I am fed up of hearing people moaning about speed cameras and all the comments about the revenue collected.
I’ll let you into a little secret. If you don’t speed, you won’t get flashed by a camera, pretty simple really.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no saint. But if I decide to drive at 50 or 56 on a single carriageway road, I can’t complain if I get caught. I am responsible for my actions so therefore at fault.
I don’t always agree with the speed limits on our roads, especially a long stretch of straight road in the middle of no-where being a 40 limit, but that is the speed limit, and I have the choice of sticking to it or breaking it.
Can someone who has 9 points on their licence through speeding class themselves as a professional driver? I think not.
If you get caught for speeding, weather by camera; SPECS, or “hairdryer”, it’s your lookout.
We all know the limits. If we choose to break them, so be it. Just don’t winge when the points all add up!
Mind you… I’ve got a Road Angel … WHAT a Godsend! On roads I don’t know, it keeps me aware of “Revenoo- Gathers” as I go along. And it gives me an accurate speed reading
In the main I do agree with the if you get caught it’s your own fault argument.
However these camera’s are about raising revenue not stopping speeding.
I have a clean licence & do stick to speed limits on the bike, in the car & in a truck or bus. But I have seen a speeding ticket issued for 31 mph in a 30.
Our local pedestrian crossing was covered by a camera, now under the scamera fund raising initiative & due we are told to an accident black spot, the camera has been moved a 100 yards up the road & further away from the black spot. This now means that vehicles speed up for our pedestrian crossing & that there is a set of traffic lights & a pedestrian crossing between the fund raising initiative & the black spot.
The result of this cash raising initiative by our so called Road Safety Parnership has been to increase the number of vehicles prepared to jump the red light at our pedestrian crossing. So if these camera’s are truly about reducing accidents at black spots why are they allowed to put them even further from danger points & allowed to place them where they truely do increase the danger faced by other road users?.
Camera’s do slow motorists down, fact, but not for 3 miles or even 300 yards so if it truly is about road safety at accident black spots why are they allowed to place them at the most profitable point & often miles from the so called point of need ■■.
theghostofcain:
I am fed up of hearing people moaning about speed cameras and all the comments about the revenue collected.
I’ll let you into a little secret. If you don’t speed, you won’t get flashed by a camera, pretty simple really.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no saint. But if I decide to drive at 50 or 56 on a single carriageway road, I can’t complain if I get caught. I am responsible for my actions so therefore at fault.
I don’t always agree with the speed limits on our roads, especially a long stretch of straight road in the middle of no-where being a 40 limit, but that is the speed limit, and I have the choice of sticking to it or breaking it.
Can someone who has 9 points on their licence through speeding class themselves as a professional driver? I think not.
…
You are bang on mate. If you don’t speed you don’t get caught. No arguments. End of!!!
50 mph speed limit single carriageway on a sunny summers day, light traffic. Car doing 58 snapped by a speed camera, oops 3 points & a fine!
Same road middle of january very thick fog. Car doing 50… no points, no fine!
Which is most dangerous?
Sandon Rd, Stoke on Trent. Nice wide road, downhill for most of the way & goes past a big school where there have been 2 accidents in the past 2 years involving kids (minor injuries only thank god) 30 mph speed limit. How many speed cameras? NONE
A34 fron Stoke to Stafford thro Tittensor, dual carriageway & 60 mph limit (drops to 40 @ Tittensor for half a mile) no accidents that I can remember for ages. How many speed cameras? 12 I think!
Why site cameras on one but not the other? My answer is that the chances of catching anyone speeding on Sandon Rd are slim cos it’s usually busy but a nice sweeping dual carriageway with a 60 limit, no residential areas or schools = more chance of making money!
40 mph limit for trucks on single carriageway roads has been ignored by truckers & police for years, according to what I’ve read, in the interests of road safety & keeping traffic flowing. Apparently there is a new camera that can distinguish a truck from a car & will snap the truck doing 48… Why? Trucks will now stick to the 40 limit & it will lead to impatience & accidents, something the police have known for some time.
I have no problem with speed limits, my last points were in1991, but I do have a problem with speed cameras when the reason for having them, IE safety, is totally ignored in the interests of making money.
While I agree that if you are caught speeding you only have yourself to blame but surely some common sense should be evident somewhere.
There are cameras that can distinguish between cars and trucks. There’s one on the A303 south of Andover. How do I know? One of my friends got hammered by it doing 45 mph. It took about 3 weeks for the ticket to arrive at head office, then another week for it to come on down to him. Quite a shock, as he hadn’t seen the flash. we’ve yet to pin it’s position down with any accuracy, but when we do, we’ll let every know!
And on the subject of silly placed cameras, is the one on the A1 (I think) just before the A14 split still there? That has caused MORE accidents since it was put in. It’s just over the brow of a hill and all the locals know it and rocket up the hill then chuck the anchor out to go past, then accelerate hard downhill to the roundabout. The number of rear-enders it has caused is horrible. So, of course, the council have pointed to rising number of accidents in the area, patted themselves on the back for “doing something about it”, and gone off to Barbados or wherever on holiday thanks to all the money the fines are dragging in. They have yet to accept that it’s the CAMERA that has made the accident rate go up, not us lot being “dangerous drivers” at the heinous speed of 52mph…
Redline Racing:
Can anyone tell me if the following is correct ?
I was informed that If you are caught speeding you can have the option to take the fine and points or go on a speed awareness course.
I know which option I would choose!!!
I’ve heard of this but I think it may only occur in certain areas of the country. Not only would I take this option but I think other countries have found it has a more positive effect on road safety than a fine and points.
The points system is grossly unfair anyway. If the average car driver gets 3 points, he only travels approx 35,000 miles in the 3 years before they are removed. Anyone on long distance will travel nearly 250,000 miles before they are removed.
Personally, I don’t know how anyone can still get caught by a gatso. There big enough and you get plenty of notice. Is it too difficult to pass them all at the speed limit. Even I can manage that.
Redline Racing:
Can anyone tell me if the following is correct ?
I was informed that If you are caught speeding you can have the option to take the fine and points or go on a speed awareness course.
I know which option I would choose!!!
I’ve heard of this but I think it may only occur in certain areas of the country. Not only would I take this option but I think other countries have found it has a more positive effect on road safety than a fine and points.
A colleague of my wife was given this option & took the awareness course, what they didn’t tell her however was that the course was not in Norfolk but in the Manchester area.
It’s not always the best option.
Redline Racing:
Can anyone tell me if the following is correct ?
I was informed that If you are caught speeding you can have the option to take the fine and points or go on a speed awareness course.
I know which option I would choose!!!
I’ve heard of this but I think it may only occur in certain areas of the country. Not only would I take this option but I think other countries have found it has a more positive effect on road safety than a fine and points.
A colleague of my wife was given this option & took the awareness course, what they didn’t tell her however was that the course was not in Norfolk but in the Manchester area.
It’s not always the best option.
Fair point, if like me 3 points probably wouldn’t affect you then you’re right but I think I’d still drive a long distance to take the course to try to keep a clean licence as points last 3 years and speed cameras are becoming more prevalent.
Picture an English village.
The driver is doing 65 mph (must be really dangerous)
On a nearby Motorway (Oh, thats alright then)
Traffic is stationary (oooops, might not be able to stop)
250 yards ahead (Oh, we’ll be able to stop then)
The road is icy (Oh dear, we’ll never be able to stop in 250 yards on ice)
But the driver has studded winter tyres fitted (Oh right, that’ll help the braking quite a bit, we’ll be able to stop easily)
But, the driver is drunk and inattentive (really really dangerous again)
See how the speed didn’t change, but as we revealed more and more detail of the scene, the apparent safety bounced between perfectly safe and highly dangerous?
We ended up with an extremely dangerous, but perfectly legal 65mph on a motorway.
A motorway is about the safest road in the country.
Only just noticed the cameras hidden in the sign gantries on the M25 during the variable speed limit section. 3 cameras flashed at the same time on the opposite carriageway to me
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no saint. But if I decide to drive at 50 or 56 on a single carriageway road, I can’t complain if I get caught. I am responsible for my actions so therefore at fault.
I don’t always agree with the speed limits on our roads, especially a long stretch of straight road in the middle of no-where being a 40 limit, but that is the speed limit, and I have the choice of sticking to it or breaking it.
Yes you have the choice, but remember the guy in front i.e me, If I’m driving to the speed limit, please don’t start flashing me, or tailgating because I’m slowing you down.
In all honesty I don’t stick to the speed limits at all, be it in the car or the wagon. I have a speeding offence free licence and fully realise that if I get caught speeding I only have myself to blame.
The speed limits are set far too low anyway, primarily to cater for those that weren’t born with any common sense.
Magic Mel:
Yes you have the choice, but remember the guy in front i.e me, If I’m driving to the speed limit, please don’t start flashing me, or tailgating because I’m slowing you down.
In most cases, the only way to get passed 40mph trucks is to tailgate. Leave a gap and 2 cars nip in front of you. Then when they pass the slow truck and you can’t, 2 more cars pull in front of you. I will always tailgate 40mph trucks, but it is never to intimidate or get them to speed up. Waste of time in my opinion, they don’t seem to look in their mirrors anyway.
Rob K:
In all honesty I don’t stick to the speed limits at all, be it in the car or the wagon. I have a speeding offence free licence and fully realise that if I get caught speeding I only have myself to blame.
The speed limits are set far too low anyway, primarily to cater for those that weren’t born with any common sense.
… WHAT a Godsend! On roads I don’t know, it keeps me aware of “Revenoo- Gathers” as I go along. And it gives me an 
