Another one bites the dust. :)
Discussion
Arson attack on speed camera
POLICE are investigating the first arson attack on a speed camera since the controversial devices were introduced into the Horsham district.
On Tuesday, firecrews from Horsham were called to extinguish the blazing camera on the A281 at Lower Beeding.
The camera, which costs £15,000 per unit and a further £35,000 for the hi-tech camera device, has been in use for just two weeks.
Motorist Mark Grindon discovered the fire around 10.30pm as he made his way home from Brighton.
"I was coming back from Brighton in the car and was coming into Lower Beeding.
"As I came up the road the camera was bright yellow and glittering. There was a tyre lobbed on to the post and it was burning away."
Mark who lives in Mannings Heath immediately stopped and contacted the fire brigade.
Firefighters from Horsham cordoned off the area before using one hose reel and a CO2 extinguisher to quell the blaze.
Police forensic officers attended the scene to examine the device which had suffered 'substantial damage'.
A spokesperson for the Sussex Safety Camera Partnership (SSCP) said: "A recently erected safety camera housing in Lower Beeding was the subject of criminal damage. The police are investigating the matter.
"The suppliers will be replacing the damaged unit as soon as practicable."
The arson attack came just one week after the latest speed camera to be installed on the district's roads was launched on the A24 at Knepp Castle.
As she switched the camera on, Georgina Dey, whose sons Tim and Slinfold resident Barry were killed in separate accidents just one year apart, endorsed the use of speed cameras to reduce motorists' speed.
There are currently six fixed speed cameras operating in the Horsham district.
A camera was installed on the London Road, Pulborough, in October 99, followed by one at School Hill, Storrington, in April 2000.
More recently cameras have been placed in Lower Street, Pulborough, as well as the A281 at Lower Beeding and two on the A24 at Dial Post and Knepp Castle.
The SSCP was formed in October 2002 to manage speed cameras across Sussex, and during its first six months motorists were fined £1,594,920.
Anyone with information on the attack should contact PC Mark Ribans at Shoreham on 0845 60 70 999.
27 February 2004
Amazing how they call "forsensics" to examine their beloved cash machines, yet when the scum who tried to rob me (and failed bigtime!
) and whos prints were all over the window, they basically told me to 
off, were not interested...
Viva La Capitain!
>>> Edited by deltaf on Saturday 28th February 17:06
POLICE are investigating the first arson attack on a speed camera since the controversial devices were introduced into the Horsham district.
On Tuesday, firecrews from Horsham were called to extinguish the blazing camera on the A281 at Lower Beeding.
The camera, which costs £15,000 per unit and a further £35,000 for the hi-tech camera device, has been in use for just two weeks.
Motorist Mark Grindon discovered the fire around 10.30pm as he made his way home from Brighton.
"I was coming back from Brighton in the car and was coming into Lower Beeding.
"As I came up the road the camera was bright yellow and glittering. There was a tyre lobbed on to the post and it was burning away."
Mark who lives in Mannings Heath immediately stopped and contacted the fire brigade.
Firefighters from Horsham cordoned off the area before using one hose reel and a CO2 extinguisher to quell the blaze.
Police forensic officers attended the scene to examine the device which had suffered 'substantial damage'.
A spokesperson for the Sussex Safety Camera Partnership (SSCP) said: "A recently erected safety camera housing in Lower Beeding was the subject of criminal damage. The police are investigating the matter.
"The suppliers will be replacing the damaged unit as soon as practicable."
The arson attack came just one week after the latest speed camera to be installed on the district's roads was launched on the A24 at Knepp Castle.
As she switched the camera on, Georgina Dey, whose sons Tim and Slinfold resident Barry were killed in separate accidents just one year apart, endorsed the use of speed cameras to reduce motorists' speed.
There are currently six fixed speed cameras operating in the Horsham district.
A camera was installed on the London Road, Pulborough, in October 99, followed by one at School Hill, Storrington, in April 2000.
More recently cameras have been placed in Lower Street, Pulborough, as well as the A281 at Lower Beeding and two on the A24 at Dial Post and Knepp Castle.
The SSCP was formed in October 2002 to manage speed cameras across Sussex, and during its first six months motorists were fined £1,594,920.
Anyone with information on the attack should contact PC Mark Ribans at Shoreham on 0845 60 70 999.
27 February 2004
Amazing how they call "forsensics" to examine their beloved cash machines, yet when the scum who tried to rob me (and failed bigtime!
) and whos prints were all over the window, they basically told me to off, were not interested... Viva La Capitain!
>>> Edited by deltaf on Saturday 28th February 17:06
deltaf said:
The SSCP was formed in October 2002 to manage speed cameras across Sussex, and during its first six months motorists were fined £1,594,920.
As I read this sentence, I assumed the ending would be something like "...during its first six months 20 lives were saved". But no, the important thing is the cash.
I note that there is no indication that Mrs Dey's sons were killed by speeding motorists, but perhaps I'm just too cynical. I feel great sorrow for anyone who's lost 2 children in a year, but I would hate it if she's being manipulated for a good story.
Peter Ward said:
The SSCP was formed in October 2002 to manage speed cameras across Sussex, and during its first six months motorists were fined £1,594,920.
As I read this sentence, I assumed the ending would be something like "...during its first six months 20 lives were saved". But no, the important thing is the cash.
I note that there is no indication that Mrs Dey's sons were killed by speeding motorists, but perhaps I'm just too cynical. I feel great sorrow for anyone who's lost 2 children in a year, but I would hate it if she's being manipulated for a good story.
Yes, I too noticed that an attempt has been made to create a feeling of association with speed and the deaths, while not actually saying that the deaths were down to the speed of the vehicles involved (which, of course, it most likely wasn't).
So, over £1.5 million in fines has been collected.
With all those motorists clearly over the speed limit, how come there have been no more deaths? That could mean that speed had nothing to do with the deaths in the first place. (sarcastic tone)
this is Brighton and Hove online 22Jan02 said:
A couple who lost both their sons in road crashes spoke of their devastation last night as two drivers were cleared of causing death by dangerous driving.
The men were fined a total of £700 for the lesser offence of dangerous driving.
Heartbroken Georgina Dey, 58, broke down as verdicts of not guilty were returned by a jury in a case which had centred on the death of her son Barry, 29, who was killed on the A24 in West Sussex on May 26, 2000.
She sobbed: "This is not justice to me at all."
His death came just 11 months after she and her husband Dave lost their other son, Tim, on his 32nd birthday in a motorbike accident near Alton in Hampshire.
Scott Smith, 23, of Hill Rise Avenue, Sompting, and Neville Hepburn, 46, of Poole, Dorset, were acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving despite evidence they had been "racing" just before the fatal crash.
Smith was found guilty of dangerous driving. He was fined £300 and banned for one year.
Hepburn, who admitted his driving was dangerous, was fined £400 and disqualified for two years.
Mrs Dey, of Beach Road, Selsey, clutched a photograph of Barry, who had a young son, as she waited for the jury's verdicts after deliberating for just under nine hours at Chichester Crown Court.
Afterwards Mr Dey, 61, said: "We are extremely disappointed. I would like to ask the jury, every one of them, who the hell killed Barry?
"It's not justice in our eyes. This is the second son we have lost in similar circumstances."
The court heard Smith and Hepburn had been driving between 80mph and 90mph as they left the Washington roundabout on the A24 during the morning rush hour.
Smith's car went out of control at road works and somersaulted into Mr Dey's car travelling in the opposite direction on the dual carriageway.
Mr Dey, of Streetfield Road, Slinfold, near Horsham, was killed instantly.
His widow Caroline has since launched a campaign to have crash barriers installed on the road, which has one of the worst accident records in Sussex. She was not in court yesterday.
Smith, who was driving a Peugeot 405, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
Saab driver Hepburn was charged with the same offence because police discovered he had been tail-gating Smith.
It was alleged he was equally responsible for the death crash because his driving made Smith go faster and he had not maintained a safe distance behind the Peugeot.
During the trial the jury heard the accident happened at road works which did not conform to regulations because four warning signs on the approach to traffic cones funnelling traffic into one lane were at the wrong distances.
Seeboard, which was responsible for the works, was later prosecuted.
Judge John Sessions told Smith and Hepburn he was satisfied on the evidence that their cars were travelling at not less than 80mph.
He said when Hepburn came up behind Smith he had "taken up the challenge" instead of moving into the nearside lane.
But he told Hepburn, a postman, he had initiated the race by driving in what he described as a "threatening and oppressive" manner.
Mr Dey said: "We are very disappointed with the verdict and we are considering taking civil action against them because we feel our son's life is worth more than £700. I don't feel we got justice at all.
"Even if they got ten years it would not bring Barry back but at least we could have felt justice had been done."
West Sussex County Council said safety measures on the stretch where the accident happened would include safety barriers and speed warning signs.
Note that Barry appears to have been killed by a speeding driver.
Note also the call for "safety barriers" and W Sussex CC's stated response ... then consider what measure they did take. Of course, this tragedy (the crash, not the tragedy of the conviction on a reduced charge) might have tipped the KSIs over the required number.
this is Brighton and Hove online 22May03 said:Speed is not mentioned as a factor in this tragedy.
[Barry's] brother Tim died in a motorcycle crash near Alton in Hampshire on April 25 1999 - his 32nd birthday.
He was turning a corner when he was struck by another motorcyclist travelling on the wrong side of the road.
apache said:
And this is relevant how?
"As she switched the camera on, Georgina Dey, whose sons Tim and Slinfold resident Barry were killed in separate accidents just one year apart, endorsed the use of speed cameras to reduce motorists' speed."
So they found an expert on road safety then?
deltaf said:
The SSCP was formed in October 2002 to manage speed cameras across Sussex, and during its first six months motorists were fined £1,594,920.
That's a hell of a lot of motorists that failed to slow down... I would suggest that means the cameras have been a monumental failure?
deltaf said:
As she switched the camera on, Georgina Dey, whose sons Tim and Slinfold resident Barry were killed in separate accidents just one year apart, endorsed the use of speed cameras to reduce motorists' speed.
There are currently six fixed speed cameras operating in the Horsham district.
With the very real risk of sounding like a heartless bastard, which I'm not, and clearly i don't have all the facts... Is it me but surely a mother who had lost one child in an RTA would be anally carefull about what the otherone gets up to?
I know this isn't a popular view at the moment, but having had 2 kids run out in front of me yesterday, without even looking (I was following Mrs.Pebbledash, in the Fyffes Special, which aint subtle or quiet)I am seriously begining to believe that some parents are relying on the fact that it's the motorists fault to save their poorly educated childrens lives.
Again I must stress (so Ted doesn't get in any trouble) that I do not know the specifics of this particular case.
this is Brighton and Hove online 22Jan02 said:Does this mean, every motorist can legally shove his own responsability (to operate a motor vehicle safely) to another, when he felt constrained to drive faster by him?
Saab driver Hepburn was charged with the same offence because police discovered he had been tail-gating Smith.
It was alleged he was equally responsible for the death crash because his driving made Smith go faster and he had not maintained a safe distance behind the Peugeot.
I wonder when people will start quoting this judgment.Anyone know or heard anything of this story?
Half heard it on Beeb's news (last item!)
Motorist has apparently been sentenced to 240 hours' community service for....
..... attempting to yank down a scamera with some rope and his car!
Think they said it was in Carlisle? It seems he was a bit bladdered at the time as well - if I heard correctly!
He seems to have gotten off lightly!??
Half heard it on Beeb's news (last item!)
Motorist has apparently been sentenced to 240 hours' community service for....
..... attempting to yank down a scamera with some rope and his car!
Think they said it was in Carlisle? It seems he was a bit bladdered at the time as well - if I heard correctly!
He seems to have gotten off lightly!??
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