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My gripe this week is with speed cameras! "Speed Kills" is the message that is filling the current advertising campaign; however, in my opinion, it is not speed alone that kills but dangerous driving. The problem with speed cameras is that they are not able to make this differentiation.
We all speed at sometime during our driving experience, even if not intentionally. Sometimes it is necessary to exceed the speed limit to keep safe on the road, to manoeuvre out of a dangerous situation for example. Speeding on an empty motorway at night is not the same as speeding in a built up area, where children might run into the road. Speed cameras are unable to judge an offence individually and therefore penalise each offence as being equal when they are clearly not.
Speed cameras do not penalise drivers for speeding, we all speed now and then. I think it would be more appropriate to say that speed cameras penalise drivers for getting caught.
The most dangerous offenders of breaking speed limits and threatening road safety are probably the ones that know where all the camera points are and take deliberate measures to avoid getting caught.
Whilst I agree that there is a place for prevention and increased speed awareness, I feel that speed cameras do not really work to make the roads a safer place; they merely make driving a less pleasurable experience.
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What sort?
Only last year an idiot behind me thought I was slow off the mark at a junction and started flashing his lights and beeping his horn whereas I gave him the appropriate salute of two fingers (not one) he then pursued me down the road waving his fist and tried to force me off the road.
I made the decision to remain in the car and laugh it off rather than get out and show him what’s what; do these idiots think they are invincible?
If he behaved like that in the USA he would come to a grisly end but in this country it seems to be normal behaviour without any repercussions. Such people should be banned from driving, but they never are because they get away with it.
16:10
X633MCE
Fiat LTIPLA JTD 105 ELX
Grey
Church Road between traffic lights and Birley Arms
Harasses me for sticking to the 20 mph limit.
Most motorists coming the other way stuck to it but as usual some don’t. Shows impatience and attempts to overtake but fails, then his impatience gets the better of him and eventually overtakes into oncoming traffic and flashes at me for going too slow.
Sorry mate it is the law and no doubt you’ve got problems if you haven’t got patience with law-abiding motorists. I suggest you see a counsellor as you nearly caused an accident speeding into oncoming traffic.
Unfortunately, because a proportion of the population of this country are incapable of self-regulation (in this case, driving fast when it's inappropriate), the government has to pass laws to protect those people from themselves and us from them. Probably, the majority of drivers in this country would happily adjust their speed according to condtions, driving 80mph+ on empty motorways and maybe under 20 mph in heavily bult-up areas, but are not allowed to make those decisions because of a percentage of the population are too stupid or inconsiderate to manage their time better and drive sensibly.
So in real terms, it's the circumstances that determines the safety factor not the speed limit and cameras cannot control that.
There is little point in whingeing and ME watch your step printing number plates.
We need even higher fuel prices, insurance reductions for speed limited cars and realistic limits, such as 80mph on motorways.
Van pulls out from behind me when I stopped at red light in Wolverhampton and he went through a red light. This wasn't human error or a reaction time error since I managed to slow down so he had more time and he chose to overtake. If he had enough time to adjust to overtake he had enough time to stop at red.
FM55LJN in excess of 60 mph on dual carriageway where limit was 40 on A51 near Weston.
L33SJA exceeds 40 mph speed limit on A34 near Tittensor but slows down sharply at speed cameras. Dangerous braking.
If they were genuinely installed to increase road safety, and the police and CPS were on board with this, then he would never have been prosecuted.
The officer he fell foul of is obviously a self-righteous jobsworth who wasn't going to let anyone stop her fining as many drivers as possible, whether they were actually driving dangerously or not. Michael Thompson interfered with this; that is why he was prosecuted.
Tough
They are used as cash machines !