Inside a Camera Van
Discussion
profiler said: Did you ask the guy how many drunk, drugged, uninsured drivers he'd caught that day. How many vehicles passed unhindered with defective tyres, no MOT, etc...
And what woulfd the point of that have been?
It is not his job to deal with such offences or offenders. He is employed to reduce the problem which nationally damages more people than other offences if offenders are unlucky whilst committing it. there is no doubt that to hit something hard causes more damage than to hit it softly. It is a fact of Physics, something to do with Newtons laws of motion if I remember correctly
I accept that other offences such as the ones you are suggesting are serious and they are being targetted especially with the use of ANPR for insurance linked into the national insurance database and targetted patrols for known drink drivers/areas of prevalent behaviour.
Tyres and other vehicle defects require vehicles to be slowed considerably or in fact even stopped for examination. This leads to large traffic build up and those that are aware of and guilty of such offences and the checks often turn off before they get through them. They also require lots of staff to facilitate the checks and deal with offences found.
Dealing with a defective tyre requires measuring the particular defect and obtaining the serial numbers and other relevant information relating to the make and size of the tyre. It can take a good few minutes to sort out properly.
To do regular checks for vehicle defects would soon have large numbers of motorists complaining about the amount of time they had to spend in a traffic queue.
Still at least they would not be committing an offence of excess speed in the process
madcop said:.
The operator told me that all they were interested in doing was slowing people down in built up areas. He is not on any performance target and would prefer it if everybody did not pass his van at in excess of the permitted limit for that area.
That's nice to hear.
They have indeed succeeded in slowing many people down by making regular occurrances, I just wish they wouldn't look like they're hiding sometimes! An example of where they have reduced the average speed is Marlow Hill, the A404 uphill out of High Wycombe. Most people crawl up the 30mph part of the hill now.
mudcap said the use of ANPR for insurance linked into the national insurance database
So how will that work when brokers issue a cover note and the policy/certificate don't come through for another six months?
And tax discs purchased at a post office take up to two weeks to get onto the DVLA computer?
I feel an admin nightmare coming on.........
Hi, Madcop, cheers for the post. It is very informative. 
I thought they weren't allowed to operate lasers in the rain due to false reading from laser reflection/refraction from raindrops.
Whether or not they're allowed to I guess in this instance people were getting tickets in the rain.
If I recall correctly they don't use lasers on the continent when its raining. Maybe JMSG can back me up here.
Not that I'd be speeding if its wet, my cars wet weather handling is attrocious. I was caught in a rainstorm last night on the motorway and I think its the first time I've ever driven along that stretch of road under the speed limit. It was that bad.
Andy
madcop said:It was raining hard at the time and the traffic was reasonably busy
I thought they weren't allowed to operate lasers in the rain due to false reading from laser reflection/refraction from raindrops.
Whether or not they're allowed to I guess in this instance people were getting tickets in the rain.
If I recall correctly they don't use lasers on the continent when its raining. Maybe JMSG can back me up here.
Not that I'd be speeding if its wet, my cars wet weather handling is attrocious. I was caught in a rainstorm last night on the motorway and I think its the first time I've ever driven along that stretch of road under the speed limit. It was that bad.
Andy
andytk said:
I thought they weren't allowed to operate lasers in the rain due to false reading from laser reflection/refraction from raindrops.
Whether or not they're allowed to I guess in this instance people were getting tickets in the rain.
There is no reason according to the operator to not use the device in the rain. The weather conditions are noted down on the log sheet the operator fills in when he sets the van up. they are also added to the pro-forma statement that he fills in if he is required to support the video evidence for a court hearing.
Rain would appear not to compromise the device. The rain could be clearly seen o the video monitor attached to the laser device.
If I recall correctly they don't use lasers on the continent when its raining. Maybe JMSG can back me up here.
That may well be the case, but not apparently in this country.
Not that I'd be speeding if its wet, my cars wet weather handling is attrocious. I was caught in a rainstorm last night on the motorway and I think its the first time I've ever driven along that stretch of road under the speed limit. It was that bad.
Andy
Very sensible.
interesting stuff...... What would make it REALLY interesting (IMO) would be if you could go back and experiment with a variety of road signs before, during and after the positioning of the tallivan - which were then tied into the 'average number' of people exceeding the threshold.
For instance.... adding a 'high accident area beware' style sign and nothing else...then adding a bit of coloured floor, or a 'small people crossing, be more accurate' sign etc.....
I want to know what 'speed awareness measures' actually DO have an effect, if anything.
I know a lot of people will say "well if they couldnt see the gatso, big marked vans and flashes of light then why woudl they see this", but then that woudl be the intrest! Especially if you could then correlate it into 'locals vs visiting' numbers.
N
For instance.... adding a 'high accident area beware' style sign and nothing else...then adding a bit of coloured floor, or a 'small people crossing, be more accurate' sign etc.....
I want to know what 'speed awareness measures' actually DO have an effect, if anything.
I know a lot of people will say "well if they couldnt see the gatso, big marked vans and flashes of light then why woudl they see this", but then that woudl be the intrest! Especially if you could then correlate it into 'locals vs visiting' numbers.
N
madcop said:
andytk said:
I thought they weren't allowed to operate lasers in the rain due to false reading from laser reflection/refraction from raindrops.
There is no reason according to the operator to not use the device in the rain. The weather conditions are noted down on the log sheet the operator fills in when he sets the van up. they are also added to the pro-forma statement that he fills in if he is required to support the video evidence for a court hearing.
Rain would appear not to compromise the device.
VERY interesting point as airborne perecipitation/moisture does affect the wavelength of the beam................
llamekcuf said: Very informative post Mc.
I think the idea of placing the van by the camera is to target those who slow down for it then speed up immediately after, which is what they have been doing with the vans in my local area.
I suppose its fairly decent that they were also giving an almost 10mph chance to "speeders" in the area as well.
If anyone did get caught, I'd say they had a pretty fair chance. A Gatso, then a van a short distance away from it, hardly rocket science to control your speed around these areas is it?
There is a road near me where they park a police van with a laser/camera in the back just after a speed camera. I think however that they are actually trying to target the drivers who approach the fixed camera at speed and brake at the last moment. With the range of the camera van the driver would have been caught well before the fixed camera.
It is a standard marked police people carrier type, but the doors are open at the back so it is difficult to see whats inside until you are close. They have a small non-reflective black and white speed camera sign which they prop against the tow bar so spotting them from their maximum range is not that easy.
PS Thanks for posting this info MC
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