Liverpool can't cope with volume of tickets
Discussion
If a law is universally ignored, it must be repealed, eh, wot.....?
You've got to laugh, haven't you...?
[url]click|http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16211375&method=full&siteid=50061&headline=speeding-drivers-put-system-into-meltdown-name_page.html[/url]
Copied here, in case link goes down.....
[i]SPEED cameras on Merseyside are fixed to let off speeding drivers because officers cannot cope with the paperwork from so many tickets.[/i]
Police have set safety cameras to ignore thousands of motorists who break the speed limit, to cut the number of tickets they have to process.
They argue the only way to deal with the sheer volume of tickets would be to take officers off the streets.
The move was today condemned by road safety campaigners who said drivers had to be forced to cut their speed.
But senior police officers say they cannot justify using all their resources to deal with speeders when there was other crime to be investigated.
On major roads equipped with cameras in Merseyside, such as the M62, so many drivers break the law that officers believe the system would collapse under the weight of tickets if the limit was reduced by just 1mph.
Fixed speed cameras record the details of any motorists who pass them while travelling at a speed greater than a set level.
The Association of Chief Police Officers recommends drivers escape a fine if they pass a camera at less than 35mph in a 30mph zone, 46 mph in a 40mph zone and 79mph in a 70mph area.
But Merseyside and other forces across the country fear staff would be snowed under with work if they set the cameras at those levels.
You've got to laugh, haven't you...?
[url]click|http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=16211375&method=full&siteid=50061&headline=speeding-drivers-put-system-into-meltdown-name_page.html[/url]
Copied here, in case link goes down.....
[i]SPEED cameras on Merseyside are fixed to let off speeding drivers because officers cannot cope with the paperwork from so many tickets.[/i]
Police have set safety cameras to ignore thousands of motorists who break the speed limit, to cut the number of tickets they have to process.
They argue the only way to deal with the sheer volume of tickets would be to take officers off the streets.
The move was today condemned by road safety campaigners who said drivers had to be forced to cut their speed.
But senior police officers say they cannot justify using all their resources to deal with speeders when there was other crime to be investigated.
On major roads equipped with cameras in Merseyside, such as the M62, so many drivers break the law that officers believe the system would collapse under the weight of tickets if the limit was reduced by just 1mph.
Fixed speed cameras record the details of any motorists who pass them while travelling at a speed greater than a set level.
The Association of Chief Police Officers recommends drivers escape a fine if they pass a camera at less than 35mph in a 30mph zone, 46 mph in a 40mph zone and 79mph in a 70mph area.
But Merseyside and other forces across the country fear staff would be snowed under with work if they set the cameras at those levels.
puggit said:
Shame about the new technology which automates lots of the process and allow a massive increase in fines to be sent out - sorry, drivers to be prosecuted...
There's a recent thread somewhere
It'd be great if everyone went on a speed protest and tried to overload the machines
hedders said:
I don't think we can overload the machines, but we can bring the courts to their knees if we all fight every ticket.
Unfortunately most people do not have the time or inclination to do so
Ever wondered why the standard £60 fine has stayed the same for the last howevermany years and not risen with inflation?
If it were any more psychologically closer to £100 a small percentage more would fight, and that would be enough to bring about the same.
Another thing, less than a third of the country can get to work by public transport. If 3 million people a year totted up 12 points, I hardly think the government and courts would stand on putting a million households on benefits as they cant get to work.
The propogation of fines imposed will bring this to being a reality if increases at the current rate are kept up...
justinp1 said:
Ever wondered why the standard £60 fine has stayed the same for the last howevermany years and not risen with inflation?
iirc it went up 50% from 40 to 60 just 4 or 5 years ago and with current rates of inflation being so low (according to the government's own estimates) the difference would be pennies. So not worth the cost and effort of changing systems and telling people about it when it is much more lucrative to increase the numbers.
Other than that I pretty much agree with your observations.
justinp1 said:
I don't think we can overload the machines, but we can bring the courts to their knees if we all fight every ticket.
Unfortunately most people do not have the time or inclination to do so
Ever wondered why the standard £60 fine has stayed the same for the last howevermany years and not risen with inflation?
If it were any more psychologically closer to £100 a small percentage more would fight, and that would be enough to bring about the same.
Another thing, less than a third of the country can get to work by public transport. If 3 million people a year totted up 12 points, I hardly think the government and courts would stand on putting a million households on benefits as they cant get to work.
The propogation of fines imposed will bring this to being a reality if increases at the current rate are kept up...
What, more people locked into New Labour ! Brilliant !
Stuff the 75% tax on anyone who works.
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