Britain's most powerful speed camera hits the M4
Discussion
Ken Figenus said:
Can someone please explain to me how a super long paparazzo style lens will help in detecting tailgating?
Because it's such a long lens it will foreshorten the image making the cars look closer together than they really are, so anyone can get a ticket, backed up by incontrovertible 'proof'.mikeveal said:
If the Police are as under funded and under resourced as they say they are (and I for one believe them), then why would they allocate resources to enforcement on motorways? It seems that whatever statistic you use, our motorways are by far the safest of all our roads.
People will continue to show contempt for limits and laws where the establishment fail to convince people that those laws are appropriate. Putting a twenty zone next to a school is understandable. The "speed kills" campaign is not so, everyone knows it's a lie and that's why it has not and never will gain traction with the masses.
Speed doesn't kill. But driving at a speed inappropriate to the conditions does. Not paying attention whilst driving does too.
If the anti-speed campaigners were actually pragmatic, sensible and believable they might get somewhere. But no, the public just sees them as the fanatics that they are. And for that reason, the message they deliver will always be treated with contempt. Initiatives like this one, although not related to speeding, will just get bundled into the category of the war against the motorist, or the easy cash cow / easy good statistic.
A pity really, as there genuinely are many drivers who speed inappropriately.
Exactly this. If they really were there to educate the motorists etc they would just put the staff in marked police vehicles fitted with cameras, having them driving on the roads, catching those withot seatbets and on the phone, but also providing a visible deterrent for everyone elsePeople will continue to show contempt for limits and laws where the establishment fail to convince people that those laws are appropriate. Putting a twenty zone next to a school is understandable. The "speed kills" campaign is not so, everyone knows it's a lie and that's why it has not and never will gain traction with the masses.
Speed doesn't kill. But driving at a speed inappropriate to the conditions does. Not paying attention whilst driving does too.
If the anti-speed campaigners were actually pragmatic, sensible and believable they might get somewhere. But no, the public just sees them as the fanatics that they are. And for that reason, the message they deliver will always be treated with contempt. Initiatives like this one, although not related to speeding, will just get bundled into the category of the war against the motorist, or the easy cash cow / easy good statistic.
A pity really, as there genuinely are many drivers who speed inappropriately.
speedking31 said:
ecause it's such a long lens it will foreshorten the image making the cars look closer together than they really are, so anyone can get a ticket, backed up by incontrovertible 'proof'.
Exactly! Perspective compression on a telephoto plus placement head on to traffic at only a slight elevation make 'detection of tailgating' an almost impossibility. Absolute porky pies. Shame on them.Does that have a variable ND on the end? Wonder if you can hire the rig for natural history shows - to make sure pandas aren't speeding when they are mating?!
Edited by Ken Figenus on Saturday 17th November 18:03
Ken Figenus said:
Does that have a variable ND on the end? Wonder if you can hire the rig for natural history shows - to make sure pandas aren't speeding when they are mating?!
It looks more like a polariser. Probably because they think it will help reduce reflections. It won't unless they're shooting at an angle which they're not as they're usually always shooting head on. Edited by Ken Figenus on Saturday 17th November 18:03
Ken Figenus said:
Exactly! Perspective compression on a telephoto plus placement head on to traffic at only a slight elevation make 'detection of tailgating' an almost impossibility. Absolute porky pies. Shame on them.
Vehicle one is filmed travelling at Xmph followed by vehicle 2 vehicle 1 passes a point on the road vehicle 2 passes the same point X seconds later repeat as necessary. In other news, it seems 20% of those found in possession of a knife aren't prosecuted!
Why can't motorists say "Sorry, I won't do it again" I wonder?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6402027/F...
Why can't motorists say "Sorry, I won't do it again" I wonder?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6402027/F...
The lens doesn’t change the range or capabilities of the laser.
The lens allows for higher quality footage at a longer distance to capture detail such as mobile phone use or a clear image of the driver.
It’s not new and has been used by other forces. It doesn’t change the law or what actions the police can take under the law, so the usual combination of advice letters, awareness courses, points and fines will still apply.
This is just a media push to make drivers think twice about their behaviour, isn’t that a form of education?
We don’t get to pick and choose which laws we obey and we all know the odds of actually getting caught are minimal. Maybe if so many of us didn’t routinely ignore the law on speed they could direct those enforcement resources elsewhere.
Having recently been nabbed on the A417 myself I’m not exactly some hand wringing speed hater, but I accept I broke the law so that’s that.
I’m sure they’d love nothing more than to not have to waste their time catching drivers who lack self control, but given how many people flag speeding as a priority for roads policing what else can they do.
The lens allows for higher quality footage at a longer distance to capture detail such as mobile phone use or a clear image of the driver.
It’s not new and has been used by other forces. It doesn’t change the law or what actions the police can take under the law, so the usual combination of advice letters, awareness courses, points and fines will still apply.
This is just a media push to make drivers think twice about their behaviour, isn’t that a form of education?
We don’t get to pick and choose which laws we obey and we all know the odds of actually getting caught are minimal. Maybe if so many of us didn’t routinely ignore the law on speed they could direct those enforcement resources elsewhere.
Having recently been nabbed on the A417 myself I’m not exactly some hand wringing speed hater, but I accept I broke the law so that’s that.
I’m sure they’d love nothing more than to not have to waste their time catching drivers who lack self control, but given how many people flag speeding as a priority for roads policing what else can they do.
It's purely about making money, if you think otherwise you are deluding yourself. Motorists are a nice soft easily identifiable target with a declared address etc.., and the fact that they're running a car pretty much guarantees they can afford these small fines, so you just come up with a system where you can milk as many for minor transgressions as possible without the need for the time and costs involved in prosecuting them via the courts.
If safety was the primary consideration, prosecuting lines of people for doing 78mph on a UK motorway is not contributing to that one iota. But it is making a lot more cash than prosecuting a small number of truly dangerous drivers - texters, tailgaters, drunks, cars with bald tyres etc...
It's also having the side effect that if people are sticking to a camera enforced speedlimit, because this silly speed-kills mantra has been drummed into them so hard they then associate being below the limit = safe, so they switch off from the driving , sit two inches from the car in front and watch you tube on their phone.
We're now so far down the "speed kills" rabbit hole that most people think that is the only aspect of driving that makes them safe , so we've got a whole generation of drivers who think its completely normal and safe to text while driving so long as they're under that all-important limit. The longer that single drum is banged so loudly the worse it will get.
But hey, its very simple to automate prosecution and gives people plenty of scope to re-offend without being removed from the potential cash pool, so its all good, just claim its about "safety" and crack on.
If safety was the primary consideration, prosecuting lines of people for doing 78mph on a UK motorway is not contributing to that one iota. But it is making a lot more cash than prosecuting a small number of truly dangerous drivers - texters, tailgaters, drunks, cars with bald tyres etc...
It's also having the side effect that if people are sticking to a camera enforced speedlimit, because this silly speed-kills mantra has been drummed into them so hard they then associate being below the limit = safe, so they switch off from the driving , sit two inches from the car in front and watch you tube on their phone.
We're now so far down the "speed kills" rabbit hole that most people think that is the only aspect of driving that makes them safe , so we've got a whole generation of drivers who think its completely normal and safe to text while driving so long as they're under that all-important limit. The longer that single drum is banged so loudly the worse it will get.
But hey, its very simple to automate prosecution and gives people plenty of scope to re-offend without being removed from the potential cash pool, so its all good, just claim its about "safety" and crack on.
JimSuperSix said:
It's purely about making money, if you think otherwise you are deluding yourself. Motorists are a nice soft easily identifiable target with a declared address etc.., and the fact that they're running a car pretty much guarantees they can afford these small fines, so you just come up with a system where you can milk as many for minor transgressions as possible without the need for the time and costs involved in prosecuting them via the courts.
If safety was the primary consideration, prosecuting lines of people for doing 78mph on a UK motorway is not contributing to that one iota. But it is making a lot more cash than prosecuting a small number of truly dangerous drivers - texters, tailgaters, drunks, cars with bald tyres etc...
It's also having the side effect that if people are sticking to a camera enforced speedlimit, because this silly speed-kills mantra has been drummed into them so hard they then associate being below the limit = safe, so they switch off from the driving , sit two inches from the car in front and watch you tube on their phone.
We're now so far down the "speed kills" rabbit hole that most people think that is the only aspect of driving that makes them safe , so we've got a whole generation of drivers who think its completely normal and safe to text while driving so long as they're under that all-important limit. The longer that single drum is banged so loudly the worse it will get.
But hey, its very simple to automate prosecution and gives people plenty of scope to re-offend without being removed from the potential cash pool, so its all good, just claim its about "safety" and crack on.
Spot on Jim.If safety was the primary consideration, prosecuting lines of people for doing 78mph on a UK motorway is not contributing to that one iota. But it is making a lot more cash than prosecuting a small number of truly dangerous drivers - texters, tailgaters, drunks, cars with bald tyres etc...
It's also having the side effect that if people are sticking to a camera enforced speedlimit, because this silly speed-kills mantra has been drummed into them so hard they then associate being below the limit = safe, so they switch off from the driving , sit two inches from the car in front and watch you tube on their phone.
We're now so far down the "speed kills" rabbit hole that most people think that is the only aspect of driving that makes them safe , so we've got a whole generation of drivers who think its completely normal and safe to text while driving so long as they're under that all-important limit. The longer that single drum is banged so loudly the worse it will get.
But hey, its very simple to automate prosecution and gives people plenty of scope to re-offend without being removed from the potential cash pool, so its all good, just claim its about "safety" and crack on.
Do you know what. I've got no real problem with it if the comparative penalties were refreshed. A guy driving down a road a smidge too fast and he gets £100 and 3 points. Shoplift or assault and it's tens of pounds as a fine which is rarely paid. I'd argue someone who steals or assaults commits a far more serious and the fine should be in the hundreds of pounds.
charltjr said:
The lens doesn’t change the range or capabilities of the laser.
The lens allows for higher quality footage at a longer distance to capture detail such as mobile phone use or a clear image of the driver.
It’s not new and has been used by other forces. It doesn’t change the law or what actions the police can take under the law, so the usual combination of advice letters, awareness courses, points and fines will still apply.
This is just a media push to make drivers think twice about their behaviour, isn’t that a form of education?
We don’t get to pick and choose which laws we obey and we all know the odds of actually getting caught are minimal. Maybe if so many of us didn’t routinely ignore the law on speed they could direct those enforcement resources elsewhere.
Having recently been nabbed on the A417 myself I’m not exactly some hand wringing speed hater, but I accept I broke the law so that’s that.
I’m sure they’d love nothing more than to not have to waste their time catching drivers who lack self control, but given how many people flag speeding as a priority for roads policing what else can they do.
Agree with a lot of what you say but maybe some of us smell BS in their PR guff, Those of us that have ever handled a super telephoto for video maybe! Every single one of us on PH would be all for the stated side-aims and would be applauding every clown caught on a hand held phone or puffing on a Camberwell Carrot (!) - but we know what 99.9% of its use is going to be... And some of us know how difficult it is to track and follow focus a small moving object using any super telephoto lens - even with a £10k fluid head high end tripod helping dampen your wobbles. Its very hard and hence the BS factor just doubled! I look forward to seeing the footage in court The lens allows for higher quality footage at a longer distance to capture detail such as mobile phone use or a clear image of the driver.
It’s not new and has been used by other forces. It doesn’t change the law or what actions the police can take under the law, so the usual combination of advice letters, awareness courses, points and fines will still apply.
This is just a media push to make drivers think twice about their behaviour, isn’t that a form of education?
We don’t get to pick and choose which laws we obey and we all know the odds of actually getting caught are minimal. Maybe if so many of us didn’t routinely ignore the law on speed they could direct those enforcement resources elsewhere.
Having recently been nabbed on the A417 myself I’m not exactly some hand wringing speed hater, but I accept I broke the law so that’s that.
I’m sure they’d love nothing more than to not have to waste their time catching drivers who lack self control, but given how many people flag speeding as a priority for roads policing what else can they do.
untakenname said:
Refreshing to see the comments in that article, years back there may have been some public goodwill sentiment towards speed enforcement but that has long since evaporated as driving standards have declined as the police focus solely on speed rather than bad driving.
How many times have you taken this up with your MP?Or do you think parliament trawl internet forums?
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