Twenty speed cameras in 8.5 miles

[v.meldrew2]

From my house to the town of H is 8.5 miles. The road is wide, fairly straight and 5 of the miles are rural. It is however, for reasons I have never understood quite a dangerous road judging by the number of fatal accidents in recent years. I acknowledge that something needed to be done to improve safety, but was a bit sceptical when all the previous limits were reduced by 10mph, and indeed more fatalities occurred. The latest move by the council is however taking things to ridiculous extremes. They have installed, believe it or not, 17 speed cameras on the 6 mile stretch to the town boundary, adding to the 3 that were already on the urban stretch. That's 20 cameras in 8.5 miles! My belief is that this is excessive and potentially dangerous as drivers now have to spend more time looking at the speedo than the road (the speed limit changes from 40 - 50 - 30 - 40 - 30 over this stretch. Added to this is the highly frustrating habit of 9/10 drivers driving 10mph below whichever limit, and slowing even more for the cameras. (A penalty cannot be imposed by fixed cameras at speeds less than the limit plus 10percent plus two mph - ie, 35mph in a 30mph area - though I do not claim this to be a justification for exceeding the limit).

Has this council set a new record for density of speed cameras? Is the strategy sensible?

 

[joeby]

speed camera's earn revenue , where i live now in Gorseinon in south Wales there is a small supermarket ,with double yellow lines outside ,yet nobody takes a blind bit of notice they park on the pavement as well ,the provided car park is virtually empty ,yet i have never seen any body with a ticket or any police in the area ,kids ride up and down the road on motor bikes with no crash helmets or number plates ,the only crime you can commit is speeding

 

[Chris_374413356]

If you own a car you are a target and the government just love you.

I'm simply amazed more cameras aren't put out of action by irate motorists, but then we are British and just put up with it.

Mind you, they have won I have been totally browbeaten into submission.

Near where I live they built a dual carriage way, it now has a 50mph speed limit, but the single carriage ways both ends of it are in a 60mph,,, work that out!!!

 

[602]

Hi

Hirwaun, on the A467, near Merthyr Tydfil.

You leave the town via a roundabout. As you enter the roundabout you pass a "derestriction" sign. You drive nearly a mile towards Neath on the A467, until you reach another roundabout. You have not passed any repeater signs, of any denomination. But you have passed street lamps every 50 yards.

The Highway Code declares that any road with street lamps has a 30mph limit, unless there are signs giving a higher limit.

So what is the speed limit on this road? Most vehicles hit 60mph between the roundabouts. But one day, I did notice a police presence, though I can only guess why they were stopping cars.

The road through Cadoxton has a mile-long, 20mph "school" limit ..... no flashing lamps, so 24/7. Not a particularly wide road, bus route,but long stretches of cars parked nose to tail, most with their mirrors tucked in, some with broken mirrors. I can't work out the logic. Maybe the local councillor lives in that road?

602 (Confused from Glynneath)

 

[Gumbo]

Confused from Glynneath You would be !!!

No I see what your saying 20 mph should only be in force during school hours, and then reinforced by flashing lights.

I do think the ones that flash up your speed and say 30 thank you is a far better way to control Motorists than draconian speed cameras.

Don't worry though we are only a couple of years away from average speed cameras that will work out your speed from leaving home to returning. The computer will work out the time you even stopped in a car park etc. So it will only record your moving speed. This is already being trialed I kid you not.

 

[Gafferbill]

Gumbo..... this has been the case for HGV drivers for many years.

The tachograph fitted to trucks also records distance travelled at what speed and when.

It records when the brakes were applied and how quickly the vehicle stopped.

Some argue that tachographs should be fitted to all vehicles!

 

[Essexeddie]

Funny you should post that as on the radio today the EU are proposing just that for private cars.

.

 

[jmg12]

i would say a vast majority of todays problems are caused by the EU

i mean think of some of the ridiculous EU ideas which we have to live within

eg common fisheries policy - lets through back hundreds of tons of dead fish each year just because british fishermen went over the quota in british waters yet other countries can fish as much as they like.

Speed cameras are easy money which is why they have them, same with the change of speeds on many roads is to try and catch people unaware many roads in my area have green moss on speed limit signs making them near unreadable yet there are speed cameras a mile down the road.

police should be watching for act of dangerous driving not SPEEDING !!!!!

 

[smiley]

All roads over the country were redeuced by the 10 mph.

But national roads where you can't fisically do the limit were left.

Although people are allowed to object, the police themselves objected by us. But I don't think any were taken into account, ( they have to follow rules) all the councils just followed the government like lambs and didn't think about the situation at all.

 

[Chrisbee]

Gumbo..... this has been the case for HGV drivers for many years.

The tachograph fitted to trucks also records distance travelled at what speed and when.

It records when the brakes were applied and how quickly the vehicle stopped.

Some argue that tachographs should be fitted to all vehicles!

Gafferbill, that is indeed the case with analogue tachos,chart analysis can show very detailed data including the point of deaccelaration when the brakes are applied. However, digital tachographs, although holding data for the last 365 days, only store the data once a minute. When a police forensic collision investigator examines a digital tacho following an incident he can only determine the average speed in the previous 60 seconds, he is unable to show when the vehicle was braked.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

considering the general decline in the standard of driving over the past 20 years I am supprised there is not a speed camera on every road in the country and at every set of traffic lights.

may be electronic average trip computers and cameras are the way to go who knows?, one thing is for sure something has to be done it seems to me that most drivers have no regard for the highway code it's just a book you read in order to get on the road then ignored as an in convenience everybody has to get everywhere as fast as possible and be in front of everybody else in the process every set of lights and roundabouts are used like the starting grid of a grand prix and every bit of dual carrageway used like a drag stip.

the average driver has no regards to road and weather conditions and treat speed limits with contempt like speeding up between cameras and then braking hard just while they get passed then speeding up again, and if you think about it is probably the reason there is 20 cameras on the section of road the opening post refers to.

 

[Essexeddie]

Most of the speed cameras in Essex are now changing to the 'Average Speed Cameras'.

Even on non restricted roads.

The M25 has a few on it. So be warned!!

.

 

[trucker]

i would say a vast majority of todays problems are caused by the EU

i mean think of some of the ridiculous EU ideas which we have to live within

eg common fisheries policy - lets through back hundreds of tons of dead fish each year just because british fishermen went over the quota in british waters yet other countries can fish as much as they like.

Speed cameras are easy money which is why they have them, same with the change of speeds on many roads is to try and catch people unaware many roads in my area have green moss on speed limit signs making them near unreadable yet there are speed cameras a mile down the road.

police should be watching for act of dangerous driving not SPEEDING !!!!!

Is speeding in certain areas not dagerous????????

 

[jmg12]

Is speeding in certain areas not dagerous????????

there are dual carriage ways in my area which are very straight and have 40 yet some small country lanes which are 60 how does this work i have seen many more accidents on the country lanes yet nothing is done about the speed limits on these. The dual carriage way is only 40 because there is a speed camera and the police sometimes sit on it