GPS devices to remain legal
Minister emerges as scamera device user
GPS-based Talex
And during the second reading of the Road Safety Bill in the Commons last week, transport minister Stephen Ladyman admitted that he used a GPS speed camera warning system in his car, ading weight to the announcement.
When asked in Parliament to clarify that the systems will remain fully legal, Ladyman said that devices which use satellite technology "will continue to be perfectly legal. I have one myself."
Speed camera warning device maker Talex was swift to jump on the speech. "Drivers will welcome this clarification," said the company's Nigel Carter. "Our research has shown that there is considerable confusion over the legality of systems that use global positioning satellite technology as opposed to speed camera ‘detection’ devices that the Road Safety Bill seeks to outlaw. The fact that the transport minister is using a GPS system to stay within the law and protect his licence sends a clear message that these systems are acceptable and will remain legal."
GPS speed camera warning systems use satellite technology to pinpoint exactly where your vehicle is on the road. The vehicle’s position is constantly compared with the system’s database of speed camera locations and the driver is warned of a camera’s proximity and the appropriate speed limit.
Speed camera and laser detection systems on the other hand, do not use GPS technology or databases of known camera locations. They simply detect some types of speed camera and although currently allowed, there is general cross-party consensus that the Road Safety Bill should make the use of these devices illegal.
"Drivers need to be careful before spending - in some cases - a great deal of money," said Carter. "They should be absolutely sure that they purchase a GPS speed camera warning system if they want to stay completely legal in the future, and they should check that the system does not include a laser detector."
GPS detectors couldn't be banned even if they wanted to as they are just relaying information to the driver that is already in the public domain. All speed camera partnerships have to publish camera locations.
Oh sorry I forgot, they have to still fleece some drivers for there hard earned cash.
THATS A LABOUR TOSSER GOVERNMENT FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
If you want to warn of an accident blackspot, put up a sign. Better still, engineer it out. Or try educating drivers what a blackspot may look like.
Sunday before last I was driving out of London on the A13, 6pm-ish, clear and dry weather, and very light traffic across 3/4 lanes of brand new dual carraigeway. The road is littered with these cameras, and not being familiar with where they are I switched on the cruise control and concentrated on my driving. However the number of cars that came speeding past me, braking for the cameras, then accelerating away after the last marking on the tarmac was huge. It just proved how pointless speed cameras are. You can't tell me that the few metres monitored by camera are that much safer because someone has been forced to slow temporarily. And that from the point of the last calibration marking onwards that the road is safer due to a short reduction of speed previously.
Equally I could tell that the speed that the vehicles passing me were doing was in no way endangering anyone, even when the limit is set at a low 30/40mph for most of the journey out of London. I recognise that road and traffic conditions change, but unfortunately camera enforcement doesn't take this into account, and the enforced, intermittent braking by drivers making safe progress on a clear road can only make things worse.
Saying that GPS detectors are good because they warn people to "take more care" (read that as "slow down"
at black spots is almost giving approval to exceed speed limits elsewhere, and condones and encourages the type of hard braking we see at camera sites. Surely a GPS detector should just give a warning any time a car is moving on a public road, if it is to encourage compliance to the law. I suspect the only people caught by these cameras are the ones that make the foolish mistake of actually looking at the road, rather than watching out for a box on a pole and looking at the speedo, and marginally drift over the limit at the wrong time. Oh, and the wreckless idiot who is drunk/un-registered/uninsured, and so won't get caught anyway.
"a device the purpose, or one of the purposes, of which is to detect, or interfere with the operation of, equipment used to assess the speed of vehicles."
If they carry this through to the Act itself and make Reg to amend Co and Use Regs to ban then it looks as if those devices that not only show by GPS the position of cameras but signals from the camera itself will be a no - no
dvd
Some devices such as Snooper and Road Angel's have the ability to deactivate the laser recognition system
I assume that an "upgrade" or downgrade depending on your view point, would be made available.
Of course the law still has to go through
Einion Yrth said:Does this make my speedometer and trip computer illegal?
Under Road Safety Bill a speed assessment equipment device is defined as:
"a device the purpose, or one of the purposes, of which is to detect,[...], equipment used to assess the speed of vehicles."
They want to make my eyes illegal? Cor luv a duck.
Al 450 said:
Apparently GPS detectors with laser/radar detection also will be ok as long as the detection mode is switchable. Somebody at Snooper told me that when I bought my S4 Neo.
GPS detectors couldn't be banned even if they wanted to as they are just relaying information to the driver that is already in the public domain. All speed camera partnerships have to publish camera locations.
Speed scamera pratnerships use mobile speed traps, the location of which are not generally not in GPS databases IIRC. Road Angel told me some time ago they do not include sites used by mobiles.
Tafia said:
Apparently GPS detectors with laser/radar detection also will be ok as long as the detection mode is switchable. Somebody at Snooper told me that when I bought my S4 Neo.
GPS detectors couldn't be banned even if they wanted to as they are just relaying information to the driver that is already in the public domain. All speed camera partnerships have to publish camera locations.
Speed scamera pratnerships use mobile speed traps, the location of which are not generally not in GPS databases IIRC. Road Angel told me some time ago they do not include sites used by mobiles.
Certainly in Warwickshire the mobiles are only allowed to park in 'approved' locations, all of which are published on the scamera website. One of the reasons I got a Snooper as these are all on the Snooper database.
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