Safe Speed Forums

'Hide speed cameras inside catseyes'
Oct 10 2005

Sally Williams, Western Mail

PLACING speed cameras in catseyes, under proposals made by a Welsh police chief, would herald a big brother-type police state, it was claimed last night.

In an interview, Mr Brunstrom, pictured right, suggested hiding cameras in catseyes and even building a cell block for drivers over one of Britain's busiest road tunnels.

He condemned anyone for "driving a ton of metal down the motorway and risking lives" in what is becoming known in other parts of the UK as the pedestrians' republic of North Wales.

And he revealed that, without publicity, police have acquired instant access to everyone's insurance details, courtesy of the Association of British Insurers, so a camera reading the number plates of a line of cars can signal to police which driver is without cover.

Police computers, enthused Brunstrom, will eventually be able to make 100 million checks a day - an average of three checks a day per car.

Mr Brunstrom added, "It is like shooting fish in a barrel! It is fantastic! And Britain is leading the world.

"Traffic policing used to be, 'Have you enough water for your washers, ma'am?'

"Now we realise criminals are vulnerable on the road; if someone is about to rob a bank, they're unlikely to tax or insure their car."

Brunstrom's officers once doled out 4,200 tickets in a month; they get bonus points for their efforts. He said, "I'm not anti-motorist, I am anti-death."

Mr Brunstrom, a leading figure in the Association of Chief Police Officers, believes government approval for the force's Safety Camera Scheme is the most exciting development for his force.

"This will save lots and lots of lives on our roads and I played a big part in making it happen." he claimed.

But while road fatalities across Britain fell 8% last year, in his land of the speed camera, they shot up from 49 deaths to 58.

"It is a statistical blip," he said. "A lot of motorcyclists died that summer due to the good weather."

But a spokesman for the Department of Transport, said the catseyes plan was a non-starter.

He said, "This is one man's opinion and it is not government policy.

"Speed cameras have to be clearly visible, bright yellow and signposted, putting them in catseyes is not going to happen."

Brynle Williams, Conservative North Wales Assembly Member, said, "Richard seems totally obsessed with speeding, and speed cameras do a lot of good, but has the catseyes idea been costed? It sounds like a joke.

"He should get his officers out from behind a desk. Crime rates are increasing in North Wales and drugs are becoming more preva-lent in secluded, rural villages.

"Only nine out of 11 speed cameras are working in North Wales and they are not being placed where they are needed.

"Motorcylists from Merseyside and Birmingham use the A451 as a racetrack and there have been several fatalities."

Mick Bates, Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrat AM, from Llanfair Caereinion, Powys, said he could not believe his ears when he was told about the plan.

He said, "You are joking. Anyone who can think of such an appalling idea really should see what real life is like.

"New technology has its place but this would be big brother police state here we come.

"I dread driving through North Wales and I was pulled over last time I was there.

"It seems they have extra special ways of punishing the motorist up there."

icwales

The man is deluded, anyone who is about to rob a bank won't use their own car anyway.
As for the criminal element that do travel in their own vehicles from time to time, the majority are nowhere near stupid enough to run the risk of a tug for the sake of no tax or whatever.

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

What a thing to say in light of what happened in London fairly recently!!

I know a couple of folk who have or still do drive / ride without insurance or tax and guess what? The vehicles aren't registered properly either! The reason they do it is because they NEED transport and can't afford to own a vehicle on the level, so they don't really have a lot of choice..

There's no point spotting an illegal vehicle if you can't bloody trace it

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

I think if anyone on this website had posted what is attributed to Mr Brunstrum, the overwhelming response would be:

It just shows what an insensitive P...tt he actually is.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

Tell us where they are so we can all avoid them! The rest of us law abiding citizens pick up the tab for cheapskate scum that rather than purchase insurance cover would rather drive / ride around illegally and **** up our day. And it gives the companies yet another excuse to increase premiums.

So it's OK to go around stealing stuff - your bike for instance - well, they NEEDED transport & couldn't afford to buy it themselves. Oh, a few quid short for that NEEDED weekly shopping? Never mind there's bound to by some doddery old granny coming out of the post office soon, they don't eat much anyway....

We all have a choice.

I think the point sixty is making is that current enforcement policy positively encourages the 'take a chance' mentality as policing by technology ultimately relies on a database that contains complete and accurate information.

People staying below the radar can do so because there is no way of finding them otherwise. THe current system of policing on the cheap is merely passing the cost to all of us law abiding people in other ways (as you so correctly point out).

This person would appear to be nuttier than the average fruit and nut bar!

How on earth would a photo taken from a cats eye sent to an RK 14 days later stop uninsured TWOC?

As for the "blip" comment - I should leave IG to comment as his force was castigated by this same twit when their 2002 stats showed a rise which IG's force justified by increased traffic against 2001's FMD crisis in that area, joyriders and a good summer encouraging more motor cycles - a factor being blamed thoughout the land it seems for a rise over the summer

Er? How does a camera in a cat eye stop this exactly? You would have to tell everyone that the cam was there if the "cam is supposed to slow folks down" and of course the KSI will drop on the road in question as we just will not drive on that road. However, as traffic will move to another road... - KSI rate would remain the same

Clearly - best solution is .. return to BiB and COAST to be included in a THINK! campaign...

But that will not keep the otherwise unemployable in what Wildy and her sister, the Nice Tame both call a "lah-lah land" job!

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The bloke is off his rocker. All objectivity has gone out the window.

When is someone going to step in and hand this buffoon his P45?

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“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” - H. L. Mencken

I wasn't justifying it, just making the point - and as it happens the one bloke I can think of who USED to ride 'under the radar' kept the bike in 100% safe and legal condition (ie was in MOT pass condition) and it was the only way that he could get to work 10 miles away at 3am.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

This article is a rip-off of an interview in the Sunday Times. Actually it gets worse: he claims that the increase in fatalities is just a statistical blip. Talking about having your cake ..... You can just as easily argue (and of course is done so here by the bucketload!) that the accident "hot-spots" are just a statistical blip! But of course that is where the cameras are .......

Welcome Unixman!!

You are right though!! would it be a statistical blip if the accident rate was to come down?

To use one of Paul's phrases "i should coco".

Of course that applies to all of the Talivans in Brunstrom's own area. Not!

Full article here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/ ... 992,00.htm