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Speed Cameras.....

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Arti | 20:43 Sun 09th Mar 2014 | Current Affairs
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Why do people spout such venom about speed cameras. I doubt that any critic of them would feel charitable if one of their loved ones were killed by a speeding motorist. Hypocritical
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The greatest problem with speed cameras is that they are the cause of many accidents.

Too many motorists don't know the speed limits of the road they are traveling on, they see a speed camera and slam on their brakes, this causes a knock on effect behind, and other motorists, who are generally traveling too close to the vehicle in front, then slam into the back of it, an so on...
My father was killed by a speeding motorist, and I don't resent speed cameras at all, even though I don't think they do much good. If you don't want to line the coffers of the local authority's Christmas party fund, don't drive over the speed limit. If you don't know what the speed limit is because there are no signs, chances are it's 30 mph
Not only do they have to have signs for fixed cameras but it also has to be i the public domain where the mobile units are going to be, but they're not obliged to tell you were the info can be found.Here's how they do it in Notts.
http://www.nottspeed.com/camera_locations.php
The nonsense on here is breathtaking !

I have never really understood this anti-speed camera business. Speed cameras only catch guilty people. Its the "Jeremy Clarkson" defence I suppose... " I have bought a car and I want to be able to drive as fast as I want, whenever I want " People who do this are just inconsiderate.

And what if they money makers ? We should be glad that stupid, speeding motorists are helping pay for essential services, in this time of cuts.

If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime...simples ! Slow down !
Blue toffee...with respect, your post is nonsense. If you don't know the speed limit of the road you are driving on, perhaps you shouldn't be driving at all !

Speed limits are for everybody to observe, stupid people as well as sensible people.
//Speed cameras only catch guilty people. //

not always, Mikey. on a derestricted single carriageway road cars may travel at 60mph. but trucks are limited to 40. the camera on this road will be set to catch those travelling at more than 60, but will ignore the truck, whose stopping distance at 57mph is a good deal longer that a car at the same speed, who exceeding his legal speed by nearly 20mph.
Mushroom, some speed cameras can recognise HGVs.

I know of a lorry driver who have received a speeding fine on the A556 at Mere for going over 40.

The place he was done was a single carriageway, with 50 mph signs. He was doing less than 50.
Mushroom...very interesting point.

Speed cameras also don't catch banned drivers, drivers not wearing seat belts, drunk drivers, and other stupid people. But the ones that they do catch are breaking the law, a fact that so many of here seem not to grasp.

I have been caught twice in the last 10 years by speed cameras, something not easy to avoid here in South Wales but on both occasions I was guilty and accepted that I had been caught, paid the fine and got on with my life. What I didn't do is moan and whinge continuously about the unfairness of speed cameras !

By the way, I was last caught 7 years ago, and I have learnt my lesson
(hopefully)
mikey, I agree with you, if you don't know the speed limits perhaps you shouldn't be on the road, but so many people don't, just observe, for 5 minutes, motorists passing a camera and see how many slam their brakes on, you'll be surprised at the result.

I was caught a couple of months ago by mobile camera.I have no complaints I was "caught" doing 40 in 30 mile an hour area and am going on a speed awareness course next month,which I have paid for and will prevent me having 3 points on my licence and affecting my insurance etc.However,my gripe is with the inconsistent police who ignore other traffic offences on a daily basis i.e defective or absent headlights,parking by a junction,and drivers,even H.G.V. drivers on mobile phones.
Blue toffee...I think we are singing from the same hymn sheet here !


Yes, you are right, and no, I am not a bit surprised, I must drive about 40,000 + miles a year, and the sort of thing that you describe is an everyday occurrence. But my point is that a lot of people are blaming speed cameras for being caught, instead of their bad driving habits. Ignorance of the law is no defence. If the Police had unlimited funds available, they could patrol the roads and catch speeding motorists like they used to. But in this real world that we all live in, these cameras perform a good job.

I wish they could put a speed camera up in my housing estate, as a considerable number of drivers, most of whom must live locally, drive like idiots. When you consider that some of them at least will also have children, its almost unbelievable that they should also drive recklessly.

The general standard of driving is now very low and I am unsure what to do about it. Do you remember those short road safety films that we used to have on the TV ? When did we last see one of those !

The only thing that some motorists seem to appreciate is to hit them where it hurts...in the pocket and on the driving license !
Arti, speed cameras are there to make money. How else can you explain that near where I live there are a couple of locations that have regular accidents and people have died, yet there is not a camera in sight (or hidden).However, also near me, on a stretch of road that is straight for about a mile, has no junctions or even a house, there are cameras.
You have used the word hypocritical, well how hypocritical is this. In Northern Ireland there is a motorway( speed limit 70mph) that ends by joining a normal road where there is a sign which says 'normal speed limits apply 60mph'.However there is a stretch of road linking these which has a very small sign saying 50mph. The Police regularly sit at this point and they have admitted they catch hundreds of speeding drivers every time. There is absolutely no reason to have a small stretch of road set at 50mph between a 60 and 70 mph limit other then raising money.
Vulcan...."The Police regularly sit at this point and they have admitted they catch hundreds of speeding drivers every time" So, these motorists are innocent then are they ?

Speed cameras require to be put where the need is greatest, and as far as I can see, most of them are. We have 100's if not 1000's of them here in South Wales and have done for many years. They are all clearly marked and are coloured bright yellow. The majority of them have been in the same place for years. And yet we have people now being banned because they have been caught so many times !

Thick or what !
JoggerJayne for best answer though!
I too have a clean licence mikey - caught once about 15 years ago and very cautious now.

But I still think cameras are actually a hindrance to road safety - firstly there is the 'idiot braking' effect, but mainly they are useless because they are totally ignored by the type of people who cause 'speed related' accidents.

I stand by what I said earlier :

"they are sited to maximise revenue and have virtually no impact on the people who kill by excessive speed - the young/inexperienced/drunk"

"they are blunt/useless instruments when it comes to properly addressing road safety - which depends on a multitude of factors - of which speed is only one"

"you should target the drunks, target the young/inexperienced, target the school-run-mummies-on-mobiles - but don't pretend that you are doing much for road safety with cameras - you're not"

dave
mikey, no these drivers are not innocent but neither do they expect to come off a speed limit of 70mph, see a sign which says 60mph applies and then find a hundred yard stretch in between limited to 50mph.
They have their place - but that should be at accident blackspots. There is a strong suspicion amongst many drivers that this point has been lost, and that some speed cameras are situated more for their revenue -gathering capacity.

Although in fairness, that should be the mobile speed camera traps, often deployed on overhead bridges on the motorways - which are not accident blackspots.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10656510/Police-admit-using-mobile-speed-cameras-are-like-shooting-fish-in-a-barrel.html

And it does seem to be one law for them, another for the rest of us - it would appear that many police officers caught speeding by these devices have their tickets waived.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-458310/Fury-90-000-police-officers-caught-speeding-let-off.html

It seems to me that often the police are more inclined to use a stick than a carrot. I think those automated speed warning signs are pretty effective myself, slowing the traffic down in areas where there is a genuine problem - so why do we not invest in more of them, rather than expensive cameras with ANPR recognition that can issue tickets and fines?

And if you are going to concern yourself with speed and accidents and injuries, then laws on speeding should be revised - we should be far harsher on those people travelling at, say 30-40mph in a built-up 20 mph zone with pedestrians and children and all those other soft targets than we are on a motorist travelling at 100mph on a 3-4 lane motorway when traffic is light and visibility good.
Vulcan...This place you talk about is in Northern Ireland. That is a small place with a even smaller population. Its isn't "on the way" to anywhere, like the M5, M6 or M1, so most of the people that use that road must therefore be locals. Locals who have used this stretch of road many times and yet still hundreds, according to you, get fines for speeding every year, in this very spot

They must be even more stupid then I thought then Vulcan, to be caught on a stretch of road that most of them now so well, as they don't expect to see a speed camera that was in the same place last week, and the week before !

I'm afraid that I have to disagree with all on here that think that speed cameras shouldn't exist. If we didn't have them the Clarksons of this world would be driving along 100 mph +, safe in the knowledge that they are unlikely to get caught. Some of them already do that of course, but we don't want any more.

Sunny dave. As you are aware, I am no big fan of the Police, especially the ones that lie at Inquests, spy on the innocent families of murder victims, and beat defenceless men to death when they are walking home from work, who are unfortunate enough to wander close to a demonstration ( there are many others )

But are they really the "stasi" because they use hand-held speed cameras on the side of the road. What a childish thing to say !

I repeat, everybody who gets a speeding fine deserves to get one. Perhaps they will slow down next time they are in the area.
mikey, I am surprised at your answer. If you have visited N Ireland you will know the motorways go somewhere and if you haven't visited then why are you commentating on something you know nothing about?

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