Speed Cameras CAUSE accidents

[Richard C]

Is there an active speed camera on the M11 southbound 3 miles N of the Stansted Junct ???

The 6 car pileup with thankfully no-one seriously hurt at about 19:15 tonight seemed to have started ,judging by the skidmarks, just before or on the white camera grid in Lane 2 of 2. The motorway was blocked for long enough for me to have missed my plane. I could not see if there was an active camera to my nearside because of the lines of stationary HGVs. But this is just too much of a co-incidence.

Driving anywhere in this country during the day is a kind of suffering nowadays !!!

[bogie]

No camera there as far as Im aware...drive it most days...no cameras on the M11 north of M25 to Cambridge/A14 junction

[IanReid]

Richard C said:

Is there an active speed camera on the M11 southbound 3 miles N of the Stansted Junct ??? The 6 car pileup with thankfully no-one seriously hurt at about 19:15 tonight seemed to have started ,judging by the skidmarks, just before or on the white camera grid in Lane 2 of 2. The motorway was blocked for long enough for me to have missed my plane. I could not see if there was an active camera to my nearside because of the lines of stationary HGVs. But this is just too much of a co-incidence. Driving anywhere in this country during the day is a kind of suffering nowadays !!!

As someone who does the Stanstead run regularly but from the South I can vouch that there are a lot of old camera grid markings left on the road. I believe these are from when there were Gatsos in the roadworks, but for some reason the markings were left after these finished. On my first trip up there I saw the markings and thought WTF, so I can quite easily imagine someone would see them and brake in panic. Now I know the road I just sail on past at my usual speed. However Stanstead is for a lot of people a once a year destination for a holiday flight and so many will be using the road for the fist time. As no one is expecting a camera these lines are an annoyance at best and a dangerous distraction at worst.

Obviously without knowing the cause of the accident it is impossible to say whether these lines caused it, but it certainly is not impossible. If they did then we have an example of a Gatso causing a crash after it has been removed. They really are a good idea aren't they.