Speed Cameras

[Guest ant.b]

hi terry

thats a relief ,at least your on the ball ,cant afford anymore more pts on license

ant..

[Guest bugsy]

Ok so the M4 is clear but is the story about Lancashire motorways true or not??

[Guest brummy-ade]

bill you saying about better things to do but older cars yeald the results.

I go on ANPR's (automated number plate reading) on a weekly basis all cars without tax will be stopped and any over j plate dependant on how busy we are but in a 2 hour period on the A444 last week in coventry we stopped 48 cars without tax 18 without insurance 5 drivers were wanted on warrant, 2 illegalls, 90 ounces of ganga , 5 knives ,£250 stolen deodorant the list goes on. so what may seem petty to some resolves a lot of crime.

ade

[Guest TerryBarry]

Bugsy,

The only positive denial appears to be the M4 story.

The technology is in place and has been running in various test areas - for more information on the system see here SPEEDCHECK _ Read this and weep

I'm just going to have to keep a better eye on that needle in future.

 

Ade,

I'm certainly not surprised at those findings. A high proportion of newer cars are company owned or leased and therefore will be taxed, insured and MOT'd if necessary.

If the driver doesn't have insurance, they can't tax it if they wanted to and definitely won't bother with little things like a MOT.

Do you also operate that "impound and crush" action round your way.

 

Terry

[Guest Luke]

I found another site with speed camera locations

 

Speed camera locations

[Guest Battery Bill]

Ade

I didn't know that you, AND Derek were one of them

So I would be OK in the Mondeo its L reg (Totally legal tho) Except when the keys are in the boot :angry:

[Guest Dredd]

Strange, some call for real traffic officers rather than cameras and others prefer we do something more important. Interesting note, we also pay taxes and therefore contribute to our own wages, (note to self, apply for council tax rebate).

 

Many forces, and I know not all, are opting for education rather than prosecution for those that transgress. However serial offenders do obtain a rather more focussed approach. Older cars are proven to be the most stolen, simply because they have little or no security devices or those that are factory fitted are easily defeated. Now I assume some of us are owners of an older car you would see the sense of 'Mr Pod' or 'BIB's' paying those cars more attention just in case it was your pride and joy nicked.

 

Now in terms of doing something more important, fatal road traffic collisions are investigated in the same way as any other violent death, potential murders or manslaughters. Given the gravity of that it makes sense to do something pre-emtive to stop the carnage, particularly on motorways. The presence of speed cameras does the job, and it's good that we can see where they are on websites. In fact, a good deal of police websites show the locations. It's good becasue we tend to slow down, which is what is needed.

 

Now, personal view. I like to drive fast and I have been lucky enough to have had the training to do it with some safety, but I have to acknowledge that the halcion days of doing that with impunity have past. My pragmatic view is.. you pay your money, you take your chance.. i.e if you get a ticket, like I have in the past, or you cause an accident / fail to avoid one because you were travelling too fast, then accept the consequences. We are after all mature people.

 

So, now I'm off to sort out my disguise for the first show of the year, or might just wear the body armour; second thoughts, that will add extra weight.

 

Shall I get my coat?

[Guest cjbailey]

So I would be OK in the Mondeo its L reg (Totally legal tho)

Hmmmm.... My laguna is L reg, but has a private plate on which is C plate

Best make sure it is legal then

[Big Jim]

I hear what you're saying Derek, and it's obviously hard to argue against the fact that some accidents are caused by speed, but not entirely speeding, ie over the speed limit, just too fast for the situation.

I feel that excessive speed, call it what you want, is a part of a much larger problem we have on the roads, and that is just plain BAD DRIVING!

 

We've all seen it, 70 mph in the motorway, 3 lanes heavy, cars 6ft apart. Lane weaving, Middle lane hoggers. vehicles without lights or with poor lights, front bloody fog lights on (how many of those have you booked?)[ Pet hate! - Sorry!]

 

Generally the standard of driving in this country is CRAP! and going WORSE!

 

I'm sorry but the authorities are blinkered just to speeding. Check out the true facts and figures, 7% of accidents had speed as a contributary factor, but only around 4% was actually speed over the limit. How many of those were from the 'Police, Camera Action' chases, involving proper crimials.

 

Look how many MORE people were killed by Police drivers.(highly trained??)

 

Also check out the stats, the majority of people caught by speed camera's aren't the 'reversed hat Nova type' but Mr & Mrs average Joe with no accidents or convictions other than bloody speed camera's.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for speed camera's in the right places, but the ones set up just to rake in cash are the ones that should be scrapped.

Here in Lancashire, Mrs Superplod said that she was thinking of getting some of the camera's switched off at nightime, yet she has the mobile guys out with the 'hairdryers' at 9-30pm on a by-pass with no houses, schools or anything along it. Also at 11-30pm (yes, that's what I said 11 bloody 30pm) at the edge of the village, 150 yds before it goes into derestricted, one house and some trees to protect, that'sbecause everyone ups their speed a bit as they leave the village, so it's an easy catch, but come on, 11-30pm!!!!

No I'm sorry, Derek, I understand what you're on about with stopping older cars, I have no problem with that, I have no problem with random stops at all, do more put the emphasis back on drinking again (it has slackened)

But it's true to say that with the actions of the authorities and their blinkered approach to 'speeding' THEY are losing what bit of respect there is for YOU

 

End of rant! I'll get my coat, which pub are you in? I'll buy you a pint.

[Guest Dredd]

Jim

 

Balanced argument, nice one As I said can't speak for all forces but mine certainly is starting to put more emphasis on driver education, i.e stopping speeding motorists and showing fairly graphic photographs of what a bad accident actually looks like in human terms; and I agree with you, speeding is not the single major contirbutory cause but a wide range of driver problems. I am also frustrated when I see speed cameras within sight of deresricted zones and other strange locations where justification seems difficult. I'm not sure where your percentage figures come from but I guess that is a National average. It does vary considerably, that is why for example my force does not take revenue from cameras, because it doesn't have sufficient speed related accident sites to qualify (yet).

 

Anyway, I am looking forward to 2004 when I can experience the 'hoodie' experiencefor real and feel the wind in my hair (well if I had some). I also look forward to a few pints and (friendly) banter with fellow enthusiasts.

[Big Jim]

hi Steve,

 

Yes I'm ready for the warm weather coming back, have you not wangled it so that you can come to Le-mans?

Also keep your eye on our NW site, you're more than welcome to join in with us anytime, in fact that goes for anyone out there.

 

jim

 

PS. not going back to the' speed' thing, it'll sort itself out sooner or later.

[Guest bugsy]

Sorry Jim, just had to make one observation, Since 1st December I don’t think I have seen one person using a mobile while driving while a week ago it was every other driver who seemed to have one!

 

The point i am trying to make is that everyone knows its now illegal to do so, but they also know that its illegal to Speed! I haven’t noticed any reduction in speed or the C**P driving, what’s the difference, you can get points and a fine for both, is it the media attention about phones, why is there no media attention about the state of our drivers, just listening to the traffic reports saying how many crashes there are all over the place makes me wonder

Ok Rant Over

Thanks i feel better now

Bugsy

Ps I too am looking forward to a nice pint in the sunshine

[Guest Battery Bill]

Derek

Interesting note, we also pay taxes and therefore contribute to our own wages,

I bet you have heard the old "us taxpayers pay your wages thing before, I know I got it all the time I was travelling the world at taxpayers expense (In the RAF)

people seemed to forget that I paid a lot of that bloody tax :gdit: :gdit:

I think my coats in the back

[Les Welsher]

Bugsy,

I have to agree with Jim on this one.

Where I live there are accidents every other day on a small stretch of the M4 caused by people driving too fast and too close to the car in front for the volume of traffic on the road. I am always pointing out to my wife these lunatics as we drive down this stretch of road (keeping my distance to avoid getting caught up with their antics).

When driving over 100 miles on the M4 yesterday I noticed loads of people on mobile phones doing well over the speed limit, maybe it's these people, that are not fully in control of their car at speed and that have no regard for the law that should be caught and booked for both offences.

 

That's my grumble over

 

Les

[Guest daveg]

Get rich...

 

Patent a camera that issues tickets for cars that are too close the car/bike in front

 

Now who would argue against that

 

Dave