Clarkson on cameras - does he have a point?
Discussion
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2798103/yo...
mail said:
Writing in his column for The Sun last month, Clarkson moaned about the number of speed cameras he passed while on the long drive to London in a BMW M3.
He added: 'And it gets worse because when the roadworks finally ended, I found myself on a stretch where there are speed-camera gantries every few hundred yards, to catch those who are desperate to make up for lost time.'
It seems that despite taking note of the cameras, Clarkson did not slow down enough.
Today he complained that the cameras had caught him, handing him his first points since the 1980s.
He wrote: 'Last month, I wrote in a blind fury about how many speed cameras I'd encountered on a drive from Whitby to London.
'Well, it seems one of them got me. Sadly, I was going too quickly for the speed awareness course to be an option. Which means I'm getting some points on my licence. My first in 30 years. Grrrrr.'
He was told he was driving too quickly to attend a speed awareness course and was given points on his licence.
Most police forces allow speeding drivers to take the course if they were caught travelling less than five per cent over the speed limit, plus an additional 9mph.
In a 50mph speed limit zone, such as the ones Clarkson had been driving in, motorists can be caught driving at speeds of up to 64mph and be offered the course instead of taking points.
Looks like he reached 65 where they extended the limit after the roadworks. It might catch quite a few.He added: 'And it gets worse because when the roadworks finally ended, I found myself on a stretch where there are speed-camera gantries every few hundred yards, to catch those who are desperate to make up for lost time.'
It seems that despite taking note of the cameras, Clarkson did not slow down enough.
Today he complained that the cameras had caught him, handing him his first points since the 1980s.
He wrote: 'Last month, I wrote in a blind fury about how many speed cameras I'd encountered on a drive from Whitby to London.
'Well, it seems one of them got me. Sadly, I was going too quickly for the speed awareness course to be an option. Which means I'm getting some points on my licence. My first in 30 years. Grrrrr.'
He was told he was driving too quickly to attend a speed awareness course and was given points on his licence.
Most police forces allow speeding drivers to take the course if they were caught travelling less than five per cent over the speed limit, plus an additional 9mph.
In a 50mph speed limit zone, such as the ones Clarkson had been driving in, motorists can be caught driving at speeds of up to 64mph and be offered the course instead of taking points.
Edited by saaby93 on Sunday 19th October 08:40
There are too many cameras not just speed ones. The problem is that an awful lot of politicians time is spent on the problem of speed. I think by now everyone has forgotten exactly what is the problem that they're trying to solve. Road deaths will always exist as long as humans will be driving. If the idea is to have better stats than everyone else then that's been accomplished. Or they don't trust people to make judgements behind the wheel in which case better training is required.
Interesting that on the autobahn not that many people do very high speeds. They're not free of accidents either and the Germans are very efficient to deal with them but still was like an hour wait.
If the roads are top congested and is a way of managing traffic then introduce tolls and lower train costs.
Interesting that on the autobahn not that many people do very high speeds. They're not free of accidents either and the Germans are very efficient to deal with them but still was like an hour wait.
If the roads are top congested and is a way of managing traffic then introduce tolls and lower train costs.
The older I get the more I think better motoring education could be a big help. People are so out of their depth with just driving a car that handling congestion, 3 (or increasingly 4) lanes, on and off ramps, variable speed limits, lorries, speeding cars, changeable weather conditions, changing light conditions, road works, distractions in the vehicle (other people, radio, phones) is too much to handle.
If people could learn to give themselves a chance to react accordingly the motorway would probably be a safer place that flows more freely.
Or not.
If people could learn to give themselves a chance to react accordingly the motorway would probably be a safer place that flows more freely.
Or not.
Speeding (as long as not lunatic speeds) pails into insignificance compared to texting, emailing, playing games, updating Facebook, wearing headphones, hoodies, playing Candy Crush etc etc etc.
Unfortunately only speeding has an easy 'fix'.
The sooner self driving cars are available for those that can't/won't, the better.
Unfortunately only speeding has an easy 'fix'.
The sooner self driving cars are available for those that can't/won't, the better.
A few years ago when speed cameras first started sprouting up around my home town a friend of my grandma was caught by one on a downhill section of a fairly wide 30mph road, the sort where plenty of people do creep over 30mph because of the lack of close proximity of anything at the roadside. The camera being on a downhill stretch means you have to keep your foot on your brake pedal to keep to the limit.
She was such a slow and timid driver she would turn right from the inside lane of multi lane junctions, across the path of people going straight on from the overtaking lanes, because she was too scared of the "fast" drivers who used overtaking lanes to enter the right hand lane.
All speed cameras do is catch out the unaware and whilst lack of awareness is a problem it isn't speed cameras people should be looking out for, it's actual hazards. Drive on a managed motorway and people will gun it between gantries and brake as they pass under them, at least a lot of the people I witness do. Either that or they straddle the lanes when they see the cross hatchings on the road surface marking where cameras are. They don't smooth out people's speed which is what they supposedly aim to do.
She was such a slow and timid driver she would turn right from the inside lane of multi lane junctions, across the path of people going straight on from the overtaking lanes, because she was too scared of the "fast" drivers who used overtaking lanes to enter the right hand lane.
All speed cameras do is catch out the unaware and whilst lack of awareness is a problem it isn't speed cameras people should be looking out for, it's actual hazards. Drive on a managed motorway and people will gun it between gantries and brake as they pass under them, at least a lot of the people I witness do. Either that or they straddle the lanes when they see the cross hatchings on the road surface marking where cameras are. They don't smooth out people's speed which is what they supposedly aim to do.
Too many cameras and just generally ineffective unless they're the average type, but those are generally only used to police 50 zones through road works it seems.
All they do is make people slow down within the small 10-15 meter area that the camera covers.
Even the average ones seem to make little sense, I often see people flying by at least 70mph in the 50 zones and I don't mean those joining at junctions and getting a leap ahead before they slow to 50. They do wonders but fuel consumption, pollution and road noise no doubt but they seem to be all over the place and the work they're surrounding is seemingly slow or at a stand still.
Just easy money makers that can provide an overly statistics based police force with even more statistics to attempt to show they're doing good work.
Also as above all these things do is detract from you concentrating on what's in front of your car and on the road as you drive around constantly checking your speedo.
All they do is make people slow down within the small 10-15 meter area that the camera covers.
Even the average ones seem to make little sense, I often see people flying by at least 70mph in the 50 zones and I don't mean those joining at junctions and getting a leap ahead before they slow to 50. They do wonders but fuel consumption, pollution and road noise no doubt but they seem to be all over the place and the work they're surrounding is seemingly slow or at a stand still.
Just easy money makers that can provide an overly statistics based police force with even more statistics to attempt to show they're doing good work.
Also as above all these things do is detract from you concentrating on what's in front of your car and on the road as you drive around constantly checking your speedo.
Edited by GrumpyTwig on Sunday 19th October 00:07
Average speed cameras face the front of your car so presumably don't affect motorcyclists. Someone may know better and say I'm wrong. They also weren't affecting a guy in a Mercedes on the M62 with trade plates on his dash and no plates on the car who was hooning through a 50mph roadworks section at well over 50mph. There's always aggression and tailgating through average speed camera sections with people vying over how accurate their speedometers are and how fast and loose they want to play with the amount of leeway the cameras give. It hardly makes for safe and relaxed motoring and there are usually high levels of collisions in average speed camera roadworks sections on motorways.
Blakewater said:
Average speed cameras face the front of your car so presumably don't affect motorcyclists. Someone may know better and say I'm wrong. They also weren't affecting a guy in a Mercedes on the M62 with trade plates on his dash and no plates on the car who was hooning through a 50mph roadworks section at well over 50mph. There's always aggression and tailgating through average speed camera sections with people vying over how accurate their speedometers are and how fast and loose they want to play with the amount of leeway the cameras give. It hardly makes for safe and relaxed motoring and there are usually high levels of collisions in average speed camera roadworks sections on motorways.
Driving a non UK registered car means average speed cameras are quite relaxing to drive through 
Ari said:
Speeding (as long as not lunatic speeds) pails into insignificance compared to texting, emailing, playing games, updating Facebook, wearing headphones, hoodies, playing Candy Crush etc etc etc.
Unfortunately only speeding has an easy 'fix'.
The sooner self driving cars are available for those that can't/won't, the better.
Other than the self driving cars bit, I agree with that you say, Continuous driver education is the way to go in my eyes. A drivers re assessment every five or ten years to take in account changes in road layouts etc. Unfortunately only speeding has an easy 'fix'.
The sooner self driving cars are available for those that can't/won't, the better.
I recently did a learners theory test online as a colleague is learning to drive, certainly was a good exercise.
Oh and I think need more police cars in the road.
I've been driving through them at an indicated 56 to 58 for years and never been notified, if I do fair enough, I assume my real speed will be nearer to 50. I don't understand the need for them, if you can legally drive at 60 on a country lane why can't you do 70 through roadworks on a motorway?
crostonian said:
I've been driving through them at an indicated 56 to 58 for years and never been notified, if I do fair enough, I assume my real speed will be nearer to 50. I don't understand the need for them, if you can legally drive at 60 on a country lane why can't you do 70 through roadworks on a motorway?
Because of the (admittedly mostly theoretical) workmen operating there and their need for a safe working environment?I like speeding as much as anyone else on here, but there is a time and a place for it, and roadworks aren't that place.
crostonian said:
if you can legally drive at 60 on a country lane why can't you do 70 through roadworks on a motorway?
A crash on a country lane might inconvenience tens of people whilst the aftermath is dealt with. A crash through roadworks might inconvenience hundreds to thousands of people. Do you think it's worth reducing the risk of inconveniencing thousands of people for the cost of increasing your journey by a few minutes?MrTrilby said:
A crash on a country lane might inconvenience tens of people whilst the aftermath is dealt with. A crash through roadworks might inconvenience hundreds to thousands of people. Do you think it's worth reducing the risk of inconveniencing thousands of people for the cost of increasing your journey by a few minutes?
Only from what I hear on the radio etc, but I'd wager a guess that more accidents happen in roadworks with speed limits enforced by scameras, than in those without scameras with or without speed limits .The non scamered ones always seem to flow free without bunching.
It would also be nice if the workers turned up from time to time.
CBR JGWRR said:
crostonian said:
I've been driving through them at an indicated 56 to 58 for years and never been notified, if I do fair enough, I assume my real speed will be nearer to 50. I don't understand the need for them, if you can legally drive at 60 on a country lane why can't you do 70 through roadworks on a motorway?
Because of the (admittedly mostly theoretical) workmen operating there and their need for a safe working environment?I like speeding as much as anyone else on here, but there is a time and a place for it, and roadworks aren't that place.
Are we as a nation just dumbing everything down and turning into brainwashed automatons??
maxdb said:
It might be time for him to invest in one of these https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgXRijF19IU
For only $350 that does seem quite good. Obviously totally illegal, but if you find another car same colour, same spec, same age, and used their plate and went about your day to day business, all be it speeding though some cameras; you'd probably never get picked up.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgXRijF19IUCBR JGWRR said:
crostonian said:
I've been driving through them at an indicated 56 to 58 for years and never been notified, if I do fair enough, I assume my real speed will be nearer to 50. I don't understand the need for them, if you can legally drive at 60 on a country lane why can't you do 70 through roadworks on a motorway?
Because of the (admittedly mostly theoretical) workmen operating there and their need for a safe working environment?I like speeding as much as anyone else on here, but there is a time and a place for it, and roadworks aren't that place.
Now they're making the M60 and M62 around Manchester smart motorway there's a 50mph limit round there with nothing happening apart from cones along the hard shoulder. When so many of the speed limit reductions are for nothing because they're set up along the whole length of a road including where nothing will begin for months it lulls people into thinking there's no real need to slow down. Then people carry on speeding when there are workmen there and accidents happen.
CBR JGWRR said:
crostonian said:
I've been driving through them at an indicated 56 to 58 for years and never been notified, if I do fair enough, I assume my real speed will be nearer to 50. I don't understand the need for them, if you can legally drive at 60 on a country lane why can't you do 70 through roadworks on a motorway?
Because of the (admittedly mostly theoretical) workmen operating there and their need for a safe working environment?I like speeding as much as anyone else on here, but there is a time and a place for it, and roadworks aren't that place.
Have you found any statistics a lower limit improves safety in roadworks?
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