Speed Cameras

[observer]

So great - the Gov needs the money!

[observer]

So great - the Gov needs the money!

[Peter T]

I'm with Wahl

 

 

NO surprise there then.

[Bazj]

As has previously been said, Wahl, if you keep to the limits you won't have a problem. Most of the speed cameras in Warrington that I have seen are certainly not hidden, nor are the vans! Is it perhaps a case of not really being aware of what is going on around you?

 

and if you don't go out, you won't be mugged or burgled

 

if you don't eat so much you won't get fat

 

if you learn to swim you won't drown....

 

Annoying when people state the bleeding obvious isn't it?

 

As for the speed van locations;

 

Lovely lane, just as you go down a dip and accelerate to climb the hill at the other side.... GOTCHA

 

Manchester Road, Dual carriageway just as you come round a bend...GOTCHA

 

Callands (Cromwell Avenue) Just as you come down a rather steep hill on a road with NO HOUSES just around the bend....GOTCHA

 

Battersby Lane: hidden behind some trees on the opposite side of the road to the factories between Scott Street & Winifred Street. Targets traffic arriving from the main roundabout near Sainsburys....GOTCHA

 

Not hidden, but hardly on show, despite their garish colour schemes!

[wolfie]

Bloody Hell Baz 4 times Gotcha and you're still driving

[Peter T]

Accelerate to go up an incline? What are you driving Baz? A sewing machine?

 

Bet you need a run at the Lumbrook road going to the Thorn.

[inky pete]

There has been the case just this past week of a driver who flashed his lights to warn oncoming motorists of the presence of a speed trap.

 

His intention was obviously to slow the oncoming traffic down - which is precisely what the cameras are supposed to do.

 

But, because his actions denied the police the revenue they were after, they prosecuted him for obstructing the police.

 

That case proves beyond all doubt that the police are not in the least bit interested in improving road safety by slowing speeding motorists down, and certainly can't be bothered going after drunk, uninsured or dangerous drivers - they just want to continue to sit in their camera vans and tax those who stray a fraction over the limit.

[Lt Kije]

Good point inky

[Bazj]

Accelerate to go up an incline? What are you driving Baz? A sewing machine?

 

Bet you need a run at the Lumbrook road going to the Thorn.

 

Peter, I'm guessing you don't drive very often then because even when on cruise control, a car will change down and accelerate to maintain a constant speed to go up a hill.... or were you always wondering why you started to roll back down unless you pushed that flappy pedal thing on the floor???

 

and as for the Thorn.... I don't go up that way; far too posh on that side of the river!

[Bazj]

Bloody Hell Baz 4 times Gotcha and you're still driving

 

personally Wolfie, I've never had a speeding ticket. I did once overtake a plain Police car on a dual carriageway in Scotland at a tad over the speed limit, but the two nice ladies in the car gave me the beneifit of the doubt!! (Hence the reason why even a pair of patronising and sarcastic woman police officer are better than a camera!!)

[algy]

There has been the case just this past week of a driver who flashed his lights to warn oncoming motorists of the presence of a speed trap.

 

His intention was obviously to slow the oncoming traffic down - which is precisely what the cameras are supposed to do.

Recent case resulting in the 64 yr old male driver being found guilty of Perverting the course of justice.

 

Quote:

 

Presiding magistrate Jean Ellerton told him: ?We found that your flashing of your headlights was an obstruction, we found that you knew this action would cause vehicles to slow down and cause other motorists to avoid the speed trap and avoid prosecution.?

Because his actions denied the police the revenue they were after, they prosecuted him for obstructing the police in the execution of their duty..

 

If you read this Harry it would be interesting to see your view on the case in question.

[P J]

If speed cameras are indeed the huge revenue earner we keep being told by motoring groups etc. why are Councils turning them off to cut costs?

[harry hayes]

I have kept my head down on this thread cos I don't want to insult members, who, in my opinion are almost completely wrong. My views were made on the thread last week

 

Technically, the conviction is correct and there have been other, similar cases over the years. I can see arguments on both sides. Those people who were grateful for the flash were the ones breaking the law, and thus, a danger to others.

 

You may disagree with me further , but this is my last comment on speeding and speed limits in the forseeable future.

 

Happy days

[Peter T]

Flashing your lights is illegal anyway, I believe.

 

Baz. I didn't know that , as I only use cc where there are road works on the motorways plus cameras..

[observer]

Has anyone got an answer for PJ? Cos if these cameras don't make money, they're pointless imo.

[silverlady54]

Flashing your lights is illegal anyway, I believe.

 

 

The correct interpretation is that lights should only be flashed to tell another road user you are there. It is never used correctly these days as common usage has it for giving way.

[wolfie]

Flashing your lights is illegal anyway, I believe.

 

 

The correct interpretation is that lights should only be flashed to tell another road user you are there.

 

You are there You are where ??

 

Are you supposed to flash every other user to let them know you are there?

[Lt Kije]

The councils have to maintain the speed cameras, I think most of the revenue goes to the Police and government

[Bill]

I think when the cameras were first introduced they proved to be a good deterrent but I have serious reservations about them these days. These infernal devices have had me prosecuted twice now and of course all the whiter than whites here immediately spring up and cry idiot driver and that?s why we need cameras. The truth is than none of these people know how I drive or how much I drive but those that do will confirm that I am certainly not a bad driver or do I drive recklessly or endanger others.

 

In both cases where I was fined, I was just marginally over the limit on roads where that appeared to have no obvious risks and where it was easy to accidentally creep over the limit i.e. a long downhill stretch of motorway. Locating cameras at points like this has nothing at all to do with road safety, it?s just an easy point to catch out unsuspecting people.

 

A driver that consistently speeds will always have a SatNav or radar detector to warn about speed traps and because of this, they never get done. And because of the sheer abundance of this technology it?s now become a total joke to have a speed cameras that catches only those without a TomTom.

 

Bill

[inky pete]

....and of course, using a speed camera to measure a cars speed at one moment in time tells us absolutely nothing about how aggresively it is being driven, whether or not the driver has just braked hard on seeing the camera, how appropriate the measured speed is to the weather and traffic conditions, how much attention the driver is paying to other road users, how fit the driver is to be behind the wheel, or how roadworthy the vehicle is.

 

All of which have FAR more effect on the likelihood, and severity of, an accident than the difference between 30 and 34mph!

 

Policing the roads properly, with patrols of experienced traffic officers who observe, follow, and - if appropriate - stop, speak to, and take action against drivers whose overall behaviour gives cause for concern addresses all of these factors, and is PROVEN to be more effective at reducing accident rates.

[wahl]

inky pete wrote

Policing the roads properly, with patrols of experienced traffic officers who observe, follow, and - if appropriate - stop, speak to, and take action against drivers whose overall behaviour gives cause for concern addresses all of these factors, and is PROVEN to be more effective at reducing accident rates

 

This is common sense, but the people in power are only bean counters with no common sense, so not much hope of sensible policing?

[P J]

....and of course, using a speed camera to measure a cars speed at one moment in time tells us absolutely nothing about how aggresively it is being driven, whether or not the driver has just braked hard on seeing the camera, how appropriate the measured speed is to the weather and traffic conditions, how much attention the driver is paying to other road users, how fit the driver is to be behind the wheel, or how roadworthy the vehicle is.

 

All of which have FAR more effect on the likelihood, and severity of, an accident than the difference between 30 and 34mph!

 

Policing the roads properly, with patrols of experienced traffic officers who observe, follow, and - if appropriate - stop, speak to, and take action against drivers whose overall behaviour gives cause for concern addresses all of these factors, and is PROVEN to be more effective at reducing accident rates.

 

Sadly this Govt are presently cutting back on what policing we have so no chance of funding this I'm afraid Inky.

[inky pete]

As has been discussed in previous threads, we've got plenty of coppers.

 

Get more than the current 10% of them out on the streets doing their job. You never know, if they're visible they might start to deter crime and anti-social behaviour. They just might also catch a REAL criminal or two while they're out there!

[Bazj]

I have kept my head down on this thread cos I don't want to insult members, who, in my opinion are almost completely wrong.

 

Good job it is only your opinion then Harry and thankfully you are no longer a copper!

 

I was waylaid over by a copper in the old Mobil garage (Now Tesco Express) on Hawleys Lane about 20 years ago. He told me that I had just come through a red light going under the railway bridge and he was going to prosecute me!. I hadn't, I had come down Long Lane after visiting someone. Of course he told me I was completely wrong and that he had seen me and he was actually getting quite aggressive in his tone. (If he hadn't been a copper I would have belted him!) Eventually I calmly opened my passenger door and got a pen and paper out and wrote his number down and told him either to stop being so silly or I would report him for harrassment!

 

His parting words were something like...."I KNOW YOU WENT THROUGH THAT RED LIGHT"

 

Or another time back in the late eighties; when as a young 23 year Old I drove a 3.0 4x4 Granada which was about 18 months old.... lovely motor and stuck to the road like glue. I was coming through town when I was flagged down by a copper whose opening line was "Well then, where did you nick the car then sonny!!"

 

I was always getting stopped in that car and being asked to produce my documents.... so I started taking my documents into Arpley street at about 02:30 -03:00 in the morning; just when they were bringing all the drunks and fighters in.... my own little bit of protest!! It worked in the end and they left me alone!

 

So don't you just love it when the police mentality is that us the public are always wrong.... even when they are wrong; which is almost 90% of the time I have dealt with them, they will never admit it.

 

I had one of my Vauxhall vans seized and impounded because some kid of a copper thought it had been cloned because the VIN sticker on the windscreen was rippled... (The VIN plate was intact and everything about the van was legal. The VIN sticker on the dash is NOT a legal way of telling the VIN; which you would have thought the traffic cop would have known that! .... the muppet still wouldn't concede he was wrong and they took the van.

 

They did eventually apologise after returning the van 3 days later....and an inspector told me that the copper would be disciplined and retrained in identification marks! I told him the copper was just miffed because I knew I was right and he only thought he was! He was in the wrong job and still is because he drives one of those plain Vectras aound the place....

[observer]

I remember a big copper, they used to call him the Sgt Major; he just used to step out infront of a speeding car - how he never got run over I don't know!