Lum

I'm heading up the A413 northbound just before the turn off for wendover. It's 1:30 on a Sunday afternoon with very few cars on the road. It's a two lane NSL single carriageway where the lanes are nearly two car widths, plenty of safe overtaking happens here since it's just after a twisty bit and some villages, so what do I see parked up on a bridge?



Yup, that's a Thames Valley Police camera van, you know the ones that have the big orange logo on the side so you can see them. You can just make out a tiny bit of orange that isn't hidden behind the brick wall if you look at the van for long enough (as opposed to, say, the road)

Why is this necessary? Perhaps there are children playing in the street up ahead, or a bus stop or heavy traffic, lets take a look shall we?

View from just in front of the bridge, looking in the same direction of travel as vehicles liable to get caught by the van


View from under the bridge, looking in the same direction as the van itself.


Nope, no children, junctions, crossings, cows, deers, badgers or sheep here, there's a few pigs just out of shot though.

Coming the other way, the van is much easier to see, and performing it's advertised function of being a deterrent and slowing people down. People were doing 50 in this direction, but the van isn't clocking these people, it's clocking the others.



Lastly, a view from a different angle, note how hard the van is to spot:



Edit: Map of the location. Note the railway line separating the road from the little town with it's darling little children.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Crafty bar stewards. On a mile flat with no junctions too

rr_ww

Send the pics to www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk

warrenm2

and safespeed.org.uk

- and thats just taking the p**s, no "deterent" there!

Lum

Already posted it on Safespeed Couldn't find where to post on ukspeedtraps but I sent them to The Sun instead. I don't like that paper but I recognise it's political influence

DJ73

money grabbing *anker's

Regacy

gulp, I use that road. in fact my house is about 5 miles from there.
Can't help thinking they'd be much better parking their van on the A41, not there's a dangerous road.
Never seen a small accident on the A41, lots of fatalities (one last week as it happens)
Slowing traffic on that road would be a worthwhile exercise. (and they’d make pots of cash at the same time!)

Abdabz

How bad is that? Setting out to catch people breaking the law?
I dont think anyone can complain about the guys being there catching law breakers(unless they believe themselves to be above the law), but I can see a logic in folk being upset about the marketing strategy the police employ re the cameras (ie visual deterrants - when they are hidden)...
The road / conditions / no juctions to me are completely irrellavant the speed limit doesnt change down there when there are less cars on it or if it's dryer than it was the day before...
No complaints from me if I was caught by these fella's like with any other camera. If I'm speeding I'm breaking the law (knowingly) and so risk getting caught... That's life...
I just feel the police / government just need to be honest and comeout to say that cameras are there to catch people breaking the law - plain and simple... That way people like the authors of sites like safespeed could calm down and concentrate on more important things in life (like belly button fluff and all those 'e' numbers in dilutable orange drinks etc).

Dream Weaver

So you think that van is doing a great job then catching law abiding citizens doing say 73mph, in fully insured, taxed and MOT'd cars?

What about the drunk drivers, non-insured, non-taxed etc.

OllyK

More important things like trying to get the government to look at other causes of road deaths rather than just speeding so that we may finally get road death figures decreasing again, or are you not bothered about killing people as long as you aren't speeding at the time?

OllyK

<nitpick>
If they are doing 73 mph they are not law abiding
</nitpick>

But it is hardly the crime of the centry - I'd be more sympathetic if we had Murder, rape, burglary etc rates of 0.

ian_sadler

I got done by that van in that position last september. Was a bit pissed off after

Dream Weaver

They have to account for speedo inaccuracy though and being caught slightly over the limit happens even though they reckon they have a 10% +/- allowance.

If I had to choose between cameras stopping someone safely doing say 80mph on an empty NSL road, or an actual traffic car stopping drunk/uninsured ********* in a town centre I know which I would choose.

Motorists are an easy cash generator, end of story regardless of the holier than thou on here that never *ever* stray over the speed limit.

And whether or not the speed limits (set in the 60's) are correct these days, thats a whole separate topic, but i have my own thoughts on that as well.

ian_sadler

HERE it is

OllyK

Actually it is -0% to +10% so your speedo can indicate you are going faster than you actually are, but you can never be travelling faster than indicated by the speedo. So in theory if your speedo says 72 mph, you are probably still legal.


I agree the focus should be on "driving without due care and attention" and "dangerous driving" both of which can and do occur within the speed limits, and yet just by exceeding a speed limit you are not necessarily driving dangerously.

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

When I saw the photos I thought was where you got caught These vans are a joke