Scameras lurk on remote roads

Scots cops use bikes to nab you

By PH Staff / Wednesday, 31 May 2006 / Loading comments

Spot the police bike

Fancy a hoon round some fun roads in the remoter bits of Scotland? Well, watch out for a police bike lurking in the bushes.

News has reached our ears that Lothian and Borders Police has set up a bike with -- believe it or not -- a VHS videotape-based system that can measure vehicle speeds. According to a police spokesman, the new system uses "more advanced technology than fixed speed cameras."

Trouble is, there's no flash, so you won't know you've been nabbed until the NIP arrives in the post. Alternatively, you could just drive at night...

The local force is using bikes because the normal camera vans are too bulky to fit down some of Scotland's narrower and more remote roads.

Paul Smith, founder of road safety campaign Safe Speed, said: "There is certainly a civil liberty issue about this new technology. But, more importantly, it's just another addition to a road safety policy that is clearly failing. What we want to see is road deaths going down and that is exactly what we are not seeing.

"We should be focusing resources not on enforcing rules but on strengthening driver skills, attitudes and responsibility."