Safe Speed Forums

Did I hear right on the radio today?
The Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire has come up with the idea of putting out loads of HIDDEN speed cameras.
I was under the impression that DfT guidelines had effectively stopped this practice.
Also, in what way will Hidden cameras aid road safety, if they are hidden, you may be tempted to go over the limit, I am under the impression that one of the prime roles of the police is crime PREVENTION.
You cannot prevent crime by hiding, only catch it, to prevent crime, you have to be seen.

_________________
Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

In Cambridgeshire.... Nooooo

Hidden cameras=Hidden numberplate. If they want to go against the guidelines, then we should be able too. I know this goes against the message of this site, but my licence and my ability to pay attention to the road is more important that adherance to an arbitary speed!

Let's hope they are forward facing, I am looking at another bike at the weekend

This Pratnership is a joke! Hidden scameras? They do not have enough already?

already posted on another thread here about their lies: namely 187 deaths on A14/A141 on 19 March 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.

How can I be so sure it is bunkum?

Because I and the rest of this gang have driven on those roads on that very date every year since 1985.

How can I be so positive about the date?

Well, this family is tight-nit, clannish and family life comes first.

Family member celebrates his wedding anniversary on that date , and throws whopping big party!

We all toootle down there on the dates in question.

We have never ever seen, heard, witnessed, been held up by any accident minor or major on those roads.

We have never heard of any accidents on local media on those dates either.

Relative in question is senior doctor down there. his mates work A&E.

No-one was called back to deal with major disaster, major influx of casualties or anything.

In short - this Pratenshership are biggest bunch of ******** fibblers we have come across and they even put Brainstorm and LanCASHire in the shade for this!

HUMBUG!

One very MAD Moggie Cat

Here is the article from the cambs evening news. Do think he has been to see one of his collegues in Wales?

SECRET POLICE!
Published on 06 April 2004
HIDDEN speed cameras could be the future for Cambridgeshire, a police chief has warned.

John Reynolds, Chairman of Cambridgeshire Police Authority, said if motorists succeed in outsmarting cameras, which currently have to be visible, their reward could be hidden cameras.

Writing in the latest Coton Community News, a newsletter distributed to Coton residents he represents on Cambridgeshire County Council, Mr Reynolds said he was becoming increasingly annoyed with the widely held view that the interaction between motorists and police was "a sort of sporting competition."

Mr Reynolds went on to question the requirement that cameras should be painted in bright colours and sited in clearly visible positions.

"Nobody seems to think it unsporting for undercover police officers to sneak up on drug dealers or for trading standards staff to use similar tactics against rogue traders," he wrote.

"Like it or not, the road speed limits are enshrined in the laws of the land, passed by democratically elected representatives. If you decide, for any reason, to break those laws, you must expect sanctions to be applied."

Speaking to the News, Mr Reynolds said if people did not stop breaking speed limits, hidden cameras were an obvious next step for the Government. He said speeding drivers destroyed communities and had to be stopped.

"If people do not abide by the law then those that legislate may decide to take action," he said.

"One of the options is that speed cameras would not be visible - they would be covertly placed."

Currently, fixed cameras are required to be visible from 60 metres along 40mph stretches and 100 metres for other speeds. Warnings and speed limit reminders are also required.

People operating mobile speed traps have to wear fluorescent clothing and vehicles need to be marked.

Stuart Clarkson, PR manager for Cambridgeshire Safety Camera Partnership, said: "We operate mobile units and fixed cameras and we do that under the guidelines set out by the Department for Transport.

HUMPH!

Even MADDER Moggie Cat (and the wife will be even WILDER )

Big difference with drug dealers and roque traders - you know organised crime!

Drug dealers connive and hook people - use sinister, menacing methods to hook people and reel them in.

Very, very big difference and a huge insult to the majority of tax-paying, hard word working people whose contribution to the economic and social welfare of this country keeps this prat in a cushy job!

We did not elect these prats to reduce our speed limits willy nilly, give no logical or adequate reason for it, and then persecute us for daring to drive 1-5mph over it!

Live in pretty area. In a remote area of the country. Cannot say community is undermined by NSL roads!

Will say OTT and dangerous driving has to be stopped - but this man's choice of words show the limited intelligence, muddled logic and general mushy brain he has, no doubt as result of too much muesli munching.!

Not averse to likes of "In Gear" lurking in a side street - because those chaps will use their judgement, experience and of course give that lecture - which educates.

Mr Reynolds

Does a scamera - hidden or visible - educate a motorist? Catch a drunk driver? An uninsured driver? A really, really dangerous driver?

NO!

They catch the just-overs - who are not that dangerous. Which erodes the relationship between the decent driver and the copper!

HUMBUG!

The reason that accidents have gone up on the A14 is BECAUSE of the cameras. Before they were there, it was a very busy road and traffic just about flowed. Due to the high volume, everyone slows for the cameras and this causes bunching further down the road.

I know because I have driven this road for years. If the cameras were removed, accidents would go down. Unfortunately reasoned arguement is rarely understood by morons!

I drive the entire cambs a14 most days also. In rush hour, there is no speeding because of the weight of traffic. On my way home(7-8 ish, there is always bunching before the the cameras as Aunty Mable drops to 55 just to make sure, particularly near cambs services and the next cam at connington. The accidents were, and still are mainly caused by people entering the a14 off the side roads. The slips are very short, leaving not enough time for lower powered cars to accelerate to the speed of the road. The a14's problems are engineering led, not speed led, and it should have been made into 3 lanes before they connected it accross to the m1 m6 intersection. This dual carriageway carries most of the freight down to the ports from the midlands anf the north. Completely crazy.

Officer backs Tory plan
Published on 02 January 2004
A CAMBRIDGESHIRE police officer has described Tory plans to axe penalty points for less serious motoring offences as a helpful step towards reducing road deaths.

Shadow Transport Secretary Damian Green said drivers caught by speed cameras should only receive points in areas where the risk of death was greatest.

He said: "If people feel, as they do now, that cameras are just being used to raise revenue then drivers will start to detach the whole concept of cameras from safety."

Now, Pc Paul Stubbings, casualty reduction officer for Cambridgeshire police, has said speeding penalties need to teach drivers to think - not just punish them for the offence.

"I'm not sure that giving offenders points is always the best way of dealing with the problem of speeding," he said.

"People are not always persistent speeders. It's often a case of lack of concentration. I'd like to see the introduction of speed awareness workshops instead of penalties handed down by the courts.

"In some other counties, drivers caught on camera speeding four or five miles over the limit are given the chance to go on a course where we start to look at the things which make people speed."

We all noticed the bunching at the ca 5pm that Friday. We were all heading down there - all 40+ plus of us - so it would have been a bit busier that day (Us queer folk from t' North and North/SouthWales, Somerset, Home Counties etc.)

And all the bunching occurred at each of those Truvelos. (Cannot get over crossing areas for pedestrians on that road either )

Agree with you about those slip roads too!
Cr@p engineering - entire length! (Driven entire length of this engineered by numpty road. !

Contrast it to the new A1M that feeds it. Four lanes of straight shiny new tarmac. Hills engineered out, it's nearly perfect. Mostly, the traffic sits at about 90 in the nearside lane even in rush hour.

The only problem is drainage is a bit suspect and makes it quite hazardous in the wet. All roads should be like this, we pay enough for them. Anyone who argues that 70MPH is the right speed for this stretch has failed to understand the arguement.