Wednesday 9th November 2005

Canadians start hiding cameras too

Following Aussie example with street-side furniture

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Aussie wheelie-bin camera

The Canadian authorities are taking their lessons from the Australian police, and have started disguising their speed cameras to look like the power transformers or utility boxes commonly seen by the roadside.

When asked whether it was fair, Edmonton Police Association president Peter Ratcliff said to the local paper: "Well, I guess you have to ask yourself the question, is driving over the speed limit fair?" And guess what? The cameras' profits go directly to the Edmonton Police Service.

The department isn't taking the natural public lambasting lying down. It's reportedly being investigated for attempting to frame a journalist who described the programme as a "cash cow", and for offering a contract, with no tendering process, to a company called ACS to manage the cameras -- in return for luxury vacations in Las Vegas for police officers. The report said that the department's acting chief is under investigation for accepting illegal gratuities from ACS.

• More on this story

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

Fabulous. Maybe we should all just get cars with little robot chaffeurs who never make human errors or value judgments. The pot of gold that is the revenue generated by these 'righteous' fines is too tempting to resist it appears - disgusting frankly. 1984 and Big Brother are down under already. Orwell must be rolling in his grave.

How long before someone here takes a lead from the article, and starts disguising cameras in Grandmas pushing prams I wonder...

[james_j]

So there's a scandal involving vested interests and, well money basically. Now there's a surprise.

[NickFRP]

wont the dustbin men not think that its a real bin and roll it towards there bin truck and tip it upside down?

better not come her or il roll that little bin off a clif

[hedders]

I wonder if the crime is the same for destroying something that is a revenue collector that looks like something else?

EG: I thought I was setting fire to a rubbish bin, not a scamera. I thought it was my neighbours new bin ...I was going to give him £20 for a new one...Had i known it was a safety camera I would never have touched it....honest!

[JMGS4]

These scamera bins in Holland regularly get general shite and rubbish tipped into them, aswell as occasionally hot ashes from peoples fires, as they only appear on bindays anyway!

[wab172uk]

Only a matter of time until our government introduces them. They'll say they have been a success in Austrailia and Canada in reducing road deaths (never showing proof of course) therefore "The British people want these devises". Then were all F**ked

[events]

I love whizzing around Canadian roads in sports cars - this new Police scamis rubbish!!

[NickFRP]

it will only be a matter of time till car dealers have Speed Camera Dectors as a otption for the cars(i hope any way)

[r988]

hedders said:

I wonder if the crime is the same for destroying something that is a revenue collector that looks like something else? EG: I thought I was setting fire to a rubbish bin, not a scamera. I thought it was my neighbours new bin ...I was going to give him £20 for a new one...Had i known it was a safety camera I would never have touched it....honest!

[bunglist]

hedders said:

I wonder if the crime is the same for destroying something that is a revenue collector that looks like something else? EG: I thought I was setting fire to a rubbish bin, not a scamera. I thought it was my neighbours new bin ...I was going to give him £20 for a new one...Had i known it was a safety camera I would never have touched it....honest!

Just don't get caught then, torch it and walk away, make sure you walk in the opposite direction to the way the scamera is pointing.

[bunglist]

NickFRP said:

it will only be a matter of time till car dealers have Speed Camera Dectors as a otption for the cars(i hope any way)

The government are banning these items in there road safety bill aren't they!!!!!!

[stenniso]

I thought I read a few years ago that one of the regions in Canada had removed all of it's speed cameras due to public outcry.

This is a very disappointing story.

By the way, the photo of the wheelie bin is a bit misleading, the article says they are hiding them in roadside utility boxes.

[ubergreg]

Ah yes – there’s the Canadian driving culture I knew and loved.

And left.

The ENTIRE emphasis is on speeding there. In Toronto, they didn’t have ‘Road Safety Campaigns’, they launched ‘Speeding Crackdowns’.

Even if Some UK police bosses have lost the plot, In my limited experience many rank-and-file traf pols here still seem to actually care about road safety on a whole, and will explain in a non-intimidating, non-adversarial fashion what you did wrong, or why you were stopped. I got a firm but polite talking-to about my speed during the one time I was pulled on a motorway. Back home, I always felt like I was going to get a proper Rodney King-style kicking. (How DARE I travel 17kph over the posted limit of 100kph, doesn’t matter that half the other drivers on the highway were doing it, because this was one of their ‘crackdowns’.)

Hiding speed traps is nothing new in there, because pretty much all their speed traps are hidden. No warning signs, no bright yellow boxes, no lines on the road, no accident blackspot criteria. Only the police corruption side of the story stands out, and that’s only because they got caught being filthy.

But it’s okay, I’m not bitter…

[cjbolter]

Hi Guys, some enlightened dealers already install a scamera locator device. It is called "RAC Trackstar +" and is intended to track your vehicle if stolen, but if you pay an additional £81:70 per annum you get the "safespeed" option which warns of cameras and the respective speed limit.

You may be intrigued to know that I have that and a Road Angel II (from my last vehicle), and they dont always agree !!!!. The Road Angel will sometimes pick up a SPECS that the Trackstar has missed, and visa versa. Why is that ??.

VBR CJ.

[mcflurry]

The local radio stations "helpfully" let motorists know the location of aforementioned scameras...

[amg merc]

Utter *astards!

Sorry, I have to say!

[sirtophamhat]

Thats funny, the locals around where I'm from have it as something of a sport to smash the hell out of those kind of bins with their trucks. Wouldn't work in this town.