Yesterday I attended an annual exhibition at the NEC called Traffex.
Ok, firstly, yes, it's boring ... very boring infact, but I am "expected" to attend and as Roachy said on a text to me, I was getting paid to drive to Birmingham and walk around an exhibition for a few hours.
Anyway, Traffex is aimed at the transportation planning and engineering industry and is the transport equivalent of the bike show as far as showing off the latest technology etc.
I have never really enjoyed Traffex, let's face it, you can only look at so many variable message traffic sign displays. But yesterday was different.
Yesterday was disappointing, even depressing.
Yesterday the entire show was pretty much about the latest speed cameras, speed monitoring equipment and speed enforcement technology. Even I had no idea as to how good we are getting at measuring speed.
It is also very obvious that there is a lot of money to be made by these cameras. The fact that so many are on the market shows that there is a serious demand.
But isn't this simply so depressing? We already have far more speed (I refuse to refer to them as "safety cameras") cameras than any other country in the world and I have no doubt that there will be far more within ten years.
In Germany they have a mobile one developed that can register your speed 1 kilometer before the fixed camera. Also,over there they have signs up but don't paint the cameras yellow like over here. They say don't break the law and you won't get caught so why paint them so they can be seen a mile away.
We have one just up the road from us that has suffered one of those "NIGHT TIME MALFUNCTIONS" 3 times since it's arrival a couple of years ago!..............Twice with the use of some kind of hacksaw it seemed and once with the aid of rather a lot of heat!............Shame!
I thought that according to the urban myth if the camera is yellow then the fine goes to the local authority and police. if it is Grey then the fine goes to the exchequer. Anyone else heard this??
If speed cameras being yellow means drivers slow down when they see them I say keep them yellow. One less death or serious injury is always a good thing surely?
Don't know if this is true but i've heard the new ones are digital and go direct to the DVLA. So if you get flashed (open for comments here no doubt) and vandalise it after then its too late. Also heard rumour that they are putting them in cats eyes along motorways.
I think the cameras in the Limehouse tunnel are digital - I'm pretty sure I saw an article about it on the local news when they put them in, saying there'd be no escaping... The technology's there and readily available, it's just a matter of time/money before they all go digital...
Who thinks that bringing back the 'orse n cart is a good idea?
The way this country / government is going there won't be anyone left to speed, we'll all have emigrated
In my humble opinion speed cameras cause as many hazards as they prevent.
Riders and drivers braking hard to try and beat the camera cause a ripple effect in following traffic.
The only traffic calming measure I have seen to work are the flashing signs which warn of the speed limit, and some even show your true speed !
This is in no way an endorsement of such equipment just an observation.
Em
speed cameras are yellow as by law they have to be easy to see,if the police try to conceal them in any way you can fight your ticket.The grey cameras are actually just traffic monitering devices.Even the new digital cameras have to be visible but theres no loopholes with these as you have with the old style cameras so if you they get you your well and truly got.
No one makes the old style cameras now that take film (film I hear you say, what is this that the fool talks about?). All new cameras are digital.
Some store the information on tape or disc and is removed regularly for checking, but most new cameras are linked directly to a central hub via the telephone lines.
The problem with the old film type cameras and indeed the new digital ones that store the data, is that in order to prosecute, a Notice of Intended Prosecution must be issued such that it could be expected to be delivered within 14 days of the offence.
It used to be that the NIP required to be actually delivered within 14 days, but people were claiming they never received them. Even sending them by recorded delivery didn't always work because people who were flashed would be suspicious of any card through the letterbox within fourteen days saying a letter was at the local sorting office that needed signing for. So they were simply leaving it until after the fourteen days were up and then going for them.
But the fourteen days rule means that the information has to be removed from the camera and the data analysed ideally within the first three to four days of the offence in order to make sure there is plenty of time to issue the NIP. This in turn means that the film or digital media has to be swapped every few days and this requires a man with a van and man with a van is expensive.
The new digital cameras that are linked via telephone line overcome this issue very easily. You get flashed, the camera then instantly sends the data down the telephone line to a computer at the safety camera partnership hub or where ever; the computer then automatically issues a NIP.
So you could have an NIP in the post on the same day you get flashed!
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