RE: 20 years of the Gatso
Discussion
Mobile disguised motherfookin police vans, that s
t is just below the belt. Been driving over 20 yrs and the only time I got gripped was on Anglesey pulling away from a junction leaving a 30 zone in to a 40 zone doing 32 as I left. I mean, FFS, give us all a break. Still £80 and a 'really educational awareness course' later and I still have a shiney clean licence. I drive fast, fair point, if porky pulls me then I will pay a fine and fair doos, but what are all the points about. Got myself all workedup now, its like the B'ham toll road, when that opened the Feds actually said, 'we will stay clear as long as they are no major incidents on there'. Now, not only has the price increased massivley (err if more ppl use it it should become more cost effective and the price should come down' but there are now many many unmarked cars in there and I know of a couple of guys who were egged on by the Feds and then pulled, bad form in my view.
On the lighter side, I have a v good friend in the force who was errr 'making progress' to an incident in his V70 squealermobile, whilst weaving through traffic lost the back end and totally said veeeeeehicle whilst proceeding in a easterly direction straight through a fully loaded Gatso trashing both the body and the camera unit inside. Oh how I laughed, noe THATS Karma.
On a serious point though, you do have to be very unlucky to get hit by one though, up until v recently Cheshire only had 2 or 3 camera units for the whole county (not sure if that has changed now but it certainly cuts the chances of that 'smile' moment down.
t is just below the belt. Been driving over 20 yrs and the only time I got gripped was on Anglesey pulling away from a junction leaving a 30 zone in to a 40 zone doing 32 as I left. I mean, FFS, give us all a break. Still £80 and a 'really educational awareness course' later and I still have a shiney clean licence. I drive fast, fair point, if porky pulls me then I will pay a fine and fair doos, but what are all the points about. Got myself all workedup now, its like the B'ham toll road, when that opened the Feds actually said, 'we will stay clear as long as they are no major incidents on there'. Now, not only has the price increased massivley (err if more ppl use it it should become more cost effective and the price should come down' but there are now many many unmarked cars in there and I know of a couple of guys who were egged on by the Feds and then pulled, bad form in my view.On the lighter side, I have a v good friend in the force who was errr 'making progress' to an incident in his V70 squealermobile, whilst weaving through traffic lost the back end and totally said veeeeeehicle whilst proceeding in a easterly direction straight through a fully loaded Gatso trashing both the body and the camera unit inside. Oh how I laughed, noe THATS Karma.
On a serious point though, you do have to be very unlucky to get hit by one though, up until v recently Cheshire only had 2 or 3 camera units for the whole county (not sure if that has changed now but it certainly cuts the chances of that 'smile' moment down.
Anyone who clicks anything above a 1 on the rating is committing social suicide... 
Although I hate the existence of speed cameras in general, I still think that the standard fixed gatso's (painted a lovely and fairly obvious shade of yellow) stand out pretty clearly at the side of the road and if you get caught speeding through them, you should probably be paying more attention... or maybe even slow down... just maybe.
However, what I really hate is the camera vans and speed guns that litter themselves about from time to time, (usually positioned right at the end of my fing road), because;
a) you never know if they'll be there or not, unless someone is kind enough to tip you off with a message, a flash or a big cardboard cut out left against the lamp post just round the corner before the stretch of road in question (which I realise are all offenses and do not do or condone in any way)
b) you don't really have a chance to react while with the fixed cameras you have right up to the clocking zone to respond.
and c) not such a big thing but - they insist on taking time out of your day to give you a right rollocking which is humiliating, and can also cause a massive cluster for people who have onward journeys from their destination (flights/trains etc.).
/rant - but happy birthday Gatso, happy fing birthday you c.
Although I hate the existence of speed cameras in general, I still think that the standard fixed gatso's (painted a lovely and fairly obvious shade of yellow) stand out pretty clearly at the side of the road and if you get caught speeding through them, you should probably be paying more attention... or maybe even slow down... just maybe.
However, what I really hate is the camera vans and speed guns that litter themselves about from time to time, (usually positioned right at the end of my f
ing road), because;a) you never know if they'll be there or not, unless someone is kind enough to tip you off with a message, a flash or a big cardboard cut out left against the lamp post just round the corner before the stretch of road in question (which I realise are all offenses and do not do or condone in any way)
b) you don't really have a chance to react while with the fixed cameras you have right up to the clocking zone to respond.
and c) not such a big thing but - they insist on taking time out of your day to give you a right rollocking which is humiliating, and can also cause a massive cluster for people who have onward journeys from their destination (flights/trains etc.).
/rant - but happy birthday Gatso, happy f
ing birthday you c.Just got thinking actually, might get a birthday cake for my local Gatsos woth 20 kerosene soaked candles on, I'll put it just under the camera so it can blow em out................. or not.
Biggest PH tradegy of recent times, average speed specs things on the cat and fiddle.
Just remembered another amusing anecdote. A one time rather rebelious associate of my from Telford who I worked with in the the mid ninties took it upon himself, with a few biker friends, to remove their number plates (and all thier clothes) and ride repeadtedly up and down a stretch of road where a newly erected Gatso had been placed. Not that I can condone riding a motorbike without suitable safety atire, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when whoever it was inspected the newly developed photos from theor brand new camera expecting mucho revenue only to see my mate Paul's ass and/or weener in perfect focus as he rode past with helmet on nowt else whilst standing upon his pegs. The boys even rode towards each other to make sure the camera got front and rear views. Did make me chuckle.
They can use a stick to beat us, but they will never defeat us.
Sadly he was killed as a result of coming off his ride a few years after, the culprit? A deisel spill and not his speed. Deisel and drunks, far more dangerous than speed IMHO. Sad but we all ride/drive knowing what we do can be dangerous at times, but then thats all part of the buzz isnt it? (personally speaking of course).
Biggest PH tradegy of recent times, average speed specs things on the cat and fiddle.
Just remembered another amusing anecdote. A one time rather rebelious associate of my from Telford who I worked with in the the mid ninties took it upon himself, with a few biker friends, to remove their number plates (and all thier clothes) and ride repeadtedly up and down a stretch of road where a newly erected Gatso had been placed. Not that I can condone riding a motorbike without suitable safety atire, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when whoever it was inspected the newly developed photos from theor brand new camera expecting mucho revenue only to see my mate Paul's ass and/or weener in perfect focus as he rode past with helmet on nowt else whilst standing upon his pegs. The boys even rode towards each other to make sure the camera got front and rear views. Did make me chuckle.
They can use a stick to beat us, but they will never defeat us.
Sadly he was killed as a result of coming off his ride a few years after, the culprit? A deisel spill and not his speed. Deisel and drunks, far more dangerous than speed IMHO. Sad but we all ride/drive knowing what we do can be dangerous at times, but then thats all part of the buzz isnt it? (personally speaking of course).
Type R Tom said:
I probably shouldn’t say this on PH but I’m a highway engineer and for a while in my old job I had the envious role of working on speed camera (or safety cameras) and their installation.
Now I can honestly hold my hands up and say when choosing a site for them I always used the correct criteria and rationale, i.e. 85 percentile speeds, no. of accidents in set years etc. I would always fight locations I didn’t think were appropriate and do the upmost within my control to make sure they were sited correctly.
What I didn’t have any control or choice over was political will. If “someone” wanted a camera often there wasn’t much I could do about it. Unfortunately this is still the case for a lot that happens on the roads of this country and if anything is getting worse.
We are just there to do what we are told, we can advise but at the end of the day if someone high enough up the chain wants something then it’s going to happen. So next time you see a camera or speed hump, don’t always blame us engineers!
Going to hide now!
Thank you for your clarification of how these limits are being set. Not really a surprise that the final decision and in many cases the initial impulse to any restriction isn't made by educated professionals, but more likely by political prostitutes.Now I can honestly hold my hands up and say when choosing a site for them I always used the correct criteria and rationale, i.e. 85 percentile speeds, no. of accidents in set years etc. I would always fight locations I didn’t think were appropriate and do the upmost within my control to make sure they were sited correctly.
What I didn’t have any control or choice over was political will. If “someone” wanted a camera often there wasn’t much I could do about it. Unfortunately this is still the case for a lot that happens on the roads of this country and if anything is getting worse.
We are just there to do what we are told, we can advise but at the end of the day if someone high enough up the chain wants something then it’s going to happen. So next time you see a camera or speed hump, don’t always blame us engineers!
Going to hide now!
I went through the 4 lane secion of the M1 today contolled by gantry speed cameras and limit variable signs. It was the most dangerous driving conditions I have experienced in the last 6 months. The visiblity was perfect,the traffic was light and then the signs flashed 60. I was doing this speed so no problem, I was in the 3rd lane, the 2nd lane was free for me as I had just completed an overtaking manouver past a lorry so I moved in. The next set of ganty lights flashed on at 40 amd it was mayhem. I had to slow as I was doing 55 on approach. I could see in the mirror other drivers aproaching from the last set of gantry lights. They were all braking and trying to move in to get out of the way of the peolple doing 60 behind. A 20mph drop in these circumstances was dangerous. The traffic just bunched up at the 40. Immediatly afterwards there was no hold up or traffic or any incident. I was very concerned by the poor traffic management in this case. Those lights and cameras are supposed to improve safety and trafic flow. In my experience(I go through every day since they were put up)they do not do this, their gross mismanagement and inapropiate use causes confusion and danger. I have seen inumerable near misses going throught this section. One of the most common being inexperienced driver in all lanes suddenly braking as they go under the gantry (even when unlit) the car behind doing maybe only an indicted 73 mph suddenly finds a car in front braking hard for no reason. There does not appear to be any accountability for mismangement of these matrix signs and the public has to put up with the consequences. It would not suprise me to find that serious accidents are caused by the poor use of these cameras and signs and no one is taken to task over the role of the poor signage we are forced into obeying.
Zumbruk said:
That's what cruise control is for.
Actually no ... that's what speed limiters are for (just been using my workmates Merc with one and that's the baby you need).Driving through average speed cameras on cruise control is dangerous as you see people doggedly sticking to their cruise controls and getting dangerously close to other drivers ... a speed limiter stops you exceeding the speed accidentally, allows you to do so if you actually want to but allows you the control to drive safely in traffic that does vary in speed throughout the SPECS sections.
Phil
Bassfiend said:
Zumbruk said:
That's what cruise control is for.
Actually no ... that's what speed limiters are for (just been using my workmates Merc with one and that's the baby you need).Driving through average speed cameras on cruise control is dangerous as you see people doggedly sticking to their cruise controls and getting dangerously close to other drivers ... a speed limiter stops you exceeding the speed accidentally, allows you to do so if you actually want to but allows you the control to drive safely in traffic that does vary in speed throughout the SPECS sections.
Phil
There was a craze in my area of stuffing chemical metal in the locks on the Gatsos, making life very difficult for the chap who had to unload and replenish the film.
I got caught by a fixed Gatso earlier in the year. First time I've ever been so much as pulled over in 20 years of driving. 35 in a 30, about 100 yds from a limit increase to 40 mph. Did a speed awareness course and kept a clean license.
I got caught by a fixed Gatso earlier in the year. First time I've ever been so much as pulled over in 20 years of driving. 35 in a 30, about 100 yds from a limit increase to 40 mph. Did a speed awareness course and kept a clean license.
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