police cameras

[cyclobutch]

I must confess, riding with an old B&W plate I almost feel as though I’m flying under the radar. Kind of a stealth bike really. I’ve not knowingly tested this hypothesis however.

[RichardL]

In this case the cameras are not stealthy and I noticed, as cyber-riding down that road, that the use of cameras is posted in the signage. I am bit confused as to why the speed limit signs are the on right side and not the left.

Richard L.

[Topdad]

on the correct side you mean richard

GB , what a shame .

I had to do a long motorway journey using the M6 and the M5 at at least 3 places they were using these cameras ,you'd have most of the vehicle doing a careful 50 but occasionally you'd see a car moving with apparent indifference one weaved through the lanes .A pattern developed they'd pop of at the next junction or so had me thinking ,were the cameras not working and did they know or was it that as they left before the end of the timed length of road it didn't affect them , what do you all think, regards Bob

[morris]

Just heard this on the news. Our caring government decided to buy a batch of the newest Redflex NK7 speed camera's which can monitor and flash 6 lanes at the same time in both directions. The thing checks your speed twice before finally flashing. The flash itself is infrared so not visible to the human eye, and the camera is small enough to be hidden in a dustbin or similar at the side of the road...
Now I'm sure. I definitely am born to late.
http://www.redflex.com/index.php/en/rts-home/193-redflex-nk7-on-display

[a10gf]

Talking about the devil, nearby here, some unfortunate guy ended his earthly presence this morning.
Hit the tunnel wall, noone else involved, speed no doubt the cause of total car destruction... Looks like the engine is inside the driver seat.

[Greybeard]

I must confess, riding with an old B&W plate I almost feel as though I’m flying under the radar. Kind of a stealth bike really. I’ve not knowingly tested this hypothesis however.

Last year I led a ride-out for our BSAOC branch. I saw a speed limit sign as we approached a village and slowed down before I got to it, (I tend to do that these days), the stragglers were trying to catch up and obviously didn't see the limit sign. There was a speed trap camera. Three people got speeding tickets through the post! I think they all avoided fines by taking a speed awareness course, (which sounds like a good idea to me). Anyway, the thing is, they all had monochrome number plates so Cyclobutch I don't think your theory works.

[olev]

Gday Morris,

Redflex is a good old aussie innovative company.
you will be right though. I am sure the Belgian authorities aren't as bent as the rest of the planet.
After all it has nothing to do with revenue??

http://www.afr.com/news/how-redflex-was-redlighted-for-bribery-in-chicago-20150823-gj5m73

cheers

[morris]

Redflex is a good old aussie innovative company.

That's why I posted this... 

I am sure the Belgian authorities aren't as bent as the rest of the planet.

Nope. They are smarter than that. Yesterday a civil servant got arrested for transferring €1.000.000 of government funds to his personal account...
Who needs bribery...

[jachenbach]

IMO, stupid kills, not speed. Police don't want to appear in court, especially to argue a case they may not win. It's much easier for them to prove a speeding violation than one for following too closely, pulling out in front of another vehicle, running a red light, etc. At least, that's what they've told me.

[Greybeard]

Red light runner cameras are also on the increase. Soon we will have vehicles that are not able to drive too close to the one in front; in fact autonomous vehicles seem to be becoming a reality.

It's been said before but the golden days of motoring have gone, at least in the UK.

Before I drove in California I couldn't believe that the maximum of 55-65mph was adhered to, but it mostly was; so different to the UK where drivers almost universally exceed the legal maximum, especially on motorway/freeways. If you are keeping to the legal max for private vehicles of 70mph you are one of the slowest on the road and have to keep braving the loonies to overtake lorries in the slow lane.

[Topdad]

Yes seems the average when not in a speed camera controlled area is certainly 80 ,if not 85 mph . 15 yrs ago I did a large motorway mileage and I'm afraid to say you just had to follow the norm , the most tiring bit was constantly adjusting the gap in front ,you'd pull back to get a more comfortable distance and an idiot in either other lane would pull in to tailgate the guy in front. I once watched in horror as a muppet in a BMW drove into the back of another vehicle both doing well in excess of  80 mph ,the car that rec'd the shunt was buried in the central reservation , while the muppet spun across the front of me and even closer to a lorry in the inside lane ending up facing the right way on the hard shoulder ! I never found out but pretty sure the driver that was hit came off worse whilst it looked like the muppet was unscratched . I contacted the police and was told they had enough witnesses but would be intouch if needed. That did it for me and my motorway days finished pretty soon after .

[hdawson]

Here in Vic/Aus over the last 10 years the speed camera thing has gone mad.
With government revenues becoming reliant on fines to prop up ever more dodgy expenditure.From memory $360 Mil. last year.
All our speed cameras are unmarked.
Cops hide in the hills with hand held speed cameras in camo.(I kid you not)
At present 0-10 km over the limit incurs a $150  fine and 1 point from a 12 point allocated for 3 years.
Obviously increasing in increments of 10km.
You can imagine how many innocent drivers/riders are only a few points from losing their licence/ job/ home.
The number of unlicenced drivers has never been so high.
The latest blurb from our RTA regarding road fatalities is " Towards Zero"
What strange utopian universe do these people live in?
Famously our new head of traffic cop stated that if everyone reduced their speed by 1km, X amount of people would be saved from death by MVA.
No one in Vic can ride/drive to the conditions or trust their judgment.
All consideration is on watching the speedo.
Trading points (nominating another driver ) is rife.According to facebook one point is currently worth $200.
Thats what you get when the world is run by focus groups, gutless politicians and the populist media.
 

[RichardL]

My guess is that the focus groups, gutless politicians and populist media (especially them) also hate the speed cameras. The real challenge is to use democracy for change, putting in politicians who will admit that the cameras are a tax, then take them out and levy honest taxes. Oooooh, taxes! Well, I'd rather they are straight up than disguised as something else that takes enjoyment out of life.

Richard L.

[Joolstacho]

Just read and UNDERSTAND hdawson's post.
What we are talking about here is NOT about road safety. It IS about a self-righteous, naive, 'politically correct' group enforcing their own distorted values upon a subservient malleable population.
The 'enforcers' are silly enough to be persuaded by focus groups and market research studies, but I'm going to tell you from direct, personal experience, that you could prove virtually ANYTHING by means of the format and question language involved. The figures CAN LIE fellers, and they often do!
We (most of us 'normal' roadusers) are asleep at the wheel regarding this stuff. We are being blown into the weeds by the lobby groups because we are so blase about it. We'd better wake up soon or we'll be drowned. We'll just end up riding electric powered vehicles restricted to 30kmh.
What the enforcers want is a submissive, subservient, compliant population, tugging our forelocks to the powers that be.

What I want is my kids to be brought up in a World where they can respect laws because the laws themselves are devised to respect individuals rights.
I want my kids to ride safely because they understand the NEED to ride like that, not because they are scared about some fine that might await them). Self-discipline you see?
And please don't come back at me with the 'ex-cop' self-righteous crap. I've spent a lifetime on the roads, and I know that police drivers are AT LEAST as dangerous as other road users. You know it too.
(Just in case someone might want to have a go at me, I'll just say that over about 35 years I have a CLEAN license in a state where, I reckon I'd be one of only a handful who haven't been 'pinged' by the speed cameras).
No saint, but I ride/drive with my head in gear.

[cyclobutch]

Regardless of views, and indeed the likelihood of above average driving/riding skills of an interest group such as we have here, we must accept that most motorists (shall we say), are not particularly smart, nor interested in the actual process of driving, nor even particularly attentive. If you are looking to reduce accident death and injury statistics then the cheapest, simplest way to do that is to make cars stronger and have them crash at lower speeds. So that’s what is happening. And meanwhile we have that great panacea – the fool proof self-drive vehicle coming across the horizon at us.

Ghastly prospect? Yes and no. Faced with  driving down the M4 and M5 from London I’d rather be reading a book than staring out the front window to be honest. Will it also be a cure all for the tedium of traffic jams? (you’re not stuck in traffic, you are traffic). Maybe, but surely only if we are all doing self-drive. Personally I don’t even like the driving dynamics of modern cars – that sort of double think that throttle response now has (ooh – surely you didn’t really mean to tread so roughly on the throttle; I’ll just dampen that a shade), spongy gear changes, self-initiating wipers. That whole gamut that makes modern life sh1t. Come to that even self-cancelling indicators wind me up.     

We are faced with increasingly draconian measures in order to help us all. Real driving, at least on the public highway will cease to be. Fossil fuels will be replaced before too long. In the not too distant future our bikes will be museum pieces and so will we. Most people don’t care. In a democracy they will have the final say.

It’s not great now. It can only get worse. Get it whilst it’s hot - get on your bike and ride.