Safe Speed Forums

It has just occurred to me that we motorists appear to take surveillance for granted. We know we are watched by CCTV, checked by SPECS, observed by countless traffic policemen and scameras; and we accept all this as normal!

We have become brainwashed by the continual propaganda levelled at the motorist. We can't be trusted to obey so we are under surveillance to spot any deviation from the norm laid down by our masters.

In any other walk of life we would be up in arms at this invasion of our privacy yet, because of our fear of being accused of being speed crazed child killers we meekly acquiesce.

I have to say that I don't have an answer to hand. We could all write to our MP's to complain but, frankly, the paper could be put to better use in the toilet! Anyone have any ideas? Any legal eagles in the forum tonight?

I don't know about you but I wonder where this is all going. How long before we all have black boxes installed by law to record every minute of our journeys? How long before every mile of motorway is fully covered by CCTV (which can easily be linked to software to compute speeds). Indeed, how long before we have to attend the local police station every month to have our tachographs read?

You think I'm scaremongering? Look at history, all it takes to establish a dictatorship is the apathy of the populace!

I object to being spied on, watched, observed, controlled, regulated, dictated to, patronised, mistrusted and especially told I'm ruining the environment. I am a free man, a self-supporting taxpayer and a patriot but I will say this - The government, aided and abetted by numerous pressure groups is ruining this country and the transport system in particular. We all have to stand up and be counted, express your disapproval at every opportunity to anyone that will listen, do not accept the propaganda which is spouted by the partnerships, friends of the Earth etc. Tell them they are talking rubbish, in fact go to extremes if you have to, shun them, ostracise them, make them the pariahs they suggest that we are.

We are a very powerful group. If only the motorists of this country could be organised into a coherent body we could change things. I would go so far as to suggest that we could bring down governments. Sadly, I fear this will never happen, there are too many wishy-washy liberals in our midst for this to succeed. BUT WE CAN DREAM!!!

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I'm not always right, but my score is higher than the government's

I agree we can make a difference. Indeed I believe I have already made a very significant difference. Did you see this:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/leaders/ ... 42,00.html

Contains: " Last week, the government announced a three-month moratorium on further speed cameras. This was partly in response to the work of engineer Paul Smith, who has spent 5,000 hours finding out why, though the number of cameras has risen exponentially, there has been no corresponding reduction in traffic fatalities. He concludes that, far from acting as a deterrent, speed cameras take responsibility for safe speed away from drivers, and their concentration from the road. Cameras are as likely to cause an accident as to prevent one."

The main problem I have is funding. With better funding I could do very much more. The way things are (shoestring I think you call it), there's a great deal I simply can't do.

Any ideas or assistance with funding (or fundraising) would be very much appreciated. You can make a donation or join Safe Speed via the links in my sig.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I don't think you would necessarily "change things" straight away, but if you stick together as a group then you tend to find that official bodies don't overly want to fuck with you.


To bring down an entire government would require an armed coup with a shed load of soldiers (which is most unlikely).
However, this government, or rather it's enforcers (known as the old bill) do actually comprehend that it is sometimes best to let sleeping dogs lie where some groups are concerned.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

Totally agree SafeSpeed. Everyone usually has an excuse when it comes to forking out cash, mine is redundancy last September. At my age (61) finding new employment is very difficult (300-odd applications, ten or so replies, five interviews-so far zilch!) So money is in short supply (although time isn't which is why I can spend it on forums). However, I will promise to join as soon as I get a regular job, fair enough?

I will also give some thought to fund raising.

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I'm not always right, but my score is higher than the government's

I think we came very close to contributing to a change of government at the last election. In England (where over 90% of the national population live) the Tories polled more votes than Labour.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

That's not what happened to Ted Heath's government!

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I'm not always right, but my score is higher than the government's

Brilliant. Thanks. Appreciated.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I really don't think the Tories tried to win. I can only assume that for some reason they did not want to be in power, apparently being in opposition gets you the same perks as an MP without the hassle of getting things right. So the easy ride is to almost-but-not-quite win it.

If they had just come out against ID cards (which they did a few weeks later) then I think they would have swung it.

When I was in the US a couple of weeks ago I saw their reporting of the aftermath of the London bombs. There was a feature on CCTV surveillance.

It said, “The British have become accustomed to continuous CCTV surveillance in public” or words to that effect.

It made me quite mad. It never dawned on me before how soft we have become when comes to having someone watching our every move. They use the term…if you are not breaking the law you have nothing to worry about… makes me sick. Why should I have someone watching my every move when I am in public?

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Speed camera policy Kills

Oh they CERTAINLY tried to win. The apparent ineptitude is real ineptitude. I've met and talked with plenty of MPs since I've been doing the Safe Speed thing. The perception that they are clever men with secret and greedy agendas is largely false. Headless chickens is far closer to the mark... No wonder we've got problems.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I can believe it. I've long felt that many politicians end up in politics simply because they're f k all use for anything else. Half of 'em seem to be lawyers, which I wouldn't have a problem with as such, but you have to ask that if they were any good as lawyers WTH aren't they still practising law? Altruism? Yeah, sure, right.

Few things can bugger up a country so effectively as having it run by "professional" politicians. I say wall up the Palace of Westminster and don't let any of the buggers out again until they do something useful.



What do you call a couple of politicians on parachutes?


Skeet!

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein