scamera van caused near miss/accident

taffy056

It's called bunching, there used to be speed camera by a junction at Port Talbot, the M4 at this point was set at 50mph, people coming down the motorway came around a bend and saw a speed camera and traffic emerging to the motorway, it caused people to slam on their brakes, and it effects people behind, there was no end of accidents right there!

That camera has now been removed due to it's dangerous position, it hasn't cured the bunching by the way so I believe the slip road is being removed completely, there is still another camera in the opposite direction that causes the same problem, but is still there !

alastairq

Everybody just lurves to blame the camera van, don't they?

Strange then that in the absence of the camera none of this ever occurs.

of course not....they're all out there totally ignoring the law of the land, sticking their proverbial middle finger up at any semblance of authority.


If the presence of isolated camera vans seems to cause so much apparent chaos, then why so few of them?

If camera vans, cameras and other technological speed detection devices were vastly more prevalent, instead of rarer than hen's teeth, perhaps drivers will drive in a more conscious manner?


This attitude towards speed detection devices is simply one of petulance by drivers who fear getting caught!

They see it as 'cheating' on the part of the enforcement authorities, in the game of 'catch me breaking the law if you can'......

somehow, because a camera catches all....instead of, as with a Police officer, the one unfortunate individual whilst all the others speed past...

so the camera van usage is seen as somehow 'unfair'...


with the popular press, and certain interested parties trying to attach the 'safety' label to their usage....or as is seen by some, mis-usage.


Road safety has nothing whatsoever to do with it.


it is really just about enforcement of the law.


and the sooner motorists accept it as such, the sooner we can move on.

oldbuffer

Whats a " scamera van"?

Flyboy152

Wig wrote: »

And I don't agree with the blue light comment. When there is a blue light & siren EVERYONE is immediately aware of the situation, and everyone is on alert and will lift off the accelerator if necessary, and will lookout for the idiot infront doing something stupid.

Try telling that to the ambulance or fire service.

I personally have never witnessed anyone slamming brakes on and causing near misses. What I have seen is people who brake and pull in to inapproprite places but the people behind were already on alert and have not been in any danger, yes I have seen and had to brake myself because the person infront does something stupid, but as I was already on alert I was able to brake safely/keep my distance and drive around them.


However I don't deny that it probably does happen sometimes. The point being I think generally bluelights & sirens cause controlled chaos, whilst scamera vans just cause chaos & it is dangerous chaos.

The point being, as has been pointed out several times in this thread, if they were paying attention in the first place, there would be no need to reduce their speed so suddenly. If they are driving too fast and are unaware of the speed it, it is just as well they get caught. The fewer of these drivers on the road, the better.

Flyboy152

taffy056 wrote: »

It's called bunching, there used to be speed camera by a junction at Port Talbot, the M4 at this point was set at 50mph, people coming down the motorway came around a bend and saw a speed camera and traffic emerging to the motorway, it caused people to slam on their brakes, and it effects people behind, there was no end of accidents right there!

That camera has now been removed due to it's dangerous position, it hasn't cured the bunching by the way so I believe the slip road is being removed completely, there is still another camera in the opposite direction that causes the same problem, but is still there !

So the bunching wasn't caused by the camera then? It was presumably caused by ignorant, speeding drivers, unable to cope with the curve in the road at higher speeds. If ever there was a need for a safety camera, there you have it.

cyclonebri1

Wig wrote: »

Every day for the last 3 years the same stretch of road has been free of incidents. Put a scamera van there for a few hours and you get people suddenly braking and causing skid marks on the road and possible accidents.

There is a cause and effect here which the holier than thou's cannot deny.

Slightly off track but there's a tee junction near us. It was wide with the village war memorial as a divider, kind of a triangular set up. They chaged the layout a couple of years ago and now all traffic goes around the memorial rather rouns either side, effectively narrowing the road and slowing traffic. All in the interests of road safety of course.
Well I know a chap that lives almost on the junction and when I spoke to him whilst they were carrying out the work he told me that he'd lived there 28 years and had never seen a single collision or pedestrian injured.

Since that day there have been at least 4 collisions, one being serious.
Have they changed it back?, you guess:mad:

taffy056

Flyboy152 wrote: »

So the bunching wasn't caused by the camera then? It was presumably caused by ignorant, speeding drivers, unable to cope with the curve in the road at higher speeds. If ever there was a need for a safety camera, there you have it.

Yes it did cause bunching because before it was taken away there was accidents there fairly often, after it's removal there are hardly any accidents there.

There are four slip roads going because they don't meet standards, meaning they are far too short, and one of them has another road that runs diagonally to it and goes across the slip road, meaning traffic must give way, but vehicles coming down the slip road at 50mph are not seen until often to late.

Also the camera on the otherside still cause problems as motorists press the brake pedals, then that causes others to slow down, and as it's just before a slip road it causes bunching.

Flyboy152

taffy056 wrote: »

Yes it did cause bunching because before it was taken away there was accidents there fairly often, after it's removal there are hardly any accidents there.

There are four slip roads going because they don't meet standards, meaning they are far too short, and one of them has another road that runs diagonally to it and goes across the slip road, meaning traffic must give way, but vehicles coming down the slip road at 50mph are not seen until often to late.

Also the camera on the otherside still cause problems as motorists press the brake pedals, then that causes others to slow down, and as it's just before a slip road it causes bunching.

You don't think that the accidents were caused by drivers driving too fast then?

warehouse

This thread is chock full of self righteous "we never speed" types. Get a life people, everyone speeds now and again, we know it, you know it.

Yes, badly positioned camera vans are bl**dy dangerous.

Flyboy152

warehouse wrote: »

This thread is chock full of self righteous "we never speed" types. Get a life people, everyone speeds now and again, we know it, you know it.

I don't recall anyone on here denying that they ever speed. However, those who do you maybe referring to, are more likely to accept the fact that have broken the law and thay don't spend too much energy whining about getting caught.

Yes, badly positioned camera vans are bl**dy dangerous.

At the risk of repeating myself, ad nauseum, they are only "dangerous" to drivers who exceed the speed limit and fail to pay sufficient attention. The more of those who are caught, the better.