Safe Speed Forums

The DFT have today announced they wish to ban Speed camera detectors.

They are claiming that drivers are abusing them.

How exactley can we abuse the little plastic box

I find mine invaluable, especially on roads i do not know. It reminds me of the speed limit or approaching speed limit. As the highways department are useless at correct signage, these little box's can only help reduce speed.

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Steve

Simple, they want to ban them because too many drivers have got them and are now obeying the speed limits that are not signed properly in the first place and they are now losing money to the detectors.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

It's final proof (if any more were needed ) that the real reason cameras exist is purely to raise money. The proposed ban on radar detectors (while leaving GPS systems alone) is tantamount to an official acknowledgement that this is the case.

If the real purpose of speed cameras is to ensure that motorists are driving within the correct limits then what is the problem with a driver knowing in advance where a camera is. That way they can make sure that they are travelling within the posted speed limit well in advance. Objective achieved.

Instead of legislating against radar detectors, the government should be actively encouraging drivers to have them as a socially responsible thing to do. After all radar detectors are a more cost effective alternative to GPS systems so more drivers can afford them.

These systems do exactly the same thing, they just work in different ways. They both give advance warning of the camera location so there is no last minute braking.

What annoys me is the hypocracy of the crude assumption that GPS Alert systems are OK but radar detectors should be illegal because drivers use them to test which cameras are not working so they can speed past them with impunity. That has to be the most illogical leap of faith they have managed to conjure up yet. Where on earth is the proof behind this ridiculous assumption?

But if they keep repeating the lie often enough people will believe it.

The real reason why the DoT view radar detectors as a threat is simple. GPS systems do not warn of mobile speed traps - lasers or radar guns. People keep forgetting to update the GPS database so new Gatsos catch them out.

Make radar detectors illegal and it becomes much easier and cheaper for safety camera partnerships to make mobile traps the largest revenue generator. Hand held radar guns only cost about £250 each compared to to the 10's of thousands for a laser gun. No GPS system can detect a hand held radar yet radar detectors pick them up over a mile away. The police already have lots of radar guns just stting around.

If radar detectors do become illegal (and at least it will take more than a year to introduce any new bill) watch out for a rash of mobile speed traps soon after!!!

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Ally S

Maybe it's because radar detectors render their cost-cutting fake cameras ineffective at slowing people down, so they have to spend more money on the 'real thing'? That wouldn't be good, think of the effect on the Christmas bonus! [/cynicism]

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

with camera's being safety devices to stop us crashing and only placed at accident hots stops, surely we need to know where these potential danger spots are? It must surely be the right thing to do to carry a radar dector with you at all times to avoid life threatening situations. Imagine if you could have lion detectors in Africa, safety on the planes, maybe gun detectors in the 'hood would be a good idea? Anyway, as a law abiding citizen I need to know if I'm about to fall foul of the law.

Obviously if cameras are there to collect tax then it would be a tax evasion issue, right?

It gets better. They're on about putting rfid tags in numberplates so they won't even need cameras at all. Soon everyone will be banned from driving as there is no way you can manage to go three years without exceeding a speed limit less than 3 times, assuming the current policies in some places. This of course will mean the illegal drivers will have empty roads to play in. The accident rate will rocket as people will be looking at their speedos to the exclusion of all other things.

HOT OFF THE PRESS !!!!!!

The Inland Revenue have decided to throw their weight behind persons using detctors these drivers (sorry tax evading s**m) will soon be finding that their tax codes will be changed to take into account of the attempts at avoiding paying this additional tax !!!

Sorry - It's just that I wouldn't be surprised if it happened !!!

I am buying a detector not avoid cameras, but because of the piss poor signing (or rather lack of) for speed limits, sort the signing out and I might have a little sympathy for banning them.

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Gordon Brown saying I got the country into it's current economic mess so I'll get us out of it is the same as Bomber Harris nipping over to Dresden and offering to repair a few windows.

Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.

http://www.wildcrafts.co.uk

The local highways infrastructure throughout the country needs to be revised. However, where some local authorities still don't have adequate asset databases, this is going to take a long while.

On the plus side for you guys, I don't see this as being a quick rule for the government to role out. They only want to ban Radar detection devices and not GPS based camera/black-spot/ devices. For the manufacturers of the radar systems, this is tantamount to the government imposing an unfair disadvantage on them. If these companies are aware of this and find appropriate legal backing for a substantial challenge, legislation could take years to arrive.

Watched a fifth gear the other day where they tested radar and laser detectors. They asked a policeman, some high up inspector type, whether the devices were legal and he said 'yes as they are only providing information'.

Perhaps we should ban telephone directories as burglars can use them to see whether someone is home and go burgle their house. Why has having the means to commit a crime suddenly become a crime in itself rather than the actual act of committing the crime? Next they'll be wanting all of the same model of vehicle used in committing a crime crushed as one of their number was used as a getaway car. Madness!