SPEED CAMERAS

System

the thing which gets me is speeding in itself will cause no harm at all. GP drivers manage to go 200mph on straights..slow for corners..speed up again and again with hardly any crashes. What does cause crashes is the fact that the car or the driver is at fault. If the car is in a un road worthy state, or if the driver isnt concentrating (you know who you are mobile phone users) or distracted in any other way (cant handle the car, alcolhol.) by penalising speeders the problem isnt going away (in fact statistics show an increase in deaths) its drivers who cant actually drive properly (a post i saw in this forum was askin if her dads license can b suspended as he cant remember bumping into cars. he most probably wasnt speeding but he still is dangerous). more policing to stop dangerous drivers would help. and harsher punishments for causing crashes (espedcially deaths) by dangerous driving

Paul_Herring

Personally i think the police are concentrating so heavily on the motorist its getting pathetic...its a smoke screen, just to hide their ineptitude to tackle real crime....

As I see it, this isn't the problem - IMHO, the problem is that because there are so many speed cameras out there, there aren't enough actual police out there.

Speed cameras may catch speeders, but they don't catch the other 'crimes' being commited on the highways and byways.

• Untaxed vehicles (though finally the government are doing something about this by using the DVLA database)
• Uninsured drivers
• Dangerous driving (which admittedly speeding technically is, but here I'm thinking of things like tailgating, undertaking, people in the wrong lane 'forcing' others to undertake)
• Driving under the influence (ethonol, OTC medicines, marijuana and other Class A-C drugs)
• Unroadworthy vehicles

I speak from personal experience (of witnessing, not participating of course ) for most of the above list.

Frugal_Moose

Posted by: scheming_gypsy Posted on: Jun 30th, 2004, 7:45pm

I also have better things to do than read the highway code all the time

Don't be such a drama queen, you only need to read it every now and again. If you value your licence then a bit of effort to comply with the LAW will save you money and points and ULTIMATELY with the amount of deaths on our roads now running at around 9 every day, someone's life.(whoops who's being a drama queen now)

System

i think another thing that should be takcled is uninsured drivers.
i can see why young male drivers do drive ininsured. a £150 fine + points is all they get whilst the average insurance for a 1.2 fully comp is over £1500 (£800 tpft) for a 20yr worse for a 17yr old. its daylight robbery. if guidelines are set so us younger drivers dont pay as much (and i reckon a restriction on the cars you can drive once you have passed your test say 1.2 max for the first 2 years) should help...any1 caught after this deserve punishment...harsher punishments as well.
unfortunately big companies rule this country not the government.

cathy_3

Im no goody two shoes when it comes to speeding  but I find it unbelievable that there are people driving on the roads who dont know the speed limit of the road they are driving on.     OOOWER !!!!

Savvy_Sue

There are unfortunately very strict rules on what signs can be displayed on what types of road, and for some reason it is against the law to display 'repeating' 30 mph signs in a 30 mph zone. If you miss the 'large' 30 mph sign when the zone starts you are stuffed unless you can estimate how far apart the street lights are. And please don't tell me that anyone who ever misses one road sign shouldn't be driving at all, although it would solve road congestion at a stroke if everyone apart from the perfect drivers in the UK got off the road.

Likewise I believe it is against the law to display the speed limit on a speed camera warning sign. Actually I say unfortunately but for some people it's fortunate because if the signs don't comply exactly with the law they are able to get off!

Assuming it's a 30 mph limit is a good idea until you get someone driving up your backside flashing you - either because they know it's a higher limit and can't overtake you, or because they don't care what the limit is and can't overtake you.

There is one extremely complicated road system near me where I don't know where the 30 limit ends and the 40 begins on my way home - I see a 'repeater' sign (these are smaller than those displayed at the start of the different zones) but despite looking really hard for it I have yet to find the large sign for where it starts! I know where the 40 zone ends on the way in but it's one-way at that point so not a lot of help!

It's harder to creep above 30 if you stay in 3rd gear in 30 mph zones.

If you want to get excited about speeding fines https://www.pepipoo.com will find you in like-minded company.

(a post i saw in this forum was askin if her dads license can b suspended as he cant remember bumping into cars. he most probably wasnt speeding but he still is dangerous)

I hope she was told he could be 'shopped' to the DVLA if there is any suspicion of a medical condition which might be affecting his driving. You might need to be brave to do this, but you have to consider how you'd feel if you knew someone shouldn't be driving, didn't do anything, and they caused a serious accident.

scheming_gypsy

i think another thing that should be takcled is uninsured drivers.
i can see why young male drivers do drive ininsured. a £150 fine + points is all they get whilst the average insurance for a 1.2 fully comp is over £1500 (£800 tpft) for a 20yr worse for a 17yr old. its daylight robbery. if guidelines are set so us younger drivers dont pay as much (and i reckon a restriction on the cars you can drive once you have passed your test say 1.2 max for the first 2 years) should help...any1 caught after this deserve punishment...harsher punishments as well.
unfortunately big companies rule this country not the government.

huh? you're having a giraffe aren't you?

why limit what people can drive for the first 2 years to a 1.2? 90% of new drivers under the age of 20 are driving round in naff cars like Corsa's and Nova's under a 1.2 and screwing the silly !!!!!! out of them.  Along with sticking kits and alloys on them.
Don't get me wrong, i like a nice kitted car but not a Corsa, Saxo or Nova that's only got enough power to make toast, but they're the cars new drivers are getting and thrashing the tits off

The smaller the engine the harder you drive the car to look 'hard'.  The flasher the car the slower you drive in most cases.

IvanOpinion

I think the law in England/Scotland/Wales may be different but in Northern Ireland we use a system of 'L' (learner) and 'R' (restricted) stickers on a car. Once someone passes their test they MUST display 'R' plates for a full year which means that the CAR is (supposed to be) restricted to 45 mph. If a newbie is not displaying their 'R' plates or are seen to be speeding then not only will they be fined but they may have their test revoked (unusual) or they may have the 'restricted' period extended by another 6-12 months.

The twist oin the law however is that if a fully qualified driver is driving a car with 'R' plates on it and are going faster than 45 mph they may be fined for speeding irrespective of the road limit.

Ivan

Nile

There is a village that I drive through which has a steep hill and sharp bend as you enter or leave the village.

Sometimes there is a mobile speed detector van (video camera inside a transit van) which parks on the pavement.

It is tucked into the bushes and is totally hidden from view if you're coming down the hill. In just a few yards the speed limit changes from 60 to 30 mph.

Fortunately, the cars going up the hill and meeting any oncoming cars flash their lights to warn drivers of the sneeky/hidden detector van.

popdeny

Take two scenarios.No.1 Young child crosses road in 30 mph limit without looking ,car travelling at 40mph goes through speed camera gets booked for speeding just before hitting child.child dies.
No.2 young child crosses road in 30mph limit without looking, car driver sees road sign warning of active speed cameras ahead, car slows to 25mph just before hitting child child survives!
The difference between the two apart from the obvious, is that the exchequer adds another fine to its coffers.If they really wanted to save lives,by making sure drivers slow down then they would probably halve the amount they collect in fines! I believe making money is more important to them.