Speed camera vandal strikes again
Discussion
Silver paint man is back!
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/159/159042_speed_camera_vandal_strikes_again.html
Speed camera vandal strikes again
James Ferguson
A VANDAL with a grudge against speed cameras has struck again in their costly one-man war.
Officers are determined to catch what is believed to be a single motorist seeking revenge after being convicted by evidence from the speed traps.
The latest target was a camera in Featherstall Road, which has been repeatedly vandalised over the past six months.
The camera was installed because of nine crashes in which two people were seriously injured, one of them a child, in the last three years.
In the attack at the weekend, silver paint was sprayed across the lens so it can no longer take pictures, and the word “dummy” scrawled on the casing. It also appeared to have been peppered with an air rifle.
The cameras are owned and operated by Drivesafe, which spends £250,000 on installing and maintaining them every year.
Spokesman Claire Wightman said: “The police are made aware of every act of vandalism on every speed camera. They warn that criminal damage, especially when it endangers the lives of innocent members of the public, is punishable by imprisonment.”
The Advertiser revealed last month how the camera, and one in Manchester Road, are being systematically vandalised – apparently by the same person.
As soon as engineers repair the speed traps, the mystery attacker strikes again. Each time the same method of attack is used, spraying silver paint across the lens so it cannot catch drivers breaking the 30mph limit.
Anyone photographed driving too fast is hit with a fine of at least £60 and has three points on their license. More points and a bigger fine is imposed if the limit is broken by more than 25mph.
Each camera costs £20,000 and each one in Greater Manchester caught an average of 207 speeding drivers last year.
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/159/159042_speed_camera_vandal_strikes_again.html
Speed camera vandal strikes again
James Ferguson
A VANDAL with a grudge against speed cameras has struck again in their costly one-man war.
Officers are determined to catch what is believed to be a single motorist seeking revenge after being convicted by evidence from the speed traps.
The latest target was a camera in Featherstall Road, which has been repeatedly vandalised over the past six months.
The camera was installed because of nine crashes in which two people were seriously injured, one of them a child, in the last three years.
In the attack at the weekend, silver paint was sprayed across the lens so it can no longer take pictures, and the word “dummy” scrawled on the casing. It also appeared to have been peppered with an air rifle.
The cameras are owned and operated by Drivesafe, which spends £250,000 on installing and maintaining them every year.
Spokesman Claire Wightman said: “The police are made aware of every act of vandalism on every speed camera. They warn that criminal damage, especially when it endangers the lives of innocent members of the public, is punishable by imprisonment.”
The Advertiser revealed last month how the camera, and one in Manchester Road, are being systematically vandalised – apparently by the same person.
As soon as engineers repair the speed traps, the mystery attacker strikes again. Each time the same method of attack is used, spraying silver paint across the lens so it cannot catch drivers breaking the 30mph limit.
Anyone photographed driving too fast is hit with a fine of at least £60 and has three points on their license. More points and a bigger fine is imposed if the limit is broken by more than 25mph.
Each camera costs £20,000 and each one in Greater Manchester caught an average of 207 speeding drivers last year.
Unfortunately morons like this give people like us (who want a sensible approach to road safety) a reputation of being speed-crazy as the "safety" groups like Brake inevitably link us for their own political gain.
>> Edited by Jewhoo on Friday 27th May 14:57 Why can't i make other smilies work?
>> Edited by Jewhoo on Friday 27th May 14:58
cliffe_mafia said:
The camera was installed because of nine crashes in which two people were seriously injured, one of them a child, in the last three years.
OMG, two people hurt in three years
So it was actually pretty well safe there in the first place then 
Won't somebody think of the revenuecliffe_mafia said:
Spokesman Claire Wightman said: “The police are made aware of every act of vandalism on every speed camera. They warn that criminal damage, especially when it endangers the lives of innocent members of the public, is punishable by imprisonment.”
This is what I find so f
king distasteful and nazi stylee heavy-handedness. They're willing to bang up a disgruntled MOP who most likely has 99% public support yet do pi$$ all about the serial thugs who make life a misery for loads of 'normal' people who dare have the temerity to walk into a town centre of a weekend for a few bevvys with their mates. Just who is the greater threat to er 'life' in this instance?
BASTARDS 
Jewhoo said:
Unfortunately morons like this give people like us (who want a sensible approach to road safety) a reputation of being speed-crazy as the "safety" groups like Brake inevitably link us for their own political gain.
>> Edited by Jewhoo on Friday 27th May 14:57 Why can't i make other smilies work?
>> Edited by Jewhoo on Friday 27th May 14:58
The partnerships spin budgets are too big to win the rational debate. If everyone caught resulted to direct action like this the pratnerships wouldn't last long.
Jewhoo said:
Unfortunately morons like this give people like us (who want a sensible approach to road safety) a reputation of being speed-crazy as the "safety" groups like Brake inevitably link us for their own political gain.
>> Edited by Jewhoo on Friday 27th May 14:57 Why can't i make other smilies work?
>> Edited by Jewhoo on Friday 27th May 14:58
And fortunately, the same 'morons' are making it harder for the camera partnerships to make money.
Good luck to the man, if only there were more like him.
Two people serously injured, one of them a child - so someone broke a toenail while a kid was kept in overnight for observation then. And?
Not only Stasi-style standover thuggery from Mr Shiny Pants desk jockey, but the shameful abuse of statistics. Nothing new there then.
With SI already mired in disrepute you'd think they'd learn. Are they now only speaking to each other, like the politicos?
Not only Stasi-style standover thuggery from Mr Shiny Pants desk jockey, but the shameful abuse of statistics. Nothing new there then.
With SI already mired in disrepute you'd think they'd learn. Are they now only speaking to each other, like the politicos?
How the hell can spraying over the lens of a c£mera "endanger the public"? What a bl00dy stupid hysterical comment.
So they think it must be someone who has been snapped by a camera do they?
Oh, well the authorities only need to look for the following profile:
normal citizen probably with no accidents but with points on licence. That narrows it down to one of about 700,000 people.
So they think it must be someone who has been snapped by a camera do they?
Oh, well the authorities only need to look for the following profile:
normal citizen probably with no accidents but with points on licence. That narrows it down to one of about 700,000 people.
Jewhoo said:
james_j said:
How the hell can spraying over the lens of a c£mera "endanger the public"?
Because speed cameras save lives, and if they can't catch speeders, then they can't save lives, isn't it obvious?
I have yet to see a SPEED Camera jump out and snatch a person up from the front of a speeding car
. Atb Derek. >> Edited by winnebago nut on Friday 27th May 18:02
Bollocks.
"Featherstall Road" as far as I can discover, is actually the A58. This is one of the two roads over the Pennines from Manchester to Leeds (roughly), the other being the A62. It is a fairly major road.
9 accidents, 2 of them being serious in 3 years is a pretty good safety record.
"Featherstall Road" as far as I can discover, is actually the A58. This is one of the two roads over the Pennines from Manchester to Leeds (roughly), the other being the A62. It is a fairly major road.
9 accidents, 2 of them being serious in 3 years is a pretty good safety record.
deltafox said:
Jewhoo said:
james_j said:
How the hell can spraying over the lens of a c£mera "endanger the public"?
Because speed cameras save lives, and if they can't catch speeders, then they can't save lives, isn't it obvious?
Nearly got me going there....you little tinker!
He got me tho
. Now waiting for the ground to open up. Atb Derek. >> Edited by winnebago nut on Friday 27th May 21:27
cliffe_mafia said:
Silver paint man is back!
www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/159/159042_speed_camera_vandal_strikes_again.html
Spokesman Claire Wightman said: “The police are made aware of every act of vandalism on every speed camera. They warn that criminal damage, especially when it endangers the lives of innocent members of the public, is punishable by imprisonment.”
It is almost worth getting caught for that. Is the SCP really going to step into a caught and prove that the camera is saving lives? With plenty of surveys saying they don't, deaths going up, and a jury of 12 accident free motorists with 9 points on their license - losing will spell the end for SCP.
No - they are not going to be going for that card
winnebago nut said:
Jewhoo said:
james_j said:
How the hell can spraying over the lens of a c£mera "endanger the public"?
Because speed cameras save lives, and if they can't catch speeders, then they can't save lives, isn't it obvious?
Nearly got me going there....you little tinker!
He got me tho
>> Edited by winnebago nut on Friday 27th May 21:27
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