Is the thread title correct ?. I thought they were revenue cameras & they certainly have nothing to do with safety.
froggy:
,the one and only time a traffic copper can break the the law is when showing blue flashing lights and dont let any one tell you differant!!!
Wrong Froggy 
Blue lights are only intended to advise of an Emergency, Displaying a Blue light allows the driver to treat Red lights as give way signs, exceed the speed limits if safe to do so, but the driver is ultimately responsible for his actions, no law on this land is made which exonerates police officers or any other emergency service from them. 
Flatbedman, i have to agree with you totally, a sign will make no diferance in an impact of any sort i also agree that three lanes are enough, however there has been alot of impacts with vehicles stopped on the hard shoulder, my point is i always thought it was illegal to stop on the hard shoulder except in an emergency, if you or i or anyone else stopped for any other reason i dont think our boys in blue would say thats alright mate we do it so you can.
My point is that the law should be the law for all, and i dont think a camera van is a justifiable breach of the law, so your coments are true but not in the context of my post, i dont think that if anyone is not beaking the law they should ignore some one that is no matter who or in what way they are breaking it.
It is not my wish to take issue with anyone you have your thoughts and opinions and i have mine, thats what makes us who we are, i just wish to point out that i agree with your reply but that was not my meaning.
Davey Driver:
froggy:
,the one and only time a traffic copper can break the the law is when showing blue flashing lights and dont let any one tell you differant!!!Wrong Froggy
Blue lights are only intended to advise of an Emergency, Displaying a Blue light allows the driver to treat Red lights as give way signs, exceed the speed limits if safe to do so, but the driver is ultimately responsible for his actions, no law on this land is made which exonerates police officers or any other emergency service from them.
Wrong both of you.
Any vehicle being used by the emergency services can disobey any road traffic sign if obeying that traffic sign would hinder the purpose to which the vehicle was being used. No mention of blue lights, sirens or anything else lke that.
Traffic lights are classed as traffic signs under the road traffic act.
Spending 9 yr as a Part time fireman I can tell you that Blue lights must be used to show that the vehicle is being used as an emergency. It was later decided that as doctors were not part of the emergency services employed by the government that green lights would be used for them, the emergency services are not exempt from any part of the highway code, it merely permits them to use discretion in reaching the destination as quickly as possible, hence the reason drivers are prosecuted in the event of an accident whilst travelling to the scene of an emergency 
Also I will go no further than saying that an ambulance driver was charged last year for speeding whilst delivering a human organ for transplant, although the charges were later dropped as sense was seen by the authorities.
Vehicles not identified with blue lights are treat as normal civilian vehicles, another point to be made is that a driver of a motor vehicle is not oblidged to pull over for a vehicle with blue lights, it is only a courteous gesture that drivers do.
You can be charged with inconsideration, but if you can show a reason why you did not pull over you cannot be prosecuted.
If these are white unmarked camera vans then I know here in North Yorkshire these vans are not to catch speeding motorists but to catch people with expired insurance and road tax.
They scan/read the number plate of the vehicle as it approaches the camera van - it then cross checks the plate against the DVLA database and the database knows if the tax has run out or there is no insurance for the vehicle. Usually their is a police officer nearby who will pull the vehicle over and carry out a check.
I also know this database link shows up banned people and also vehicles that are illegally registered.
I know a bit about this because one of the police officers who works on this vehicle gave a talk to the bike group I belong to.