camera databases (as in navigation SD cards) and live warning apps like Waze. The Highway Code does not prohibit speed camera warnings — the offence would be the speeding itself, not the warning. Note that the legality differs in some European countries — France, for example, prohibits live speed camera warning systems (though pre-loaded fixed camera data has different legal status).