Speed Cameras

[Rotary Booty]

Black Rat
We seem to be the lone voices on this thread, which is worrying. The lengths that some guys are going to, to 'beat the camera' make it look like some big game; which it most definitely is not.

I hope you are right about it becoming as anti social as drink driving, as I am sure many of the 'speeders' are over the drink drive limit as well.

I like speed as much as anyone, and I have hammered up the A1 and M5 at 140 mph a few times. I even overtook a police car on one occasion, and they waved to me! However, I was in a Gazelle, not a Porche.

Aye, Derek

[Sticky Blue]

I do agree with you about the speed thing guys. One thing that does worry me though is, when doing 70 Mph the other day I was a hazzard to other road users because I was holding the flow of traffic up! They were going past me like bullets!

[Blue Streak]

Black Rat you may be interested to know l spoke to a civilian in the camera safety unit the other day. She said that on a particular stretch of the A14 last week a static camera van knocked off over eighty motorists in one hour alone. This camera was even set at 82 mph in a 70 zone.

The mind boggles.

[Artist]

Our Harry from down under mentioned cruise control when driving through a speed trap area.

Since aquiring the new Artmobile have found it a boon. It seems that other drivers do not. Had some fool with gofaster stripes flashing and honking as I was not going fast enough for him. this was a very silly thing to do as I some how seemed to go 10 miles an hour slower!

Some fools never seem to take notice of the speed cameras or speed bumbs that seem to appear almost over night round about my area. One smart ar*e says he will drive as fast as he feels safe to do. When I pointed out that young children have a tendency to forget about things when excited his reply was "Teach them to think in future" He is not on my Christmas card list anymore.

Artist

[Smiler.wales]

Personally I agree with Speed Cameras to a degree all those people - Anyone doing over 90 is a danger (thats just my opinion) however from what I have heard the new SPECS system picks you up if you average over 78mph.

It doesnt happen often (usually by the time Ive gotten to 75 my 1.1 ford fiesta turns into a bone shaker) but on some occasions driving down to London in order to overtake a vehicle I have had to reach 80mph once passed I jump back into the lane and reduce speed back fown to 70

Thing if SPECS picked me up overtaking like that (and those occasions its been the safest or only viable option) then its me whose buggered

[Sticky Blue]

Steve, as for speeding in residential areas I couldn't agree more. When the devil tells me to go faster (and I don't kick the backside out of it) I am on open roads in good conditions, in the wet I turn into driving Miss Daisy! The higway code states that if another vehicle is too close you should reduce your speed to create a longer overall stopping distance so both vehicles can stop safely. It also states in the higway code that the second and third lanes on the motorway are only overtaking lanes and the correct position for driving is in the left hand lane. Sadly they have not released, nor will they ever release, the revised edition which has a post script to the above:
Unless... you are on your mobile, wear a baseball cap the wrong way round, have an exhaust pipe big enough to fit a baby's head into, drive an XR anything or Cosworth anything or BMW, are a traveling salesman or rep, applying makeup, driving a white van, driving a new car, have grey hair and smoke a pipe, builder, are eating and chatting to friends, texting etc etc

[Beast]

I agree on what some of you are saying chaps.

Stix is right, speeding in town or residential areas is a no no, and i'm always cautious.

But we should have a dedicated fast lane on motorways, this would deal with a lot of problems, that is the original idea of double & triple lanes etc.

Just anoys me to see someone sitting on 60/70 or whatever in a fast lane and yet the left hand lane is free!
Or they don't decide to move over to let you overtake, this is when an accident usually happens.

And speed camera's are good in some ways, as they make you de-accelerate to the correct speed and makes you think but...
Too many people keep there eyes on the speedo instead of the road, hence the danger!

And drivers on there bloody mobile phones thats another story, forget about speeding, these idiots cause all the accidents.
Trust me i'm a motorcyclist and i'll think Stix will agree.

The moral of the storey whatever speed, if your driving safely and carefuly whats the problem.

How many times have i been 5/10mph max over the speed limit with the police behind me, i forget.

If they see you driving carefuly and safely, there not interested after they have checked you out.

The high rated traffic police... on the other hand thats a different story.

Oh the licence, yes its clean.

[Beast]

I'll stop ranting on now.

[Sticky Blue]

You go big fella...
Lane huggers! BR, you must have seen it. There you are, screaming along on a shout and some donkey is sat in the outside or middle lane and the left hand lane is empty? Lane discipline is lacking in this country and perhaps we could take a leaf out of the German's book... their lane discipline is superb and they don't have a speed limit. If the road conditions (weather, visibility, traffic, road surface) are bad I slow down and keep left, if they are good I ride at the limit. I hate to think of the occasions that I have been riding in heavy rain, poor visibility and had some spanner come up behind me at 90MPH in their 4X4 chatting on the phone only to have to swerve around another car overtaking and then brake hard because they didn't see the car in the outside lane.

I suppose commuting on a bike has made me cautious toward car drivers. They can't hold a bike up for long but very often their road positioning is terrible, use of mirrors is none existent, concentration at a minimum. I have seen Ambulances with blues and twos going and someone sat there, stereo on full belt, cars diving out of the way all around them and they are clueless. Speed Cameras do serve a valid purpose in built up areas but when they are placed in positions purely for revenue I don't agree with them. I wish they would put one down our road to catch the XR3 drivers (reversed baseball caps) and other cretins that use it as a raceway.

here you go Beast... you can have your soapbox back now

[Guest]

ok, lane hogging, imagine this, 02:30 ish M1 southbound, nothing else on the road, just south of Rugby, i`m in a truck, maximum restricted speed of 56mph, and slowly, the set of red lights infront, are getting closer, and there they are, a car, doing approx 50 mph, at 02:30 in the morning.....sat in the middle lane of the motorway, I think he must have been half asleep, well, i put the melters (main beam) and airhorns on, and hey.he moved over, yes you got it, to the third lane, cretin was one of the milder bits of english language that came to mind, but there are certainly some of them out there, and they are sent to try our patience.

[Sisyphus]

My missus moans at me cos I drive so slow In other words at or under the speed limit - usually. I have to admit, though, that on most outings I find myself drifting over the speed limit.

I have yet to meet anyone who, hand on heart, can say they NEVER exceed the limit. Any takers out there? I prefer to spend my time scanning the road ahead for hazards, not keeping my eyes glued to the speedo.

So speeding, in itself, is not the problem. I (sorry, one) can do 90mph on an empty motorway and be perfectly safe. You can drive at 25mph in a 30mph zone and be an absolute menace. By the way, my other 'thing' is the '2-second rule'. It's got to be the best piece of driver safety advice there is. A much better (or at least as good as) slogan that 'clunk-click, every trip'

On the speed camera thing - in June B'ham was gridlocked, so I drove round it. Just N. of Bham there's a very pleasant town (whose name I forget). It's got an absolute forest of speed cameras. On leaving town, about to rejoin the 'open road', about 10m before the National Speed Limit sign there was a speed camera???? There can be no possible safety reason for this camera. It can only be a 'revenue generator'.

[Rotary Booty]

Sticky
I lived in Germany for 3 years, and you are absolutely right. There are generally no speed limits on the autobahns, but their lane discipline is superb. If you venture into the outside lane to overtake, in no time at all there is a Porche, Merc or BMW in your rear view mirror with his left indicator 'asking' you to move over as soon as possible. If you do something really stupid, in no time at all there is a blue light and headlights in your rear view mirror!

However, as our lane discipline is as crass as you so rightly point out, taking away our upper speed limit on Motorways would cause mayhem!

Hand held mobile phones are illegal from next month, so that may help the lane offenders to look up and see which lane they are in!

Unfortunately, there is no system where you can leave it to individual drivers to decide how fast it is safe to drive, depending on the time of day or night, weather conditions etc. The speed limit in most American States is 55 mph, so ours are quite generous!

Aye, Derek

[dannyd]

Instead of the relatively pointless and misleading 'Speed Kills' campaign, I think what is needed is a government campaign to educate people on how to drive correctly on motorways (after all, they make enough money from speed cameras to be able to fund it).

As someone who does quite a lot of motorway driving (being a keen mountaineer and living in flat, mountainless London) I am only too aware that most people have little or no idea how to drive on a motorway.

However, is this surprising? Motorway tuition is optional after passing your test and as such many pass on it. Yet it should be compulsary. A one hour motorway lesson (perhaps at a government subsidised and reduced rate ) would I'm sure, work wonders for the drivers of this country.

It would reduce casualty rates through reducing RTAs as people would be driving in the correct lane for their speed. It would also mean that driving on the motorway would be alot easier and we would get everywhere quicker. Within a few years the max speed limit could probably even be increased.

While I'm on the subject of driving, what really annoys me is people who do not indicate before performing a manoeuvre. How simple is it to flick the indicator stalk and warn other drivers of what you are about to do? The people who drive like this most often? ... Wait for it ... Mercedes & BMW drivers

[Rotary Booty]

Sisyphus

That speed camera you mentioned, situated 10m before the start of a National Speed Limit sign.

We have a similar set up in this area, but it's main purpose is to slow drivers down as they enter the zone, not necessarily get those speeding up as they leave it. Could yours be the same? If not, that does no-one any favours, and just causes aggravation.

Aye, Derek

[Blue Streak]

Re thoughs last comments ACPO regulations state that a speed detection device, fixed or mobile, should be set within if memory serves be right 1/10th of a mile of a change of speed limit, so l would suggest something is wrong there.