Norfolk Gatso gets bonus and promotion
Discussion
From BBC TV East:
A new Gatso in a 30 zone on Dereham Road, Norwich, has caught 2,000 drivers in 2 days. It was kept so busy that it ran out of film on the first day.
£120,000 in 48 hours. So that's a major step forward in road safety then...
Sounds to me like the speed limit is way below what the road can handle. I don't know the road myself (fortunately) but send all grievances to Norfolk Head Plod/Council.
A new Gatso in a 30 zone on Dereham Road, Norwich, has caught 2,000 drivers in 2 days. It was kept so busy that it ran out of film on the first day.
£120,000 in 48 hours. So that's a major step forward in road safety then...
Sounds to me like the speed limit is way below what the road can handle. I don't know the road myself (fortunately) but send all grievances to Norfolk Head Plod/Council.
Of course it's not at all feasable that 2,000 drivers just hammered through there above the speed limit is it?
What's the location like? Is it built up? Residential? It's hard to tell just by looking at AutoRoute... perhaps it's another revenue raiser, but then again maybe it ain't...
What's the location like? Is it built up? Residential? It's hard to tell just by looking at AutoRoute... perhaps it's another revenue raiser, but then again maybe it ain't...
For the camera to have caught 2000 in 2 days, by my understanding, the film would have needed changing 4 times in that 48 hours..
Not out oft he question, but it really doesn't sound likely.. did they have a 24hr gatso swat team waiting for it to run out?
Media spin arse if you ask me..
'For the camera to have caught 2000 in 2 days, by my understanding, the film would have needed changing 4 times in that 48 hours..'
That doesn't actually contradict what they said! They only said it needed to be changed on the first day, which fits with your stats! Plus, they might well have developed a Gatso with 'extra' film capacity to save labour costs, no?
I'm normally highly sensitive to 'media spin' just like you, but this time, whilst they did not convert it to cash as I have done, they did not wheel out some tedious Plod to tell us how naughty 31mph is... that alone is a blessing! Perhaps Plod thought 'shit, that's bad PR' and kept their heads down?
That doesn't actually contradict what they said! They only said it needed to be changed on the first day, which fits with your stats! Plus, they might well have developed a Gatso with 'extra' film capacity to save labour costs, no?
I'm normally highly sensitive to 'media spin' just like you, but this time, whilst they did not convert it to cash as I have done, they did not wheel out some tedious Plod to tell us how naughty 31mph is... that alone is a blessing! Perhaps Plod thought 'shit, that's bad PR' and kept their heads down?
Yes, but what's the source of the information? Is it accurate?
Have they merely been told that the film was changed on the first day and extrapolated the rest for themselves?
If there was no plod on the report, it could have been because of the PR angle, but it could have also been because plod knew ful well that the story was complete bollocks. BBC News could have made any old load of tat up - we know how the regional newsrooms particularly love the "Speed Kills" mantra when they're short of disaster and Diana stories and how they make a business out of exaggerating things.
I did say "not out of the question" and I also said "by my understanding" - thereby implying that I am aware my information is not necessarily up to date and that I'm open to be corrected by those in the know.
>> Edited by CarZee on Wednesday 20th November 22:29
Have they merely been told that the film was changed on the first day and extrapolated the rest for themselves?
If there was no plod on the report, it could have been because of the PR angle, but it could have also been because plod knew ful well that the story was complete bollocks. BBC News could have made any old load of tat up - we know how the regional newsrooms particularly love the "Speed Kills" mantra when they're short of disaster and Diana stories and how they make a business out of exaggerating things.
I did say "not out of the question" and I also said "by my understanding" - thereby implying that I am aware my information is not necessarily up to date and that I'm open to be corrected by those in the know.
>> Edited by CarZee on Wednesday 20th November 22:29
From BBC TV East:
A new Gatso in a 30 zone on Dereham Road, Norwich, has caught 2,000 drivers in 2 days. It was kept so busy that it ran out of film on the first day.
£120,000 in 48 hours. So that's a major step forward in road safety then...
Sounds to me like the speed limit is way below what the road can handle. I don't know the road myself (fortunately) but send all grievances to Norfolk Head Plod/Council.
I know Dereham road, but I've not been there recently so I don't know where the camera is. There are parts of it which are hazardous (loads of shops and parked cars). There are other parts which are wide and open with good visibility and downhill (going down hills tends to catch out Norfolk drivers and they end up speeding) I can bet where the camera is.
I do know that they've put a camera on the Norwich ring road on a wide stretch of road which is raised above the surrounding fields and has fences on either side. No junctions, no buildings of any kind, very few pedestrians and it's straight (sweet briar road). It's also 200m away from a tiny roundabout with Dereham road that gets a lot of traffic, where I have seen loads of scrapes and near misses. It looks like they have an accident blackspot and have sited the camera just far enough away to catch people speeding on the safe bit.
I use both the road you describe Capt. Muppet (Ringroad) and Dereham Road on route to work.
The ringroad is exactly as you describe...no houses, no accidents l know of....no reason.
The other road is arranged thus:
One side of road has a houses going up to the road with a pavement, however this side has a bus lane (which is empty 99.9% of the time as usual) nearest the curb. Also the camera DOESN'T COVER this side of the road.
The side of the road covered by the camera has a pavement set about 30ft back from the road with grass seperating the two. The pavement itself is wide and the houses set back from this.
An additional interesting note:
They put the camera lines down and these sat here for a good month or two before any cameras appeared. However one day l did notice a looked-like-camera-van parked up on the verge with some kit (camera?) pointing at these lines for one day only.
Is it likely that this was to see whether it was viable to put a permanent camera in? i.e. No evidence of accident blackspot or wondering-child deaths to work with, so research as to how many cars exceed 30mph on this stretch? = camera financially viable?
**ntsthelotof'em.
The ringroad is exactly as you describe...no houses, no accidents l know of....no reason.
The other road is arranged thus:
One side of road has a houses going up to the road with a pavement, however this side has a bus lane (which is empty 99.9% of the time as usual) nearest the curb. Also the camera DOESN'T COVER this side of the road.
The side of the road covered by the camera has a pavement set about 30ft back from the road with grass seperating the two. The pavement itself is wide and the houses set back from this.
An additional interesting note:
They put the camera lines down and these sat here for a good month or two before any cameras appeared. However one day l did notice a looked-like-camera-van parked up on the verge with some kit (camera?) pointing at these lines for one day only.
Is it likely that this was to see whether it was viable to put a permanent camera in? i.e. No evidence of accident blackspot or wondering-child deaths to work with, so research as to how many cars exceed 30mph on this stretch? = camera financially viable?
**ntsthelotof'em.
BBC East repeated the report on the later news, word for word, so I think it's unlikely to be fiction. I agree that the media is anti-motorist - eg a piece recently began once 'We all know that speeding really does kill...' But my point was to draw attention to the camera resuls, that's all, and I suppose the inferred question was 'is it really fair or reasonable?' £120,000 and 6,000 points issued - that's the equivalent of 500 disqualifications (and who knows how many were on 9 points anyway?). Take the camera away and would anything really change? I doubt it. It's nanny state, greed and PR - and the public buy it.
funkihamsta said: Addendum:
Person working next to me got flashed @ 34mph.
Apart from determining financial viability, the one day study was probably also used to work out what speed threshold to set the camera to recoup expenses over an projected period.
I've done 90mph on that section of ring road (at 3am when I was young and stupid).
Of topic but - does anyone know where you can get your speedo calibrated? When I stick to an indicated 30mph the traffic behind always catches me, I'd like to know if my cars have shite speedos or if everyone else is speeding. [I'm looking for a cheaper alternative to GPS]
2000 hits doesn't mean 2000 fines - IIRC the cameras will carry on flashing and counting (tho not recording or filming) once they run out of film.
Does sound to me tho, from the people who know the area, that Plod/council/whoever is responsible for siting the revenue generators have run out of accident blackspots (anyone know one of these with a camera on it?) and are now surveying roads for likely cash jackpots.
You can see the scenario
Councillor: We're short on budget - go catch some motorists
Plod: Accident stats are static, cameras are all full, but the motorists know where they are now, no new blackspots to target...
Councillor: Go survey the area, see if we've got any straight roads with low limits that we can hit
Plod: I know just the place......
OTOH - if the lines went down a month ago, then everyone who uses the road should've known a camera was coming.... - but then again, put the lines down, but no camera and for a while people will slow down, then realise that there is NO camera and revert back to normal driving. Wait a month for traffic to normalise then put in the camera overnight, load it with film and wait ......
Was it hidden behind a road sign perchance, just so that it could "be close to a power supply"? :sigh:
Does sound to me tho, from the people who know the area, that Plod/council/whoever is responsible for siting the revenue generators have run out of accident blackspots (anyone know one of these with a camera on it?) and are now surveying roads for likely cash jackpots.
You can see the scenario
Councillor: We're short on budget - go catch some motorists
Plod: Accident stats are static, cameras are all full, but the motorists know where they are now, no new blackspots to target...
Councillor: Go survey the area, see if we've got any straight roads with low limits that we can hit
Plod: I know just the place......
OTOH - if the lines went down a month ago, then everyone who uses the road should've known a camera was coming.... - but then again, put the lines down, but no camera and for a while people will slow down, then realise that there is NO camera and revert back to normal driving. Wait a month for traffic to normalise then put in the camera overnight, load it with film and wait ......
Was it hidden behind a road sign perchance, just so that it could "be close to a power supply"? :sigh:
Of topic but - does anyone know where you can get your speedo calibrated? When I stick to an indicated 30mph the traffic behind always catches me, I'd like to know if my cars have shite speedos or if everyone else is speeding. [I'm looking for a cheaper alternative to GPS]
Best way is to borrow a GPS from a friend or a friendly shop, calibrate it and return it. Be sure that it gives speed and is set up in mph rather than knots or kmh.
Alternatively, use the markers on the side of the motorway, which are exactly 100m apart and marked in km to one decimal point, and using a stopwatch and simple physics, determine your speed. That, however, requires two people and a steady speed over a few miles.
R
yum said:
Best way is to borrow a GPS from a friend or a friendly shop, calibrate it and return it. Be sure that it gives speed and is set up in mph rather than knots or kmh.
Alternatively, use the markers on the side of the motorway, which are exactly 100m apart and marked in km to one decimal point, and using a stopwatch and simple physics, determine your speed. That, however, requires two people and a steady speed over a few miles.
R
Cheers, The steady speed thing should be easy - I'll just keep the engine on the limiter.
I know the camera well.
As has been said before the lines were painted ages before the camera was put up and the camera sat there a few weeks before a film went in it.
I was coming up to the cam the other day and knew there was'nt a film in cos my Radar was'nt going off so I flew passed all the cars braking hard to slow down. They must've thought I had'nt seen it
As has been said before the lines were painted ages before the camera was put up and the camera sat there a few weeks before a film went in it.
I was coming up to the cam the other day and knew there was'nt a film in cos my Radar was'nt going off so I flew passed all the cars braking hard to slow down. They must've thought I had'nt seen it
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