If you use the M20 around Maidstone J4 to j7 both ways you will have noticed that there are some new cash machines installed on the gantries.

In theory they are only in use when a temporary speed limit is in place, however, those lovely and totally uncorrupt public servants in Zimbabwe (sorry Kent) have come up with a new wheeze.

It works like this, they stick a 50 limit on the digital signs for no reason when the road is quiet and hey presto the cash machines are activated.

All in the name of road safety of course and as the road is empty you can be tanking along at a totally safe 65 mph on an empty road and kerching, thats £60 and points thank you and good night.

 

Do you know of someone being done over like this then?

 

Here we go again

This will soon turn to another slag-off of Police and the inevitable "WHY DONT THEY CATCH REAL CRIMINALS" posts

 

The police are ****holes
Haven't they got better things to do
etc
etc

 

GREAT IDEA !!

Then all the barrack room lawyers can tell us all about Police procedure and how Police do their everyday job because they all seem to be experts!!!

And don't forget, all this money that they make out of fines goes towards the christmas party etc etc etc etc etc.

I love these threads sooooooooooo much

 

That's good then. At least you wont be disappointed when your NIP comes through the post then as you seem to have it all sussed out !!!!!!!!!!!

well done!!

 

...other than to get you to slow down.

Drop to 50, don't get points.

 

But that wouldnt make good reading would it!!

They have to do something stupid, get caught and then winge and moan about it and blame everything else especially the Police who apparently only persecute the poor motorist rather than catch REAL criminals so that they can fund the christmas party and justify their existence and have bad attitudes, are corrupt, collude with the courts, they were bullied at school, Pi$$ed with power etc etc etc.....

 

Who is it exactly, who activates these temporary speed limits and on what basis is it done?

 

I agree with the above:

1) These are just cash cows.

2) The police should be out catching criminals

3) The police are (in general) arseholes (from my recent experiences)



Infract away if you feel fit - for me putting arseholes and police in the same sentence and having an opinion.

 

Surely if they can police the roads using cameras, there will be more free time for the police to catch real criminals
And since they are arseholes, you will not have to deal with them if they catch you using cameras, so that must be a good thing as well.

 

Cash cows on a stretch of motorway that is notorious for accidents. Police will struggle to catch any criminals if they're trying to sort out a mess of mangled metal on a regular basis.

I'm guessing anybody who loses a loved one through an accident caused by a speeding driver would want THAT 'criminal' prosecuted soon enough...

I've got a heavy right foot and have been caught on camera but I know that's the game I play.

The choices are simple:
1) Stick to the speed limits and never have to worry about the police
or
2) Put your foot down and take your punishment on the chin

It kinda reminds me of the kid who'd take his ball home if he started losing...

 

1) Speed cameras do mean more Police out "catching criminals".

2) Servicing, maintenance and all the prosecution procedure in relation to speed cameras is carried out by civilian workers not police officers.

3) If people stuck to the traffic laws it would mean Police officers wouldn't be caught up dealing with motorists and could be out looking for "real criminals".

I do not like speed cameras and i do see them as a way of grabbing cash from us all.
However it is a goverment and local council issue nothing to do with the Police,

All these people who winge about the Police are the first ones to call them when their pizza is late delivered, their neighbour is talking loudly at night or they have left their sat nav on full display in their car and some opportunist chav has nicked it.

I have never had a bad experiance with a Police officer. I always speak to them with respect just as i always speak to everyone with respect. Manners cost nothing and can go a long way to helping the situation.

I am sick of reading these i hate the Police posts, they are always totally one sided and we all assume these people have done "nothing to deserve their treatment".

If those people who really think the Police are no good then DON'T CALL THEM, leave their services for those that appreciate and need the help.

Sorry, thats my rant over ;-)

Sorry everyone, thats my rant over

 

I drive up and down the M20, M25 etc everyday the overhead gantry signs are as far as I am aware advisory speed limits i.e. they do not have a red ring round them they are just a number such as 50. The gantry signs that operate on the M25 around Heathrow do have a red ring around them (same as M42) which would mean they are enforceable and I have seem people stopped by the police for blatantly ignoring them. The advisory speed limits I think a cop would have to actually see you completely ignoring them and they would then charge you with dangerous driving or driving with out due care and attention but NOT speeding.

I would of thought the ones on the M20 are set at 90ish mph as I have very rarely seen them go off by cars going in the opposite direction.

 

1: The source is within Kent Police and is first hand so its likely it has some legs.

2: I agree that the "maidstone s's" is a dangerous stretch of road and that keeping speeds down there is a damn good idea, but the issue is that imposing a speed restriction on digital signs when its not needed (no roadworks, no congestion etc) and then cashing in isnt about public safety.

3: I havent been caught for the simple reason I knew about it but have watched others drive on through oblivious to the cameras (which arent exactly obvious either)

4: The govs own stats show that speed on its own accounts for less than 7% of all accident causes, its usually down to driving like a ***** and too much speed is just one factor.

 

I think some of you are missing his point !

50mph speed limit for a reason is fair enough, but just turning on the 50, without a reason, Ie no fog, no queues not crashes.. is clearly being done to impose the speed camera fines !!

Ok, so regardless of the reason you should abide by the restrictions on a road ! but what gives someone the right to slow us down for no reason ?? 70 to 50 will cause a large increase in the time it takes you to get somewhere !

 

<cough> Bolox! These days they'd use the money to fund a minute portion of the Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley loan portfolio.

J.

 

I agree totally, just meant that with a camera there they aren't making some Copper stand there witha speed gun.

 

This isn't a thread about bashing the Police ... back on topic please!!

TX.

 

Well at least you got it!

The other element is this, I slow down to 50 as I know the cameras are there and I know the risk, but to the majority of bods in foreign cars or lorries as well as many of the brits doing between 10 and 40 miles an hour faster I become a slow moving slalom pole and risk taking one in the *** from a dozy lorry driver just because some ***** of a civil servant in Kent thinks its a jolly wheeze to raise money.

Lets face it, when youve spanked 10.2 million quid on the monumental goat **** that is the Ashford ring road you have to get some money back somewhere.

 

This seems to be a bit of a recurring theme on here.
The thing is though, a crash at a higher speed will surely have higher morbidity/mortality risk.
Does this need explaining?

 

Stats are a wonderful thing.

In terms of the government figures the 7% relates to excessive speed as a sole factor, in other words 93% of accidents involve other factors, not just speed.

Taking your argument and using the most recent high speed crash where Richard Hammond survived his 300 mph ding it could be argued that based on the available data (1 crash at 300mph and he survived) there is no risk of dying from driving at 300 mph!

The hit a kid commercials highlight well that higher speeds are fatal to unprotected pedastrians but if we look at motorways and race tracks where speeds are higher but impacts are controlled by barriers etc then death rates compared to speed are much lower.

Regardless of speed what generally kills people is rapid deceleration when you hit something solid like a tree, get the angles right and a slow speed accident can cause horrific internal injuries.

 

Geoteds: Are you Dibble? You certainly seem to be a police apologist

Have you actually HAD any dealings with the police over, say, the last ten years? Those who post anti-police stuff on here have, and NOT just for speeding, so can justify their bitterness. Can you justify your stance?

Alcazar

 

"My argument" is that the speed at which an accident occurs will have a effect on the seriousness of the accident.
That's physics, not stats.
The speed may not cause the accident, but may well have a major bearing on the outcome.
TBH those kid adverts are obviously a pile of b*llocks.
I mean where would you obtain the information for a start

 

What was Geoteds2002 infracted for? He represents the opinions of many on here. Not allowing individuals the right of opinion is reminiscent of a small Austrian born chap with a moustache who was rather busy between 1939 and 1945. That coward shot himself. And some suggest the police are *****...............

 

I had to use the M20 3 times last week to go to the office.
I noticed the speed limit warnings on the gantries and duly slowed down.

I fully expected an incident further ahead but, no just a national speed limit sign and then carry on.

How can they expect us to take these speed warnings seriously when they issue them for no apparent reason, other than it appears to get some easy revenue.

Technology has given us many benefits but this is not one of them.

 

I was on the M20 the other week to at 9'30pm on a sunday night when the 50mph came up, i slowed down for about 6 gantries and then back to national for no reason at all

Most of the dodgy driving ive seen on this section has been by foreign lorries and drivers, ffs they even have signs in polish lol

 

Why don't you phone up and ask them why it's a 50............

 

On hands free, of course

 

Don't be daft, Mate. There's plenty of experts on here who will know the truth