Speed-trap cameras stupid, says ex-top cop
Discussion
www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/134/134357_speedtrap_cameras_stupid_says_extop_cop_.html
ManchesterOnline said:
ONE of Greater Manchester's top former traffic policemen has branded the use of speed cameras on the region's roads as "stupid".
Former chief inspector Neil Longsden, who was second in command of Greater Manchester Police motorway group, hit out at the way cameras are used to raise revenue rather than to improve safety.
He said: "When fixed speed cameras were introduced I thought they were a good idea because they were positioned at accident hotspots. But now the situation is becoming stupid.
"With more than 20 years as a traffic inspector and chief inspector, I always thought that, when decisions were made to prosecute motorists, the police had to prove the offence beyond all reasonable doubt - and that they also had to use a certain amount of discretion and commonsense.
"Now I believe those basic principles are being ignored in pursuit of revenue."
He added: "I am not in favour of speeding, but I am in favour of cameras being sited properly based on proper accident statistics and for using mobile cameras instead of fixed ones where possible."
He said the way police accident figures were calculated had changed in recent years, which must mean the way decisions are made about where to site fixed speed cameras must be "skewed."
He believes more mobile speed guns should be used because some fixed cameras may not be useful as road-safety tools.
Mr Longsden, who was a police officer for nearly 35 years and a traffic officer for more than 20 years before his retirement in 1995, spoke out after speeding tickets were issued to more than 20 drivers caught driving at 10 mph over the limit near Oldham.
The camera on the A663 Broadway, near the junction with Eustace Street, had apparently been reset from 40 mph to 30 mph before roadworks began but the drivers say the change was not properly sign-posted.
More than 20 drivers who were issued with fixed penalty fines after being caught driving at 40 mph are joining together to fight their prosecutions.
They say they are determined to take their battle to court instead of paying immediate fixed penalty fines.
Mr Longsden said: "This particular camera on Broadway, for example, may have been needed when it was put there many years ago, but it is very close to a pedestrian crossing and might not even be necessary now."
A spokesman for DriveSafe, responsible for the region's 185 speed camera sites, said they are reviewed every year by the Department for Transport.
Mobile cameras = more hidden cameras = more revenue= less safety.
What we need is more mobile police on the roads to catch the idiots who cause the accidents, especially when it comes to rush hour and youve got all the office tosspots who are given top of the range company cars and have no idea how to drive!!
Same as school run mothers in their Range Rovers and other 4x4 utility vehicles, bloody scary when u got them comming towards you and rearing up behind you, they just do not look in control!
What we need is more mobile police on the roads to catch the idiots who cause the accidents, especially when it comes to rush hour and youve got all the office tosspots who are given top of the range company cars and have no idea how to drive!!
Same as school run mothers in their Range Rovers and other 4x4 utility vehicles, bloody scary when u got them comming towards you and rearing up behind you, they just do not look in control!
Just a thought, but why don't local police forces issue warnings on mobile camera locations to the radio, and include these in the traffic announcements?
Don't say where the camera is, just that its on a particular road in a certain area. That way, people drive carefully along the entire road, which is surely the intention?
Don't say where the camera is, just that its on a particular road in a certain area. That way, people drive carefully along the entire road, which is surely the intention?
Radio report ...
And watch out on the motorways as there are speed cameras out this week.
Thats about all the information youll get.
In the local post we get here in S.wales, little collumn saying where the cameras will be this week, takes note, off driving around doing my daily job, and lo and behold, camera van hiding in a line of parked cars on a road not included on the collumn as stated in the post, and its not a one off,its always the same!
And watch out on the motorways as there are speed cameras out this week.
Thats about all the information youll get.
In the local post we get here in S.wales, little collumn saying where the cameras will be this week, takes note, off driving around doing my daily job, and lo and behold, camera van hiding in a line of parked cars on a road not included on the collumn as stated in the post, and its not a one off,its always the same!
parrot of doom said:
... That way, people drive carefully along the entire road, which is surely the intention?...
Would you not rather the drivers paid attention to humans possibly running into the road etc? (i.e. instead of driving while worried about what speed they were travelling at.)
crayven said:
In the local post we get here in S.wales, little collumn saying where the cameras will be this week, takes note, off driving around doing my daily job, and lo and behold, camera van hiding in a line of parked cars on a road not included on the collumn as stated in the post, and its not a one off,its always the same
Much the same in North Wales. The correlation between locations for Talivans and what Arrive Alive 'inform' us is loose to say the least. If you question a van appering at a location outside their schedule the standard response is that the operator was due to go on a course which was cancelled at the last minute.
So he's put on enforcement instead - all in the intersts of safety.
They must think we are stupi !
parrot of doom said:
Just a thought, but why don't local police forces issue warnings on mobile camera locations to the radio, and include these in the traffic announcements?
The radio stations do announce where the cameras are in Warwickshire on the radio, and I believe other parts of the Midlands also.
ledfoot said:
Just a thought, but why don't local police forces issue warnings on mobile camera locations to the radio, and include these in the traffic announcements?
The radio stations do announce where the cameras are in Warwickshire on the radio, and I believe other parts of the Midlands also.
Yes BBC Hereford & Worcester do exactly this as part of the traffic reports.
kevinday said:Quite right, and the way the announcements are made on local radio only local people with local knowledge will know where the cameras are anyway - which is the idea. Locals would kick up a fuss when they are fined causing grief for local councillors and police braid, but those passing through take their anger away with them. Cynical but effective - at raising revenue with least hassle.
Don't say where the camera is, just that its on a particular road in a certain area. That way, people drive carefully along the entire road, which is surely the intention?
Err, not quite right. What would happen is that people would drive the whole length of the road, continually checking their speedo and searching for the cameras, meanwhile not paying attention to the road at all. BAD idea!
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