Tuesday 20th April 2010

Camera Tickets Drop, But New Tech On Trial

'Scamera'-issued tickets have fallen, but new average speed cameras are on the way

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A new study has revealed what many motorists always suspected - that speed cameras have been used as little more than 'cash cows' for police forces and safety camera partnerships.

A Home Office report says that the number of speed camera tickets issued to the public has dropped off significantly since police were stopped from holding onto part of the revenue from speed cameras.

Safety camera partnerships (joint ventures between police and local councils) were prevented from keeping any money from camera-generated revenues in 2007, whereupon the number of camera tickets issued plummeted immediately from 1.63million in 2006 to 1.26million in 2007. Tickets issued then dropped to just 1.03million in 2008 - the lowest level since 2001.

Critics also call into question the validity of the speed camera concept."You should never measure safe driving by miles per hour," Claire Armstrong, cofounder of the Safe Speed campaign group told the Daily Mail. "It is not going to be improved just by sticking up a few cameras and taking police off the roads and it does nothing for the relationship between the public and the police."

Jennifer Dunn, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, also told the Mail: "Motorists have paid a fortune in speeding fines over the last decade and there is no real sign that the system has succeeded in changing people's behaviour."

But the number of 'scameras' is still steadily growing. In 2000, there were 1935 speed cameras in the UK; today there are approximately 6000.

And it shows no sign of stopping. Trials are currently underway of a new average-speed system called 'SpeedSpike', which combines GPS with numberplate recognition technology. It also records images of both vehicles and drivers.

"We have an urban test site at Salter Road in Southwark and are working in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police," Says SpeedSpike's makers, PIPS Technology. "We also have an inter-urban test site located on the A374 from Torpoint to Antony at which we are working with the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary."

The technology is not currently Home Office approved, so is not as yet being used for enforcement. There's no word on when the new cameras will actually come into force.

[sidekickdmr]

I'm not looking forward to these average speed cameras poping up everywhere!

Wouldn't take much to link them all together to record how long it took you to get from one town to the next etc

[nadirv8]

very clever but not impressed at all. Come up with something which targets dangerous tailgaiting, and cars with no MOT or insurance and I may be convinced.

[dudley71]

Salter Road, SE16: dangerous road, or honey trap?

Hmm: http://www.tuningtruck.com/20-mph-madness.html

[soad]

bds, pure s. Issued penalties will sky-rocket no doubt ( at least, initially)! All about the revenue. sts

[The real Apache]

"Trials are currently underway of a new average-speed system called 'SpeedSpike', which combines GPS with numberplate recognition technology. It also records images of both vehicles and drivers"

Well I guess all that 'stupid paranoia' was justified after all then, who'd have thought it

[A.S.H]

what a set of c *** s!

[soad]

A.S.H said:

what a set of c *** s!

Aye, will use them to fking spy on us too, I take it!

Edited by Riggers on Monday 19th April 15:16

[tobster911]

It still misses the point entirely and is focussing on removing the ‘slow down for camera then speed up’ revenue hole in current scameras.

As for safety – speeding is not necessarily dangerous, everyone knows that and there is research to prove it so this can only be a revenue generator.

If safety was a priority, cameras of any type would be abolished and the money put towards funding police who not only know the difference between ‘speeding’ and dangerous driving, but are also capable of recognising the many other categories of unsafe driving.

[alexpa]

Unite, stand up, and be heard. In the UK we moan but do not act. We simply roll over and get it shoved up the proverbial

This again let's the drivers with the worst accident record off the hook: The uninsured! All 1.5+ Million of them


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance...

[soad]

tobster911 said:

Is focussing on removing the ‘slow down for camera then speed up’ revenue hole in current scameras.

Exactly, will sponge off even more money of the motorists.

[Belfast Boy]

simple solution replace existing crappy British plates with something more unreflective and creative then the fine is only £60?


http://www.states-plates.com/store/plate-wizard/


"Sorry Officer I forgot to take off my Showplates" says the thick Paddy!

Edited by Belfast Boy on Monday 19th April 15:37

[soad]

Belfast Boy said:

simple solution replace existing crappy British plates with something more unreflective and creative then the fine is only £60?

Good thinking there, but no doubt they'll up the fines over time too.

Can't win really.

[JohnnyPanic]

dudley71 said:

Salter Road, SE16: dangerous road, or honey trap?

Hmm: http://www.tuningtruck.com/20-mph-madness.html

This is my neck of the woods, and as such I drive along Salter Road quite frequently. Don't really see much evidence of people flooring it around - it's so quiet it attracts a lot of learner drivers.

There is currently one randomly placed Gatso in each direction. Absolutely no call for any more speed cameras of any type IMO.

[Jam Spavlin]

looks fairly similar to SPECS in its workings

http://pipstechnology.com/news/library/datasheets/...

Still how much more cash making speed enforcement cameras do we need? im all for them in villages and built up areas but on the open road/motorway? no fk off yet another way of squeezing cash out of the motorist! The sooner this stealth taxing regime of a government is out the better for me!

Edited by Jam Spavlin on Monday 19th April 15:46

[Belfast Boy]

soad said:

Belfast Boy said:

simple solution replace existing crappy British plates with something more unreflective and creative then the fine is only £60?

Good thinking there, but no doubt they'll up the fines over time too.

Can't win really.

I drove around London for 2 years with these on, letting out Police cars from side streets and blatently RHD.

They might up the fines, as its all the imagination of this corrupt Government, RED,Blue or Yellow party! but this is my Protest and I've been doing it for years!

Edited by Belfast Boy on Monday 19th April 15:48

Edited by Belfast Boy on Monday 19th April 15:49

Edited by Belfast Boy on Monday 19th April 15:51

BO77OX TO PHOTOBUCKET!

Edited by Belfast Boy on Monday 19th April 15:52

[CraigGTI6]

When was the first speed camera introduced and by who? What complete pri*k thought that they were a good idea??

This sort of technology is just such a waste of money. Why not put the money into developing safer roads, i.e. removing blind bends, improving junctions etc. They openly say these are put on 'dangerous' stretches of road, ergo money could or should be spent on making the road itself safer, not just making everyone plod along at an arbitrary speed.

I really could rattle on for ages about this but I'm not going to as it'll just make me even more angry with the liberal idiots who believe these cameras have anything to do with safety. The ONLY exception is when they're by a school. They are not needed anywhere else. If you speed outside a school you really are a moron who deserves the punishment.

[Kazlet]

A trully appauling attitude towards basically law abiding citizens.
Why bother to do anything about the real problem when you can scam the public with these money boxes.
Total disgrace.
The gatso liberation front needs to be expanded....the public always have ultimate power.

[ellisd82]

I may have mentioned this before. Where i live, there is a GATSO that is not making any money at all, why? because it is just before the traffic lights and the traffic is always bad - you can't even do 10mph sometimes! lol So what have they done to 'improve' the situation? Well they have put a mobile camera 400yards earlier to catch people before they hit traffic! If you don't speed, you won't get caught, fair enough - but what about the waste of time and money these things are on a normal stretch of road with no accidents! Only 3 accidents
1. Drink driver being chased by the Police and he ran a red light hitting somone travelling at 5mph going through on green.
2. Kid killed - he jumped off the kerb into the road and infront of a tractor.
3. My brother slowing to about 5pmh and coming off his motorbike when he hit oil.

None have speed as an issue! No cameras are required yet money is still wasted on them!

[JumpinJack]

Belfast Boy said:

soad said:

Belfast Boy said:

simple solution replace existing crappy British plates with something more unreflective and creative then the fine is only £60?

Good thinking there, but no doubt they'll up the fines over time too.

Can't win really.

I drove around London for 2 years with these on, letting out Police cars from side streets and blatently RHD.

They might up the fines, as its all the imagination of this corrupt Government, RED,Blue or Yellow party! but this is my Protest and I've been doing it for years!


BO77OX TO PHOTOBUCKET!

Edited by Belfast Boy on Monday 19th April 15:52

And 3 points isn't it...?

[ToGGoT]

Presuming the GPS is constant, and not just a preliminary location fix, what stops someone sticking a small battery powered GPS jammer to the bottom of the camera? Surely that would render the camera unusable, as it would be unable to fix its position...

If that is the case, installing these widely would be a costly mistake.

ToGGoT