Speed Cameras
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: East Midlands
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Speed Cameras are put up to collect money. A couple of years ago a bypass opened in Essex with speed cameras on from Day 1! No history of accidents, just cameras straight away. Near where I live the local police were fed up with bikers giving 'V' signed to cameras which took a picture of the front of the vehicle ie no number plate in view. They formed a special unit consisting of a car and two motor bikes to chase up the 'offenders'. Meanwhile the clear up rate for burglaries stayed nice and low and plenty of people were driving around in cars with only one headlight working and loads of uninsured, no seatbelts etc. But the targets wwre met so that's alright then!
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Boscombe Down
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Just a thought here,
Speed itself doesn't kill (ref: driver of porsche carrera let off dangerous driving charge for getting caught doing 150mph on M1 at 0300 because it was well within the limits of the car and he had his race licence)...
It's the irresponsible use of speed that kills people... 85mph on the motorway is perfectly safe middle lane speed these days with improvements in braking and tyre technology.
HOWEVER, 20mph outside a school should be law as there are FAR more hazards in such an environment.
The idea of speed cameras on motorways makes my blood boil, but i applaud their use in city centres...
It all comes down to driver education on the responsible use of speed, the government/police admitting that speed cameras are being used as cash cows, and the DVLA re-vamping the highway code to reflect modern day life and technology improvements...
Speed itself doesn't kill (ref: driver of porsche carrera let off dangerous driving charge for getting caught doing 150mph on M1 at 0300 because it was well within the limits of the car and he had his race licence)...
It's the irresponsible use of speed that kills people... 85mph on the motorway is perfectly safe middle lane speed these days with improvements in braking and tyre technology.
HOWEVER, 20mph outside a school should be law as there are FAR more hazards in such an environment.
The idea of speed cameras on motorways makes my blood boil, but i applaud their use in city centres...
It all comes down to driver education on the responsible use of speed, the government/police admitting that speed cameras are being used as cash cows, and the DVLA re-vamping the highway code to reflect modern day life and technology improvements...
Gentleman Aviator
IIRC, many years ago Lord Goddard CJ, hardly a pink and fluffly person said something like
Discuss!
If existing laws on careless and dangerous driving could properly be enforced, there would be no need for speed limits at all!
Policeman nicked for doing 159 on the M54 (and, more importantly 89 in a 30!) - obviously not our esteemed poster! Prat 'inadvertently' switched-on the data logger in his unmarked Vectra GSi. "Just testing the capability of an unfamiliar car M'lud" If he gets away with it do we have a precedent?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Met traffic chief in speeding car. - 82MPH in a 40MPH limit in central London. Driver appealed and got his penalty reduced to 3 points because he was not as dangerous as a normal driver because of his "superior driving skills". 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: UK
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85mph on the motorway is perfectly safe middle lane speed these days
The Middle Lane is used to overtake vehicles in the left lane - THAT'S ALL!!!
What the F*** is 'Middle Lane Speed'????
LC
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: wilts
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Middle lane speed is about 65mph for those annoying to$$ers who forget about the existance of the left hand lane on a reasonably clear motorway and feel it is their god given right to pootle along where they like. Surely that is more dangerous than doing 85 on a clear motorway whilst using the lanes as the highway code intended i.e. staying to the left unless you need to overtake.
Gentleman Aviator
Speaking of lane discipline, I have noticed it's much better on the M6 Toll, indeed driving in general seems better there.
Is this because oiks and poor people can't/won't afford it?
BEags - you'd love it - "the right crowd and no crowding" as they used to say at Brooklands.
Is this because oiks and poor people can't/won't afford it?
BEags - you'd love it - "the right crowd and no crowding" as they used to say at Brooklands.
Surprised nobody has posted a link to the latest scamera story (sadly I can't find it, but it was in the Mail this morning and I believe the Telegraph). 'Twas all about a new scamera on the A27(?) that has raked in £750 000 in 2 months. It had been sighted in a newly designated 40 mph zone - down from 70 mph! Local scamera partnership say that new limits are adequately signposted - or apparently NOT!
Another story saying that the AA and RAC are now getting more worried by the proliferation of signs distracting drivers that they are missing the really important ones, or are not concentrating on difficult/dangerous junctions because of the proliferation of signs. This is leading to.........more accidents, whcih means that scamera partnerships can install more scameras!!!
Was driving along a road from my youth this weekend (nice fast winding road) to find that it was now littered with SPECS scameras (the ones that record average speeds over a distance). Northants Police....Bds!
Another story saying that the AA and RAC are now getting more worried by the proliferation of signs distracting drivers that they are missing the really important ones, or are not concentrating on difficult/dangerous junctions because of the proliferation of signs. This is leading to.........more accidents, whcih means that scamera partnerships can install more scameras!!!
Was driving along a road from my youth this weekend (nice fast winding road) to find that it was now littered with SPECS scameras (the ones that record average speeds over a distance). Northants Police....B
ds!
Just for how much longer will Bliar's war against the motorist go on? I saw a familiar road today with new 40 mph signs waiting to be revealed - today it is a 60 mph limit. BA$TARDS!!
At least the Oxford County Council boss has said that if there is a Tory majority, then the current huggy-fluffies' war against the motorist WILL stop. Hopefully he'll dig up the speed humps as well.
I'm all for sensible limits, but not the ones inflicted by mad vegetarians on bicycles, as Clarkson put it. Double the penalties for exceeding sensible limits (as they did in Holland) by all means!
Shall be asking OCC how much the ridiculous widening of the footpath between Minster Lovell and Witney has cost the local tax payers. If they won't say, then I think a FOI disclosure might be sought?
At least the Oxford County Council boss has said that if there is a Tory majority, then the current huggy-fluffies' war against the motorist WILL stop. Hopefully he'll dig up the speed humps as well.
I'm all for sensible limits, but not the ones inflicted by mad vegetarians on bicycles, as Clarkson put it. Double the penalties for exceeding sensible limits (as they did in Holland) by all means!
Shall be asking OCC how much the ridiculous widening of the footpath between Minster Lovell and Witney has cost the local tax payers. If they won't say, then I think a FOI disclosure might be sought?
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Observant and considerate drivers do not have a problem with speed cameras, do not need to see them, or know where they are located. I cannot understand what all the fuss is about.
Could someone please explain why so many drivers are complaining about the cameras?
Could someone please explain why so many drivers are complaining about the cameras?
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Kent, UK
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I would consider myself to be an considerate and observant driver.
I have a great "problem" with speed cameras, _not_ because I wish to drive at great speed everywhere but because the concept under which these dratted things have been foisted on us is fundamentally flawed and inherently dangerous.
I hope that makes things adequately clear for the hard of thinking.
I have a great "problem" with speed cameras, _not_ because I wish to drive at great speed everywhere but because the concept under which these dratted things have been foisted on us is fundamentally flawed and inherently dangerous.
I hope that makes things adequately clear for the hard of thinking.
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Over there, behind that tree.
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To slide off-topic for a moment, got to agree with teeteringhead about driving on the M6 Toll, a very pleasurable experience, the way driving should be. With, as yet, minimal traffic, especially trucks, the surface is excellent and the road flows smoothly around the agriculture. It won't stay that way I reckon but while it does I can commend it.
Beags, you should definitely point your motor carriage north sometime in the next couple of months and have a shufti, you should try to enjoy it before it becomes just another high-speed traffic jam.
Oh, apart from CCTV at the toll booths, there's no cameras either!
Beags, you should definitely point your motor carriage north sometime in the next couple of months and have a shufti, you should try to enjoy it before it becomes just another high-speed traffic jam.
Oh, apart from CCTV at the toll booths, there's no cameras either!
Join Date: Oct 2003
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Speed Kills!!!
Yes, Speed does kill, However only when the driver drives like a complete W***KER as do the majority of young male drivers here in Riyadh. If Allah wants me to die then so be it and my kids too because they think seatbelts are unkind to children, and indicators will let the devil know where they are going!!! However in the UK my experience of speed cameras is that the police put them where they will earn more money...PERIOD. Anyone driving north from England to Scotland will have had the experience on the A617 through Coldstream en-route to Edinburgh, a slow lorry, windy road, only straight bit for a long time and in the middle of no-where a speed camera... obviously a dangerous spot for the local school/hospital/whatever 10 miles away. The be all and end all is trhat speed cameras do reduce accidents/casualities in urban areas near points of danger such as schools and the like, however, in quiet areas and on motorways they have no place unless you are an investor in your local constabulary or GATSO....... Rant over, sorry SD
P.S. Saw an awesome crash the other day, Large 8.1L Suburban(Large US 4x4) in the top of a palm tree. Guy died doing it, but Bl**dy good effort, Absolute tragedy.....There were 7 empty seats in the car!!!
P.P.S no apologies for the flippancy, I live here with my wife and children and see more ludicrous driving in one day than the most avid tree-hugging weirdo pro camera nutter in the UK has ever seen.......You ain't seen nuthin....!
P.S. Saw an awesome crash the other day, Large 8.1L Suburban(Large US 4x4) in the top of a palm tree. Guy died doing it, but Bl**dy good effort, Absolute tragedy.....There were 7 empty seats in the car!!!
P.P.S no apologies for the flippancy, I live here with my wife and children and see more ludicrous driving in one day than the most avid tree-hugging weirdo pro camera nutter in the UK has ever seen.......You ain't seen nuthin....!
Join Date: Feb 2005
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But, Snapdragon, I and all other law abiding citizens do not wish to pay more taxes in order to finance speed cameras.
It is excellent that the cameras operate at a profit, as it is the guilty sods who then finance them, and all future cameras.
2 million idiots every year getting caught for dangerous speed whilst driving is great news for us safe drivers, is'nt it?
It is excellent that the cameras operate at a profit, as it is the guilty sods who then finance them, and all future cameras.
2 million idiots every year getting caught for dangerous speed whilst driving is great news for us safe drivers, is'nt it?
Join Date: Feb 2003
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2 million idiots every year getting caught for dangerous speed whilst driving is great news for us safe drivers, is'nt it?
Properly zoned, realistic and applied limits are required. The blanket 70 is not conducive to efficient motoring nowadays, similarly 30 outside a school may be viewed as too much.
Also, "Law abiding" ... never taken a pen, envelope, piece of paper, item of 'scrap', gash etc from work?
Which laws do you abide by? all the time? never parked illegally?
Join Date: Aug 2002
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At the end of the day £750 000 of revenue for speeding in one location in 2 months equates to about 12,500 solved crimes.
Mr B Liar's targets for 'solved crimes' continue to rise and the Chief Constable in that area will be poster boy of the future.
Farce or what?!?
Mr B Liar's targets for 'solved crimes' continue to rise and the Chief Constable in that area will be poster boy of the future.
Farce or what?!?