RE: Gatsos generate £20 million 'stealth tax'
Discussion
I think some speed limits are set lower than the road location requires. I can accept restrictions in built up areas, around housing estates, schools etc., but many councils now seem to have gone mad with 40 MPH or 30 MPH restrictions on roads that are had sensible 60 MPH restrictions before.
If you're unfamiliar with an area it's only too easy to drive to what you believe to be safe not realising the lower limit is in place. These are surely the places where speed cameras will really catch the motorist out!
If you're unfamiliar with an area it's only too easy to drive to what you believe to be safe not realising the lower limit is in place. These are surely the places where speed cameras will really catch the motorist out!
s a m said:
Sod iraq, we are at war with our own government.
Hahahaha - you've just realised that this is the real war? Congratulations, and welcome to 1984.
The only way to win this war is Ghandi tactics (non co-operation - i.e. contesting fines etc) and to stand for offices ourselves. After all technically we hand over the keys of the asylum ourselves.....
This always amazes me when only the residual sums are used i.e. the £20m. The reality is that the government are saving much more through not having to provide funds to the local councils for the services they would otherwise have to fund. There are mags courts being refurbished, new council buildings going up all in the name of self-financed camera partnerships.
johnsam said:
Let's remember too that the insurance companies also make a fortune out of speed cameras albeit indirectly.
Everone who has speeding points as a result of scameras will, if they are honest enough to have informed their insurers, find that are penalised with increased premiums for years after the event. I certainly have been.
Not out of me - got 6 points and they dropped my premium by 55 quid !!
Said it made me a more "dutiful driver"!!!
thirsty said:
Speed Cameras have nothing to do with safety, and everything to do about making money.
They DO have something to do with safety and the DO go some way to making the roads safer.
They do however, detract from policing, they are situated in poor places at times and the area cheap way to police the roads.
MORE TRAFPOL NEEDED
Streetcop said:
Speed Cameras have nothing to do with safety, and everything to do about making money.
They DO have something to do with safety and the DO go some way to making the roads safer.
...and I'm the queen of Sheba. There are as far as I can tell no credible figures to demonstrate this.
Streetcop said:
Speed Cameras have nothing to do with safety, and everything to do about making money.
They DO have something to do with safety and the DO go some way to making the roads safer.
They do however, detract from policing, they are situated in poor places at times and the area cheap way to police the roads.
MORE TRAFPOL NEEDED
Not in Norfolk they don't. They are almost always on the very few dual carriageways we have.
A few accountable cameras in appropriate places, yes, but we don't get this, do we ?
What we get is a self perpetuating bureaucracy, whose sole interest is self preservation, budgets and staffing.
Put me right if im wrong... but i seem to remember that the govenment take a percentage of your insurance premium as some sort of tax. Therefore if you get fined for speeding and your premium goes up means the govenment gets more cash out of you for that speeding offence.
Also...(set me off now) we have a road that has been a 60mph since i can remember(driving down it for 25years) - then a camera arrived, the limit stayed at 60mph, for a while, then got reduced to 50mph. That camera had a field day snap.. snap.. snap.. I have no motoring reason why they did this!
Also...(set me off now) we have a road that has been a 60mph since i can remember(driving down it for 25years) - then a camera arrived, the limit stayed at 60mph, for a while, then got reduced to 50mph. That camera had a field day snap.. snap.. snap.. I have no motoring reason why they did this!
les turner said:
If you're unfamiliar with an area it's only too easy to drive to what you believe to be safe not realising the lower limit is in place. These are surely the places where speed cameras will really catch the motorist out!
You're spot on there Les. Whenever I've been driving somewhere I don't know I'm too busy concentrating on where I'm going and what's happening on the road around me to keep checking my speedo - and I'm driving safer for doing so! The signs that flash up telling you that you're speeding are far more effective than a fine dropping on your doormat two weeks later!
les turner said:
If you're unfamiliar with an area it's only too easy to drive to what you believe to be safe not realising the lower limit is in place. These are surely the places where speed cameras will really catch the motorist out!
But surely if you're in an unfamiliar area you should be driving more cautiously anyway? The default speed limit in a built-up area is 30mph, so you simply need to assume that unless you're told otherwise. Then you won't get caught out.
>> Edited by m0thr4 on Friday 4th February 09:13
crazydave said:
You're spot on there Les. Whenever I've been driving somewhere I don't know I'm too busy concentrating on where I'm going and what's happening on the road around me to keep checking my speedo - and I'm driving safer for doing so!
A good (and therefore safe) driver can do all of that AND check his/her speedo. Is driving really so much hard work for you?
m0thr4 said:
You're spot on there Les. Whenever I've been driving somewhere I don't know I'm too busy concentrating on where I'm going and what's happening on the road around me to keep checking my speedo - and I'm driving safer for doing so!
A good (and therefore safe) driver can do all of that AND check his/her speedo. Is driving really so much hard work for you?
Fool. It's not willfull speeding or excessive speeding we're referring to. Just being a couple of mph over the limit is enough to get caught. What's better? Concentrating on exactly what you're doing or staring at your speedo? The most effective form of stopping the majority of people speeding is clear indication that they are slightly over the legal limit.
Double Play said:
What a load of onanistic control freaks we have in public office.
What a load of onanistic speed freaks we have on this topic. I think you people need to chill out a little. There are plently of places where you can drive your car fast. I've been driving for 16 years and never once had an endorsement despite repeatedly driving over the speed limit. I'm not sure how you all manage to get caught out - perhaps you're not concentrating hard enough or something.
m0thr4 said:
If you're unfamiliar with an area it's only too easy to drive to what you believe to be safe not realising the lower limit is in place. These are surely the places where speed cameras will really catch the motorist out!
But surely if you're in an unfamiliar area you should be driving more cautiously anyway? The default speed limit in a built-up area is 30mph, so you simply need to assume that unless you're told otherwise. Then you won't get caught out.
>> Edited by m0thr4 on Friday 4th February 09:13
How about the dual carriageways that have poor signs yet the limit has been reduced to 40 where the previous day it was national limit and a scamera is hidden behind a sign? Are you going to dawdle along at 25mph everywhere you go?
crazydave said:
Fool. It's not willfull speeding or excessive speeding we're referring to. Just being a couple of mph over the limit is enough to get caught.
...which to me suggests a lack of concentration to your driving. Anyway, it's never just a couple of miles over the speed limit is it - it's normally 35mph in a 30 zone which is 16% over.
crazydave said:
What's better? Concentrating on exactly what you're doing or staring at your speedo?
Anyone who can't do both shouldn't be driving.
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