Speed cameras not the answer

Incident 1

N330JCK

Blue Rover 100 Kensington SE

At 00:41 on 19.07.10 while driving along Church Road and turning left at the traffic lights onto the A584 (Lytham Road) heading towards Freckleton, this driver was speeding and he was tempted to overtake on Church Road but there was not enough space and the lights were on red.

We both turned left at the lights and this bumlicker was trying to get me to go faster yet again but impatience got the better of him and he overtook between Elder Close and Mill Lane which is a 30mph zone.


Incident 2

X6PRX
Silver BMW 530D Sport Auto

Doing about 70mph plus along the A584 towards Lytham by Stanway at about 19:05 on 21.07.10 this driver overtook a stream of vehicles doing 50 mph (speed limit) on a straight stretch towards Lytham because nothing was coming the other way. Was he trying to impress with his materialistic brain?


Why are some motorists so opportunist and impatient and feel they have a right to intentionally break the law or the need to?

theres a lot of money being made in setting up the police state, who's making all the money? you have to ask yourself who is providing "consultancy" at however many hundred thousand a year to the suppliers and makers of the camera systems?

As a comment on the original gripe; Swindon switched off its fixed speed cameras last July. There has been NO increase in accidents since; proof that they do nothing for road safety!

As the OG says "it is not speed alone that kills but dangerous driving."

concerned; it was me who said that. I did not say that my having no points was vindication of my "speeding"; that vindication is provided by my safe driving record!

The road where I do most of my "speeding" is a main road which goes between two towns; it grazes the edge of the village where I live. It is a good A road and has never until recently had a speed limit imposed, so the limit was 60mph for decades, apart from a section at 40mph running past the village.

Recently, for no apparent reason, a 40mph limit was imposed on one half of the road. So now I can legally go to one town at up to 60mph, but not the other. The road is the same, up to 60mph on all of it was perfectly safe for decades and still is.

Strangely enough, there was a fatal accident on the other section of the road a few years ago; the speed limit has remained 60mph! This accident was caused by a maniac doing around 80 - 90mph; so the speed limit made no difference anyway!

So; along with most of the other drivers who regularly use this road; I drive along it at more or less the same speed that I always have done. This may be as low as 25mph in bad conditions or up to 60mph on the straight sections in good conditions. I use my discretion and drive safely.

someone said they only break the speed limit when its safe and the proof is not having any speeding points.This is seriously flawed logic,most behaviour however careless doesn't lead to injury of any kind therefore it is safe to behave in that way so the thinking goes! This is similar to the logic that defends smoking and drinking as O.K because 'my Grandpa drank a bottle of whiskey and smoked 60 cigarettes a day until he died at 96'. This may be true for the individual but the chances for a larger population are remote.Most unsafe behaviour on roads ,or elsewhere ,do not lead to injury or damage nevertheless they should be considered as accidents.The definition of an accident by RoSPA is 'an unplanned event which may or may not lead to injury or damage' i.e a deviation from the required standard.

No, i'm not going to try it either hence why I stick on the CC and it's definately not worth losing ones licence over at all. I'd hate to have to go through all the expense of doing the PCV training and test again. Always best to play safe.

Youthful Griper - I aint about to test the idea, besides not worth losing ya licence over, just leave 5 minutes early. I reckon some cameras dont work, and word gets around maybe. Anyway, if you do try it let me know how you get on.

RotA: another reason to use cruise control :) works well during the average speed check through 50mph roadworks. Obviously no use if these cameras get implemented through 'rat runs'.

What I don't understand is that I'm sat doing 50 through the average speed check yet there are others overtaking me, doing much faster speeds. I don't mean an extra 2-3 mph, I mean they must be travelling at around 60mph. Do they know something I don't?

I know some police forces have a tolerance level formula if using mobile speed traps of '10%+2'. i.e. if you're doing below 35 in a 30 they might choose to ignore you, same for >46 in a 40, >57 in a 50 etc.

I wonder if this rule applies to the average speed cameras?

Have a look at this you are well f*d now http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8632440.stm

GL: I'd be interested to hear about your mistake with CC.

I was a bit apprehensive about using CC to begin with but the one on my Corsa is relatively simple to use. I guess it is a bit of a gimmick but as I knew this car would be the last one I'd be buying brand new for some time, I specified the optional gadgets such as CC. I wouldn't be without the TC and ESP+ though, makes handling so much nicer than my previous Corsa. Touch wood, I've not had any incidents or 'near misses' due to its operation but it won't operate below 20mph or over 120mph (according to the manual) and there are 3 ways of quickly disabling it.

I just find it's good at saving me fuel, especially on the motorways. I've an onboard computer that tells me the fuel range, instant consumption and average consumption and I've always found the CC does a better job of managing those figures than my driving. I drove to Manchester airport from Yorkshire and back last month which added 100+ more miles on my usual fortnightly mileage. I'd say 80% of the journey was by CC enabled and was kept at around 68 (50 during the roadworks on the M62) and I used less fuel in that fortnight with the extra mileage than other fortnights where it'd just be city driving to and from work. I work in fortnights as 1 tank of fuel will usually last this long, doing around 350 miles to a tank of diesel.

Youthfull griper, I have had cruise control on a Scorpio and I did use it on motorways, but I think it is a gimmick that takes getting used to, I will be honest and state that I made a mistake once using it, and someone had to sound their horn at me because of it,

They were not allowed in Germany at the time, and I bet a few other countries as well, if one of those things can cause me to make a road traffic mistake, then I am sure that someone else would make the same mistake.

Thanks for the clarification, Youthful.

I think Realist was hoping for speed limiters which would respond automatically to all speed limits, as you say they would make drivers lazy. I always tend to think we need more education and less state control; others think the opposite!