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.

...Let me start my opinion by stating that I am employed in sales which requires me to drive many miles each week - usually around 2000 !! I have been driving since I was 17 (nine years) and I have never had any points on my licence or been involved in any accident. I consider myself an efficient driver, not faultless, but all the same experienced enough to have an opinion on the subject of speed cameras. Let me also state that I am 100% in favour of speed cameras in areas which need protecting like schools and pedestrian crossings for instance. The use of speed cameras in these areas as well as accident blackspots undoubtedly cuts down driver speeds and in turn cuts down the amount of injuries, deaths and accidents. No one in their right mind can argue against this issue and Police and driving groups are quite right to employ speed...

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

...If we all just stop and think for a moment we will realise that the so called speed cameras are there as a mechanism for upholding the law in relation to moving traffic offences. If an empty box makes a driver slow down to the legal limit then it has done it's job. If a box containing a camera snaps a motorist violating the road traffic acts it too has done it's job with the added advantage that a motorist will get what s/he deserves for not obeying the laws of motoring. Too many accidents are caused by motorists who think that the Highway Code is for others and not them. If they will not abide by the laws of the road, which are there for everyone's benefit, then forcing them to do so by having cameras all over the place is just. The question of the legality of such devices is up to the justices to rule...

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

...After reading an article in a national newspaper highlighting the fact that Norfolk Police cannot afford to provide films for it’s speed cameras, this has encouraged me to write a report on speed cameras, and subsequently I have recovered from Ciao writer’s block! This opinion focuses on the background, present, and future of speed cameras. Background --------------- But why do we have speed cameras? The original intention for installing the small devices was to originally reduce motoring accidents on the roads of Britain. However, as the numbers of individuals being caught rose sharply, one fundamental problem became apparent – with thousands of cameras located around the UK, how can all films be replaced at minimal cost? The original ‘zero tolerance’ rule for speed cameras was then abolished...

nadams 11.08.2001 · 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

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

Do you feel the need for speed

Advantages: Deterrent
Disadvantages: Inconsistent

...Speed Cameras The modern driver can do little to avoid the existence of speed cameras. All over the country, you will see little white signs with a stripy looking "camera" in them that identify you are about to approach an area where speed cameras may be in place. Speed cameras have changed the way in which we drive and are a subject of much debate within the motoring press - several web forums have sprung up dedicated to sufferers and camera spotters alike. This is not an opinion about speed or speeding - for the purposes of my opinion I do not wish to discuss whether speed limits are fair or relevant to today's road-users (I have discussed this in a separate opinion about Motorway Speed Limits) so I am working on the assumption that speed limits are what they are, end of subject. Here are some of the issues that I think are...

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

..."Speed cameras have their limitations...but when these matters can be overcome they will be a sure winner for raising revenue". The Metropolitan Police magazine, Metline, March 1999 Edition I saw this quote on the ABD (Association of British Drivers) website (www.abd.org.uk), I feel it shows how the role of the speed camera on our roads is changing. When cameras were introduced people were upset, the press frequently commenting that this is the first step towards the sate becoming “Big Brother”. The government promised that the cameras would only be used in proven accident blackspots and this went some way to pacifying the public. There were also numerous television campaigns showing the hazards of speed (though at least one campaign featured a child that had been killed on a pedestrian crossing rather than due to...

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

...Ok so I've bitten the bullet and here's my opinion, my very contraversial opinion on speed cameras and more generally speed and driving etiquette. I used to drive 1,000 miles a week. If you didn't know you'd have guessed by the time you'd finished reading this. I apologise if my opinion seems vehement, the last thing I want to do is upset anyone, but I also I want to express my views openly and honestly because this is an issue I feel strongly about. SPEED CAMERAS To a certain extent my views on speed cameras are somewhat mixed up with my views on speed in general so please bear with me if I seem to be going off track. The fact is, any of you who derive any enjoyment from driving will know there's a lot more to driving carefully and safely than speed, so often with a camera in place the people who are driving dangerously will...

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