Safe Speed Forums

As a regular driver on the A9 I can't see the reason for keeping the speedcams as they are as I and the rest of the north of Scotland know where they are and when we slow down to accomodate these "speedtraps" I very often get flashed at, horns are blasted and various other finger signals are shown because the vehicles behind have no idea why i'm slowing down until they realise i've just saved them a few quid and a couple or three penalty points and then I get a thumbs up or an embarrased wave, too many times I've seen near misses because cars slam on the brakes to avoid getting done by the cameras, the cameras in the vans are the same.
Do I have a solution ?
Well even talking to coppers who I know we all agree that more unmarked cars to catch the bad drivers and the speeders is one of the ways forward but we can see that the government or the police will never agree to this as the cameras are too big a cash cow.
Just another tax on our already depleted pockets.

I have a worry about unmarked cars stopping or attempting to stop cars at night in deserted places. It is so easy to buy a pair of cheap foglights, place them behind the grill, cover them with pieces of blue plastic or thin blue paint and thus impersonate a police officer. Don't tell it it can't/won't happen as this would be a very easy way to mug/rob/attack lone drivers, especially women, at night.
Certainly I would not want my daughter or my wife to be stopped by such a vehicle, legal or not, and I think I would be reluctant to stop in the middle of the night for a vehicle just because it had a pair of flashing blue lights behind the grill. If I stopped I would lock my doors, keep the engine running, leave an escape gap and wind down the window about 1/2" for the 'officers' to pass their ID through whilst I telephoned the police to check that. If uncertain I would ask them to follow me to the nearest town with a police station, with me going in front, or find a brightly lit area with CCTV.
|How would an unmarked patrol deal with that, I wonder.

If I see a vehicle slow down in front of me for ‘no apparent reason’ I will conclude that I missed or cannot see a hazard that the driver ahead has so I will slow down too – that’s the only safe thing one can do.
At least those drivers have seemingly learnt their lesson.


What like:


(courtesy of Wiggy on PH)

Even Steve Callahan (assuming he really was ‘Destroyer’ on PH) admitted seeing drivers pull risky manoeuvres when they spot him with his LTI.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

i hope you are not suggesting a move to unmarked camera vans as well

I do believe a vehicle so equiped was found on one of the fly on the wall police shows (Traffic Cops I believe) so it does happen.

i have news for you. they dont always clone unmarked cars. truckers have had marked police cars with uniformed officers pull them in and nick their trucks. bogus police are a common risk for us and now VOSA have the power to pull us wherever they like, its even less of a risk for the criminal to clone a VOSA person. it is not as high an offence as impersonating a police officer

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

An old friend of mine had some restaurant businesses in Southend and used to have to carry a large amount of cash (c.£8,000) with him late at night. One such night a car was followinh him very closely. He speeded up and so did the other car which later switched on a partly hidden blue light. My friend went even faster and left the other car behind. The police came to his house shortly after and told him he was to be reported for 'driving at a Speed dangerous to the Public, 'Failing to Stop...', 'Driving Without DC&A' and 'Speeding'.
It went to court and his defence pointed out that the police car was unmarked, etc, etc. My friend was found 'Not Guilty' on all charges, with the Magistrate stating that if Essex Constabulery wanted to stop members of the public at night they should use marked cars and that he did not blame my friend for accelerating away (in his Lotus Cortina - it was a long time ago).

The camera vans up here are completely unmarked and no that's not what i'm suggesting.
Real coppers will always allow single m/f drivers to see ID or drive to the nearest station.
And no i'm not a copper.