kent and Medway
Discussion
Spent the weekend at Brands (the Wife was working, and I was freeloading!)
Spent quite a bit of time chatting to the speed camera unit from Kent and Medway about their van / policys etc.
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do, top marks for the sensible chat I had, they showed me their equipment (oer) and we also chatted about their policys etc.
Spent quite a bit of time chatting to the speed camera unit from Kent and Medway about their van / policys etc.
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do, top marks for the sensible chat I had, they showed me their equipment (oer) and we also chatted about their policys etc.
Yup I agree with you - I made a post about them maybe a year ago (I can't find it now) as I did a visit with my local IAM to their offices in Maidstone; was really interesting seeing all the equipment and meeting the people - as well as seeing them actually give the tickets (I must stress, it was people doing 50mph through a bright yellow gatso in a 30mph street I knew very well to be tiny and surrounded with houses).
My impression was that the people running it were very sensible and exceptionally aware of their hated stance but also their approach was very sensible indeed. I found that the guys actually out in the vans were the ones that did the most damage to the reputation.
My other impression of them as a camera partnership was that their promotional material is nowhere near as good as it could, and SHOULD be. It seems very much like they've come up with the slogans themselves - and as for having a snail as your logo?! COME ON!!!!! They certainly did NOT use a PR company for their marketing campaign which is a shame.
They have a great deal of opportunity to at least give the public better understanding and less cause for anger but unfortunately they don't seem to take it.
Having said all that, I really do agree (especially if it's the guys I was thinking of) they are genuinely nice blokes and very happy to discuss openly and frankly with you about camera policies.
Think, also, what sort of person it must take to man such a stand at a race meeting? Very brave, very willing, and certainly a better man than I!
My impression was that the people running it were very sensible and exceptionally aware of their hated stance but also their approach was very sensible indeed. I found that the guys actually out in the vans were the ones that did the most damage to the reputation.
My other impression of them as a camera partnership was that their promotional material is nowhere near as good as it could, and SHOULD be. It seems very much like they've come up with the slogans themselves - and as for having a snail as your logo?! COME ON!!!!! They certainly did NOT use a PR company for their marketing campaign which is a shame.
They have a great deal of opportunity to at least give the public better understanding and less cause for anger but unfortunately they don't seem to take it.
Having said all that, I really do agree (especially if it's the guys I was thinking of) they are genuinely nice blokes and very happy to discuss openly and frankly with you about camera policies.
Think, also, what sort of person it must take to man such a stand at a race meeting? Very brave, very willing, and certainly a better man than I!
jvaughan said:
Spent quite a bit of time chatting to the speed camera unit from Kent and Medway about their van / policys etc.
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do,
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do,
The road to hell...paved with good intentions...and scamera operators. I see them sat on motorway bridges most days, and the one thought I don't have is "what a nice bunch"!
jvaughan said:
Spent the weekend at Brands (the Wife was working, and I was freeloading!)
Spent quite a bit of time chatting to the speed camera unit from Kent and Medway about their van / policys etc.
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do, top marks for the sensible chat I had, they showed me their equipment (oer) and we also chatted about their policys etc.
Spent quite a bit of time chatting to the speed camera unit from Kent and Medway about their van / policys etc.
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do, top marks for the sensible chat I had, they showed me their equipment (oer) and we also chatted about their policys etc.
"A nice bunch of lads"??????
What the hell is wrong with you people?: the actions of the operators of this equipment frequently results in you losing your licence.
The actions of the operators of this equipment frequently make collosal errors and the equipment BY DESIGN is desperately flawed; and it is PROSECUTING you!
The actions of the operators of this equipment ensure that fewer genuinely talented and skilled traffic patrol officers are on the roads pertinently executing their duties in a manner that would result in safer roads, but much less prosecution.
Their "policies" are designed to intimidate you into shutting up and paying up, even when you know there is serious doubt as to your guilt; and not a jot of the "evidence" will be seen by anyone remotely qualified to decide if you should be prosecuted or not.
In the cases I have dealt with I have had 100% success in defending them without even going near court, because they know they are operating unlawfully.
In every case the operator was an untrained civilian, NOT a police officer.
Why on earth would you want to have a chat with any individual who would endorse this kind of behaviour from our enforcement agencies?
There are police officers on here who DETEST this system, and I personally have worked with at least three locally who feel the same.
Get educated about reality and the next time you meet them why not hit them with a few indisputable facts and at least try and shame them into becoming real police officers.
If it doesn't work tell them to join the Inland Revenue.
mcflurry said:
To be fair to them they are visible rather than hiding behind bushes as, "they have enough work from blind motorists already without having to resort to hiding"
Motorists are not blind. They are focusing on things to do with real road safety rather than cameras. Unfortunately this sometimes means that motorists miss seeing camouflaged and/or unadorned vans, well off the carriageway, targeting drivers 1/2 mile away.
It's the attitude of the scamera people who think competent motorists focusing on driving safely are "blind" that is a giveaway to the wider partnership attitude that sees all motorists as fair game for their tax-raising measures.
....and breathe.
Peter Ward said:
Motorists are not blind. They are focusing on things to do with real road safety rather than cameras. Unfortunately this sometimes means that motorists miss seeing camouflaged and/or unadorned vans, well off the carriageway, targeting drivers 1/2 mile away.
I agree with your sentiments. However, my point was that Kent and Medway Scamera unit said they felt it wasn't necessary to camouflage or hide as they caught plenty of people by being visible..
jvaughan said:
Spent the weekend at Brands (the Wife was working, and I was freeloading!)
Spent quite a bit of time chatting to the speed camera unit from Kent and Medway about their van / policys etc.
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do, top marks for the sensible chat I had, they showed me their equipment (oer) and we also chatted about their policys etc.
Spent quite a bit of time chatting to the speed camera unit from Kent and Medway about their van / policys etc.
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do, top marks for the sensible chat I had, they showed me their equipment (oer) and we also chatted about their policys etc.
I regret to report that you are mistaken. Their vans may be promimently marked but are often parked so you cannot see them. For instance the vans inly have a small camera sign on the back and on this occasion they were cameraing out the back. The van was parked so the camera sign was hidden behind a telegraph pole.
On the Maidstone to Chatham road they have a site on the roundabout where the junction from the M20 is. You cannot see the camera van as you in an underpass, so whilst it might be marked you wouldn't know about it until you get the letter.
Their use of statistics to generate the need for a camera is extemely doubtful and I suspect all the cameras in Tunbridge Wells are there due to same accidents!
jvaughan said:
Spent the weekend at Brands (the Wife was working, and I was freeloading!)
Spent quite a bit of time chatting to the speed camera unit from Kent and Medway about their van / policys etc.
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do, top marks for the sensible chat I had, they showed me their equipment (oer) and we also chatted about their policys etc.
Spent quite a bit of time chatting to the speed camera unit from Kent and Medway about their van / policys etc.
What a nice bunch. they seemed very sensible and sensitive to the job they do, top marks for the sensible chat I had, they showed me their equipment (oer) and we also chatted about their policys etc.
Kent and Medway do of course tell you were their mobile cameras are going to be. See the information is on this page www.kentandmedwaysafetycameras.org.uk/cameras_page05.html really helpful information that. On most days they will be somewhere in the County, but could be anywhere! Incidentially they do go to other locations than those shown on the map. I have seen them in the layby going up Detling Hill (towards Sittingbourne) about 200 yards beyond the fixed camera. Its not shown as a mobile camera location.
I wouldn;t trust them as far as I could throw them, their job is to raise money from speeding motorists and they don;t care how they do it.
Having passes a Kent Camera Van the other day I thought I'd come back to this thread. On the Kent and Medway site this page www.kentandmedwaysafetycameras.org.uk/archive05/pnews05_vans.html states that "The new Vauxhall Vivaro vans are extremely conspicuous with the Partnership logo, large black camera bellow signs on the sides, back and front, and police battenburg livery."
The van I saw had that livery down the side, however the back, out of which the camera has pointing had yellow and orange livery, and the organisation name in small letters above the doors. No was was it identifiable as a camera van until too late!
The van I saw had that livery down the side, however the back, out of which the camera has pointing had yellow and orange livery, and the organisation name in small letters above the doors. No was was it identifiable as a camera van until too late!
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