Safe Speed Forums

http://thewellingtonnews.co.uk/content/speed-enforcement-strengthened-a41-shropshire


So, if it's not a legal requirement, what is it? Just a guideline?

Also, wasn't there a case a couple of years ago of a West Mericia Camera van being clocked at a ridiculously high speed on a nearby Shropshire road, the A442?

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

There used to be rules, including conspicuity requirements, that allowed SCPS to recover their costs - no adherence meant no revenue from those sites. 15% of 'sites' could be operated and cost recovered without needing to adhere to the requirements.

So it was never a legal requirement, and not even a guideline in some cases.

The cost recovery scheme ended April 2007, so now the SCPs can do whatever they want, on the budget they are given.

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

I see! This would, therefore, imply that it really is all about revenue and very little about safety...

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

It is not impossible that it could be about both.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

I think that safety might have been the orignal idea. Until someone thought: "Hang on! We can make a fortune! But only if we start placing the cameras in certain very lucrative locations, they will not enhance safety, but just think of the revenue!" And that was the start of the long, slippery slope of public cynicism and hatered and when in the eyes of many people the law was diminished...

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

In my view it's primarily about control. Speed cameras have never made any significant revenue except when the hypothecation scheme was in operation. Maybe, in the early days before people became wise to them, a few well-sited Gatsos did produce a fair bit of revenue as well.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

And don't forget that any organisation's prime goal is the survival of the organisation.

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

Not for the government, but they are extremely lucrative for the people who operate them!

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

Steve beat me to it again! How people within the speed camera organisation can say it doesn't make any money with a straight face, whilst drawing their not insignificant salary, is beyond me! The organisation is like a self-licking lollipop!

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Regulation without education merely creates more criminals.

Yes, indeed! And the camera firms, the people who supply the film or digital media, etc., etc., etc...

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

and your evidence for this is ???

i would add more but i need to anchor the yacht

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now retired

I promise this is true.

I was once working at a pub near bath, and a speed camera van I'd just seen collecting up the road pulled up across from me.

A chap hopped out and plucked a portable sign out from between the end of a house's hedge and the wall of the house next door, where there was no way it could have been seen.

Van then drove off. So they clearly had to erect a sign X hundred yards before the van, but weren't too fussy whether anyone could see it.

Of course, each member of SCP staff must be fully compensated for their efforts - no one does a 'profession' for free.

So how many tens/hundreds of millions of 'admin fees' received each year, divided between how many SCPs? How many full-time staff for each SCP? Don't forget the income from the SACs!

Then we must consider the managers, who must earn significantly more than the operators; some of them move on to bigger (but related) jobs don't they... and still get revenue from the SCPs, among other 'costs' !!

Not everyone can get a yacht out of that profession (but they can certainly pay their mortgages) - but I know one who was ... ahem ... 'Plane Sailing'

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

getting boring now steve, you are as bad as earnest or is it jealousy

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now retired

I think the conflict of interest is far stronger than any possible jealousy!

So to focus on the point you also raised:

So how many tens/hundreds of millions of 'admin fees' received each year? Don't forget the income from the SACs!

Divided between how many SCPs? 43? Doesn't that equate to literally millions each?

How many full-time staff for each SCP?

What do SCP managers earn? I bet it's significantly more than the national average!

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

Now on what light are you thinking of looking at the"profession " of SCP staff. Perhaps that of Naval Officer ,cum company director or madame Lulu and her staff of another "profession" .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

last count there were 36 million drivers in the UK



we had 12, dont know i never asked



did someone say something

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now retired

Yielding about £120M annually in admin fees - yes?
IIRC, there was something like £20M profit; the rest remained with the SCPs. That leaves about 100M annually for SCP staff and the equipment.
I think we can add revenue from the SAC courses to that (+£70 a pop, gawd knows how many per class), but I don't have any numbers for those (perhaps you do) so I'll discount those for now.


I'm assuming:
- you mean 12 full time staff (although it wouldn't surprise me if there were 12 managers for an SCP).
- that's a typical staff number for an SCP (unless you can point me to better numbers?)
- a straight division of revenue between the 43 SCPs
- the revenue pays for the wages and new/existing equipment equally

(120M - 20M) / 43 (SCPs) / 12 (staff per SCP) / 2 = £96,899 for a single wage, alone!

Someone somewhere is on the take, even if you are not!

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

Just what qualifications are required to sit in a van all day drinking tea and eating donuts whilst pointing a camera at every driver who passes? Can't imagine much more than a driving licence, certainly no more than required of the labourers who aren't fixing the potholes in the roads. That's a pretty decent wage for someone who knows f-all doing f-all!

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Regulation without education merely creates more criminals.

not smoking funny stuff are you Steve




not everyone can make a decent brew you know, times are hard i saw my old dinky doughnut machine on e bay last week,

just for your info most of the operators i worked with were retired traffic police / or officers on light duties, and if the stop you blatting around on your bike like you are still in your helicopter all well and good, and that is what pees you off the most or and an increase in heroin searches

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now retired