Discussion
He said he was not there to catch people, just to make sure they did not speed. After chatting with him for just over an hour I believe him, he was genuinely attempting to educate me in what he was doing. As the majority of the traffic was under the limit (40-50 in a 50) he was happy to explain and demonstrate the equipment rather than sit there and "boost the figures".
All in all, a really nice, genuine bloke trying his best to his job.
All in all, a really nice, genuine bloke trying his best to his job.
Had a very long and informative chat with a BiB who was manning a laser speed gun on the northbound A33 in Basingstoke (Reading Road, just off the Ring Road). Many thanks to PC Nick Carter for your patience in answering all my questions and showing me how it all worked, even to the point of letting me have a quick go 
He mentioned that not only can it catch people speeding (officially at "limit + 10% + 2"), he can also request video evidence (back from the CPS as he just sends it off to be processed) of drivers reading maps and using mobile phones. He did say that he would only do so if they were being blatant about it. One thing I did note was that it was very difficult to identify the driver from the video as the van was pointing directly into the sun (hmmm, might prove useful), the camera could not set it's exposure to allow for both the brightness of the day and the darkness of a car interior.
He also mentioned that (after requesting it and filling out risk assessments etc.) he now carries "gardening tools" to that he can ensure that any signs within his patch are clearly visible.
cont...
He mentioned that not only can it catch people speeding (officially at "limit + 10% + 2"), he can also request video evidence (back from the CPS as he just sends it off to be processed) of drivers reading maps and using mobile phones. He did say that he would only do so if they were being blatant about it. One thing I did note was that it was very difficult to identify the driver from the video as the van was pointing directly into the sun (hmmm, might prove useful), the camera could not set it's exposure to allow for both the brightness of the day and the darkness of a car interior.
He also mentioned that (after requesting it and filling out risk assessments etc.) he now carries "gardening tools" to that he can ensure that any signs within his patch are clearly visible.
cont...
On a totally different subject, me (or someone else driving my car) was zapped doing 62 in a 50 on the A33 in Basingtoke today 
I guess I'll be getting the dreaded NIP through the post as I'm the registered keeper...time to find out if everything mentioned on here, SafeSpeed & Pepipoo works 
I guess I'll be getting the dreaded NIP through the post as I'm the registered keeper...time to find out if everything mentioned on here, SafeSpeed & Pepipoo works Would he have been sat in the middle of the dual carrigeway just before the roundabout with the little people-cutouts perchance? I've seen on there before & didn't think anything of it, but after seeing some of the stuff on here, I would have thought that was a rather dangerous/illegal place to park a vehicle for the purpose of catching speeders? 
Ahhh ... that old chestnut.
I go through there every night on my way home from work. They usually sit either on the tarmac triangle between the entry and exit slips on the central reservation by the roundabout with the cutouts that you've mentioned or on the opposite side of the road to the MFI catching people as they come off the big ring road roundabout down to that smaller roundabout.
I've come round off the Tescos roundabout a few times and noticed people driving differently further down (obviously the can see him before I can) and so I've moderated my speed but there was once that I entered his field of view at quite a bit more than 50 - no NIP though so I was either lucky that time and he was "occupied" or I saw him before he saw me (unlikely).
Again its one of those annoying judgement calls - I know that they frequent down there so if I choose to speed along there then its on my head ... of course if you don't know that road well then should you be speeding anyway?
TBH there's so many different places that they sit along that A33 that its just not worth the risk now...
Phil
I go through there every night on my way home from work. They usually sit either on the tarmac triangle between the entry and exit slips on the central reservation by the roundabout with the cutouts that you've mentioned or on the opposite side of the road to the MFI catching people as they come off the big ring road roundabout down to that smaller roundabout.
I've come round off the Tescos roundabout a few times and noticed people driving differently further down (obviously the can see him before I can) and so I've moderated my speed but there was once that I entered his field of view at quite a bit more than 50 - no NIP though so I was either lucky that time and he was "occupied" or I saw him before he saw me (unlikely).
Again its one of those annoying judgement calls - I know that they frequent down there so if I choose to speed along there then its on my head ... of course if you don't know that road well then should you be speeding anyway?
TBH there's so many different places that they sit along that A33 that its just not worth the risk now...
Phil
centurion07 said:
Would he have been sat in the middle of the dual carrigeway just before the roundabout with the little people-cutouts perchance? I've seen on there before & didn't think anything of it, but after seeing some of the stuff on here, I would have thought that was a rather dangerous/illegal place to park a vehicle for the purpose of catching speeders?
He was just before a roundabout (A33/Crockford Lane/Carpenters Down) with an overhead railway bridge on the exit the other side.
I did question his placement. He didn't disagree with my point that the central reservation was a safety feature separating opposing lanes of traffic but, nevertheless, felt he was in a safe position.
He did say that he had seen photos of some of the places that vans have been parked (double yellow lines, hidden behind things, etc.) and did not agree with that at all. I mentioned the van in Reading that was parked on hatching and in front of chevrons and he was concerned about that and said given a choice he would not park there himself (even with an exemption order).
tja said:
He said he was not there to catch people, just to make sure they did not speed. After chatting with him for just over an hour I believe him, he was genuinely attempting to educate me in what he was doing. As the majority of the traffic was under the limit (40-50 in a 50) he was happy to explain and demonstrate the equipment rather than sit there and "boost the figures".
All in all, a really nice, genuine bloke trying his best to his job.
It's good to hear this sort of thing I think it does the image of the BIBs a lot of good.
BTW, I hope you remembered to stick your chewing gum on the end of his laser before you left
Ivan
ribol said:
It's good to hear this sort of thing I think it does the image of the BIBs a lot of good.
After reading the "Should we praise good customer service" thread and seeing the stick some of the BiB get, I thought it was worth posting a thread showing the good side.
He even said that next time I was passing I should stop by for another chat
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