Why I think, Speed cameras don't work

Advantages: Reduces speed temporarily, If used properly reduces accidents and deaths.
Disadvantages: Propaganda, Revenue raising, Being lied to and Targeted.

...the consternation that the motorists over there were feeling while in Canada they totally scrapped their crackdown on drivers via the use of speed cameras because they alienated nearly the whole nation and eventually got voted out! If this Government is not careful, they could make the same mistake. I often drive past Bedford Police headquarters and it enrages me when I see their fleet of mobile units driving out of the entrance (12 vans sometimes more !) to various sites around the county. The manpower and efforts by our Police forces in snaring speeding motorists is to be frank despicable. I would estimate on current figures that only 1 in 10 speed cameras are being targeted at reducing accidents and that the other nine are revenue raisers. Heres some of the recommendations I would bring in; # Put speed limiters on cars like they exist...

WormThatTurned 02.10.2002 · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras

SPEED CAMERAS - A MONEY MAKING SCAM?

Advantages: Preventing accidents? saving lives?
Disadvantages: Making money?

...I can guarantee that either yourself or someone you know has been caught speeding recently or in the past. The question that needs to be answered is; are speed cameras there to reduce accidents? or are they simply there to earn money to plough straight back into putting more speed cameras on our roads? That is what the current debate about speed cameras is all about and I intend on answering that question in this opinion. Being Caught ************************ Naturally, to be caught by a speed camera you have to be speeding. Whether you're a boy/girl racer who deliberately speeds in a car, or a careful driver who just wasn't paying attention to your speed, you will still be fined and sentenced with penalty points. This fine could be anything from £20 upwards and an issue of 3 or more penalty points or even disqualification...

mdstone 25.11.2003 (10.12.2003) · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras

Speed Cameras Save Lives

Advantages: Keps drivers in line
Disadvantages: None

...on but I think that they should be classed as legal. They are no different to a cop with a radar gun. Hiding the cameras or having unmarked patrol cars is a bit sneaky but then so are some drivers who know that not every sign declaring speed cameras operate in the area actually do so and they take a chance. However motorists should be aware that just because your car was snapped doing 90+ on the motorway it doesn't prove that you were driving it. It is up to the police to prove that you were and you are not obliged to say who was driving your car because to do so you may be incriminating yourself. This point is being debated as I write and you read and as we are all innocent until proven guilty, unless the government has it's way, the problem will not be resolved. One day photographic advances will be able to...

jimbuck 13.11.2000 · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras

SPEED CAMERAS, Brakes, What Brakes..

Advantages: Catch dangerous drivers
Disadvantages: Very unpopular

...experienced again, special design features were included. This generation of cameras were designed with connections to a national network, which, when a driver is caught, would take a photo, and then send a photo digitally to the main headquarters. Digital technology was also applied to some of the original generation of speed cameras, thus vastly reducing the manpower required to replace the films. However, again, the use of websites provided motorists with knowledge as to where all cameras are. As a result, newer technologies were applied to mobile devices, and recent months have seen introductions of a new device even more useful than the original mobile handheld unit. The newer mobile devices are mounted on tripods, in front of unmarked police cars, and simply monitor moving traffic, automatically monitoring and logging all speeding...

nadams 11.08.2001 · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras

Caught on Camera

Advantages: Help prevent accidents
Disadvantages: Big fines

...Speed cameras are one of the best inventions ever thought up, it is just a shame our councils and police can not put them to better use. The sole purpose of out friendly little Gatso should / was originally to deter speeding and therefore cut the number of accidents involving excess speed. I live at the bottom of a fairly large hill, which happens to be a major through road. Halfway up the hill is a primary school, because of the nature of the hill and the fact at the top of it, it changes from national speed limit to 30mph I have personally witnessed 1000's of car coming down the hill at 40mph plus, why is there not a speed camera there I will never know. Leicester City council have recently announced they are doubling the number of speed cameras in the county, they also announced where they will be situated, I feel that is...

jmorley99 27.05.2002 · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras

What speed cameras

Advantages:
Disadvantages:

...Half the problem with speed cameras is that, if what we here is correct, half of them do not have any film in. So what happens? There is an element that will always take a chance and even if they stand to get caught they are quite happy to take the chance and perhaps kill someone. I strongly recommend that all cameras without film are removed so that at least the rest serve a real purpose. And why not sell them off to private enterprise and save the cost of expensive police work. I am sure there is good profit for someone and thge roads may just become a little safer....

REG 27.09.2000 · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras

Do you feel the need for speed

Advantages: Deterrent
Disadvantages: Inconsistent

...cameras occurs where a criminal offence has occurred. Where speed limits are broken, this is a conscious decision by the road user, who is well aware of the potential penalties incurred. How the revenue is generated by speed cameras, and where it goes is perhaps a separate debate - the fact of the matter is, when you break the law you know you might get caught. Speed camera legislation has come under focus over recent months, in that the legal system has identified that photographic evidence alone is not enough to secure a speeding conviction on a driver. The picture taken by the camera may identify that the car was involved in the incident, but offers no proof as to who was driving. Furthermore, the sending of fixed penalty notices is an invitation to a named person that they should identify themselves as the perpetrator of a crime...

LostWitness 12.01.2001 · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras

WARNING New Cameras

Advantages: For short distance lower drivers speed
Disadvantages: Encourages dangerous driving

...seeing cameras. A government report defined drivers into four groups 1. Conformers – Stick to speed limit without prompting, so are unaffected by cameras 2. Deterred – reduce speed to avoid detection 3. Manipulators – reduce speed on approach to camera and then accelerate away downstream 4. Defiers – carry on driving above the speed limit regardless A risk with cameras is that “manipulators” on noticing a camera may suddenly brake to avoid detection causing an accident. While the fact that some people react dangerously to speed cameras is not a reason to get rid of speed cameras it is worth noting when the government is thinking of vastly increasing the number of cameras. Types of Speed Cameras There are four main types of camera: 1. Mobile camera in a police car 2. Moveable roadside...

kingsanj 20.06.2001 · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras

Smile you're on Candid Camera!

Advantages: Glowing yellow GATSO helps you anticipate dodgy junctions and action spots in the dark....
Disadvantages: Removes the judgement and fairness of the traffic cop from the equation and replaces it with chance

.... An ex-traffic policeman once told me that if your speeding ticket is down to two people in a jam sandwich it's not the speed you drive that gets you done, it's how you drive. This is where speed cameras slip up. They can't make the required judgement call. 3 They aren't as effective as getting stopped by humans. When it comes to the police, I have been stopped, and given a severe ticking off 3 times in as many months, one trying to escape a lunatic who appeared to wish to run me off the road and twice in a new car when I was going much faster than I realised. When it comes to the speeds in question, they got progressively lower each time and I certainly haven't got near them since I was last stopped. Had I been caught on camera I'd have 9 penalty points, no, actually my license wouldn't have survived to be caught a second time...

Sweary 03.12.2003 · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras

Speed limits saves lives

Advantages: Make people think about their speed
Disadvantages: Bad publicity

...been on traffic patrol specifically targeting areas near schools and the results are frightening. Often the worst offenders are the parents who are late dropping their kids off and then are late themselves for work. The other thing about speeding is that the police always get a bad press. The first thing is that it is the council, not the police, who decide when and where they will place the cameras. The police are mere enforcers of the law when people are caught speeding; the revenue generated actually goes to the council. Secondly, the police are very lenient towards speeding motorists, despite popular opinion. On the traffic patrol I mentioned above we were a matter of yards away from a primary school situated on a main road. Quite rightly it is designated as a 30mph zone and motorists should stick to the limit. However, we didn...

clemenza 24.06.2002 · Read review
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Review of Speed Cameras