On my way to work this morning I passed a parked camera van with a policeman peering out the back window (they can't even be bothered to get out and stand at the side of the road these days). What annoyed me was the fact that it is in a rural 40 mph limit with fields down one side and about 3 houses on the other in a 400 yard stretch of road. The section of road just before this is a 60mph limit that has had 3 fatalities in the last 3 years. If these aren't purely revenue raisers why don't they site the camera in the dangerous 60mph section.

For those who know the area, it is the A134 just as it enters Gt Horkesley towards Colchester. The previous dangerous section is the hill out of Nayland.

 

They'll be hoping people continue to do 60 to make more money....

I got done about 3 weeks ago jus approaching a 50 from a 30, was doing 43 on a 3 lane wide road and it was a Saturday night, roads empty, no houses junctions etc and i was literally about 50 yds from the 50 sign....

 

What pushed me over the limit was the portable speed cameras on the m6 Toll road for god sake I'm already paying to use the Toll!!! and where are the houses on the toll or children crossing the road? So now have the garage door opening laser device and yes I do have a garage that will actually work with it

 

How about dont speed?

 

I wasn't speeding Davey, my point is that I live near a road that has had 3 fatalities in 3 years, and yet they site a mobile camera a mile up the road in a section that has had no fatalities. However this is a zone where people are reducing from 60 to 40mph and yet still away from built up areas, therefore they know they will catch more people. So is the aim to save lives, or raise revenue?

 

They do this all the time around here. On A-roads I can only remember once seeing the white van camera man in 60s, always just after the 60 to 40/30 change.

A lot of the dual carriageways around here have recently changed from 70 to 50, they like parking in lay-bys in those as some people (even though 50s signs everywhere) still do 70+.

Also, for years they have parked on bridges over the M4 here, which they have only recently started doing in parts of England.

Corner, slow down until you see the bridge. Van man - keep to 70. No van man, back upto speed. Common place on the M4 in Wales.

When there is an event on in the Millenium, or the RAC rally, they quite often put one West of Cardiff and one East. God knows how many people they have done on match days, or come rally time.

 

Blah blah blah!

 

Theres no problem then??

 

NSS. If you deemed it safe to do 70mph when the limit was 70, and there have been no structural changes to the road layout etc., then it is still as safe to do 70mph. Reducing the limit does not make the road more dangerous. If you didn't think it was safe you would have been going at 50 previously.

 

Thanks Davey, your cutting incisive arguments are really improving the debate.

 

Speeding or not we all know really that its a money making exercise by the government. Motorists in general get caned every year on petrol, tax, insurance and THEN pointless speed camers fines!

 

[Davey] has it spot on ...... if you are aware and adjust your speed to the limit, then it actually doesn't matter one jot where the cameras are - does it????

If the sped limit is 30 - do 30 .... if its 40 - do 40 .... then they can stick their cameras where they want, why should it worry you??????

The reality, as we all know, is that you don't like the fact that the Police are being as cute as you are by placing their cameras where there is more chance of speeding ..... you have your detectors, they have their speed traps - let battle commence But don't come on here crying about getting caught if you lose!!

Pete

 

Nice one Paul. We are talking here of tactics used to get more revenue for no apparent reason except to get more revenue. E.g. changing speed limits for no apparent reason, etc and just for your information your speedo can be at least 10% out on your car so you could be technically speeding and don't know it so go to the "we can throw stones" forum....

 

* Join the freemasons and become imune from speeding fines.

* Claim to be an ethnic minority, claim racism and again become imune fro speeding fines.

* Join MI5/MI6 and make speed camera operators disappear without trace.



or/
just don't speed that often and be sensible and observe bridges etc.
Wave to the cameras whilst doing 30 in a 30 zone, honk your horn continuously to warn others (as folks do in maidenhead).

 

You simply just can't argue with that....

 

PSL, it worries me because as I keep saying there is a section of road just before the speed camera that I and my family travel on every day, where there have been 3 deaths. I've not said anything anti speed camera, just purely that it is in the wrong place. I'm not advocating speeding, but the government keeps bleating on about how these things are only at sites where there have been a certain number of accidents and in this case it blatantly isn't.

 

It's a blatant lie, if the camera's where there to stop deaths then there wouldn't be a need for mobile camera's. Either people get killed there or not, if they do there's a 'need' for a fixed camera.

 

You should campaign for a speed camera on the section where there has been deaths - keep us posted with your petition .... post it up here so we can all sign it.

As for the mobile camera where they can catch people, as I said - that shouldn't worry you at all.

Get out and get those signatures to get a speed camera put up where you think there should be one ---- and, please ---- keep us informed!

Pete

 

"Just for your information" - your speedo can legally over-read by up to 10%, and cannot legally under-read. I'd guess most actually over-read by about 7 or 8% from my (fairly limited) experience of checking such things. So - unless there is a problem and your speedo is reading illegally, you can't be technically speeding without knowing it (unless you chose not to look at the speedo)

Agree with Paul's original point that a speedo stationed to catch people a mile up the road from where there is an accident blackspot is just plain wrong when combined with the "we're here to save lives" b8ll*x you hear from them. The sad thing is, they probably claim in the stats that it's situated for safety because it's within a mile or two of where the fatalitys occurred.

 

What pushed me over the limit was the portable speed cameras on the m6 Toll road for god sake...


???
Uh Oh....I thought there weren't any cameras on the toll....when I drove down it this afternoon....

 

Whilst on the M6 Toll subject, I have been on here before after many driver I spoke to thought that because it was a toll road it was a private road and therefore did not have a speed limit.

The M6 toll is a motorway, and is subject to all of the same motoring laws that are applied to motorways including the 70mph speed limit, and the mobile portable cameras are stationed on over bridges on a regular basis.

 

Indeed

 

My point exactly, lets say you were thinking of killing someone, maybe someone who makes incisive arguments on your favourite interweb forum?? who knows! anyway to the point; You wouldn't stab them in the heart infront of a policeman would you?? No, but if you did, or if someone saw you then you will be doing a stint at her majesties pleasure.

EVERY TIME you speed and don't get caught you are lucky, but the police only have to be lucky ONCE!

Now theres some food for thought

What a load of old ****.. Your speedo will ALWAYS over-read, they police do give you a margin, but if your speedo is under-reading thats you're problem!

As for making revenue, they are not allowed to use the cameras to make revenue anymore *BUT* the cameras will finance the speed awareness schemes, i.e. pay the staff and pay for the equiptment.