A77 speed trap fails to catch motorcyclists

A77 speed trap fails to catch motorcyclists

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Mon Ami Mate

Original Poster:

6,589 posts

269 months

Sunday 25th September 2005
quotequote all
A77 speed trap fails to catch motorcyclists
Jason Allardyce

ANTI-SPEED camera campaigners have branded a new £775,000 “speed trap” on the A77 as a waste of money after ministers admitted that it cannot detect motorbikes.

The Speed Enforcement Camera System (Specs), a series of 40 cameras on the A77, was hailed as an important new weapon in the fight against speeding drivers.

Rather than flashing drivers who are speeding at a fixed point, it monitors the rate of every car over a 20-mile stretch.

However, Cathy Jamieson, the Scottish justice minister, has admitted that the system, installed as part of a £20m safety scheme for the route, can only detect vehicles with front-facing number plates.

Captain Gatso, the anti-speed camera protester, said that the Specs system had been exposed as a white elephant.

“Specs cameras are the most dangerous form of speed camera enforcement, due to the fact that they make people drive along in a funeral cortege merely concentrating on their speedometer and not on the road and the traffic ahead.

“Be under no illusion, this is a cynical money-making scheme by the Scottish executive which doesn’t reduce deaths on the roads. Furthermore, the motorist is discriminated against, while motorcylists get away scot free. People who get tickets on this road should refuse to pay.”

Last year Scotland recorded the highest number of motorcycling deaths since 2000. Motorbikes represent just 1% of all vehicles on Scottish roads, but they account for more than 14% of road accidents.

The biggest increases were in Strathclyde, where fatalities rose by 30%, and Lothian and Borders, which has seen a 100% increase since 2001. In Lothian and Borders there were 268 accidents in 2003. including nine deaths. compared with seven in 2002 and four in 2001. In Strathclyde the number killed has risen by about 30% from 10 to 13 over the past year.

Middle-aged men are dying in unprecedented numbers as they indulge their teenage fantasy of owning a powerful motorbike. Safety experts have warned that many of the baby-boomer bikers are unaware of their slower reaction times and how difficult it can be to control the heavy powerful machines at high speed.

The Specs system was introduced between Bogend Toll, north of Ayr and Ardwell, south of Girvan, following 20 deaths and 95 serious injuries on the stretch between January 2000 and December 2004. But critics also point out that because the new cameras do not measure speed directly, speeding drivers in any type of vehicle can escape being caught if they turn off the road between cameras, turn on to it or stop between them.

“This means that if you inadvertently go through the first one over the limit, all you need to do is slow to below the limit, so your average speed between the two cameras is below the speed threshold. Of course, working this out in your head is somewhat difficult, so drivers overcompensate and can be seen crawling towards the second camera,” said the Association of British Drivers. “On high-speed roads this can create dangerous situations.”

Andrew Wilkie, a spokesman for the Scottish Safety Camera Campaign, insisted that the new cameras were effective. “There are a whole list of problems on the A77, of which speeding is one,” he said.

“Spec cameras are there to tackle the majority of motorists. We knew it would only tackle facing number plates, but that is a large proportion of vehicles.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1796718,00.html

D_Mike

5,301 posts

241 months

Sunday 25th September 2005
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people always trot out that "motorcycles are just 1% of vehicle on the road but account for xx% of casualties" as if it is an horrendous stastistic and implies that motorcyclists are dangerous people who drive/ride everywhere on the limit.

It's just a consequence of not sitting inside a steel box strapped to a chair.

jasandjules

69,994 posts

230 months

Sunday 25th September 2005
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Andrew Wilkie, a spokesman for the Scottish Safety Camera Campaign, insisted that the new cameras were effective. “There are a whole list of problems on the A77, of which speeding is one,” he said.


Sooo, then why is so much time and money being spent on speeding and not the many other issues on the A77? Presumably because they have to speculate to accumulate.... Sorry, my mistake, I meant save lives..

_Dave_

9,117 posts

251 months

Sunday 25th September 2005
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They can't catch bikes?

Good, Fcuk em! should have had the cameras facing the other way then!

Cooperman

4,428 posts

251 months

Sunday 25th September 2005
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It seems, from the A77 Safety Group web-site forum, that they can't catch the large numbers of S. Irish HGV's or any S. Irish vehicles on that road.

Presumably they'll catch lots of UK registered cars and trucks so that those cash-cameras can pay back the huge investment.

Take a look at the website for the A77 Safety Group.

catso

14,796 posts

268 months

Sunday 25th September 2005
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Yes but since Motorcycles make up such a small percentage of road users, they were probably not considered in their 'Business plan' as it will not greatly affect the success (aka revenue-raising potential) of the scheme.
As long as they can scam enough motorists they'll be happy and the alternative of rear facing scams brings too much risk of the 'Hamilton defence' which would far outweigh the few bikers that they may scam.

This system will give them best return (£££'s)

well you didn't think it had anything to do with safety

KB_S1

5,967 posts

230 months

Monday 26th September 2005
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From the A77 safety group website itself and from direct corrospondence with them they admit that exceeding the speed limit has very little to do with the safety issue on the road.
It was an awful road to drive on untill this year when extensive engineering improvements were made, most significant being the introduction of a central reservation on a large section.
SPECS, waste of time. the targets for it apparently are £1.5m per annum in revenue but no safety targets. Hows that then?

james_j

3,996 posts

256 months

Monday 26th September 2005
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KB_S1 said:
From the A77 safety group website itself and from direct corrospondence with them they admit that exceeding the speed limit has very little to do with the safety issue on the road.
It was an awful road to drive on untill this year when extensive engineering improvements were made, most significant being the introduction of a central reservation on a large section.
SPECS, waste of time. the targets for it apparently are £1.5m per annum in revenue but no safety targets. Hows that then?


Surprise surprise (not).