Camouflaged camera

[Forum_Admin]

Driving along there are no speed camera warning signs and apparently no cameras...

Did you spot it?

Full details on the photo page of our website.

[tracker]

Quite easy to spot even though the camera angle used when taking your picture could be better
It's a built up residential area where anyone exceeding the posted limit deserves to be nicked.
But of course the appearance of a speed camera whatever colour it is painted only bothers those who frequently exceed the limit and are miffed at no longer being able to....

BTW "driving along..."...since when do you drive on the footpath?

[Forum_Admin]

I didn't take the photo, it was sent in by someone who was rather astonished to see that such great measures were taken to hide the camera.

Authorities originally said speed cameras are to prevent accidents and are used at accident blackspots. How can this be the genuine intention if cameras aren't used to alert motorists to an accident blackspot? Hidden cameras ensure and permit drivers to continue speeding through the blackspot. If the camera was visible most drivers would slow down at that location and an impending accident due to exceeding the speed limit would have been averted.

The only logical conclusion is that hidden cameras are used to ensure a financial revenue and not to ensure drivers slow down.

[tracker]

I didn't take the photo, it was sent in by someone who was rather astonished to see that such great measures were taken to hide the camera.

Authorities originally said speed cameras are to prevent accidents and are used at accident blackspots. How can this be the genuine intention if cameras aren't used to alert motorists to an accident blackspot? Hidden cameras ensure and permit drivers to continue speeding through the blackspot. If the camera was visible most drivers would slow down at that location and an impending accident due to exceeding the speed limit would have been averted.

The only logical conclusion is that hidden cameras are used to ensure a financial revenue and not to ensure drivers slow down.

We've danced this dance before haven't we?
They only generate revenue from those who exceed the speed limit...no-one else.
If you only slow down to a speed you can legally travel at when you know there is a camera you are a danger to other road users.
We all KNOW what the speed limit is yet we try all manner of ways and means to justify our exceeding it.
We fly into a tantrum when we get caught out breaking the law blaming the device that caught us being naughty rather than the REAL culprit, which is ourselves for exceeding a limit full in the knowledge that if we are caught we stand likely to be punished for it.

[Forum_Admin]

I'm not arguing about the right to exceed the speed limit or even trying to justify it. I'm arguing that the point of any road saftey policy should have the prevention of accidents as its number one priority. Hiding cameras does absolutely nothing to slow drivers down at accident blackspots. It might as well not be there. Therefore its only purpose is to raise revenue.

[tracker]

But it ISN'T hidden is it Gary...the camera angle makes it appear to be FROM THE FOOTPATH, but from the road it is in full view. OK granted it isn't painted bright yellow...but it is in plain sight.
Even so it will only worry anyone if they are daft enough to exceed the limit in that location...a built up location with homes, kids schools etc that need looking out for.

[Forum_Admin]

The intention was to hide the speed camera. Why else would it be painted green (the same colour as its surroundings) and placed next to 5 other green poles? Three poles appear to serve no purpose and I'd love to know if they were erected around the same times as the speed camera. I've also been told there are no cameras sign in the area.

Sure, you can see the camera because you expect to find a speed camera somewhere in the photo, after all, this is a speed camera website!

As you said, there are houses and school kids so drivers shouldn't speed. Yes, and people shouldn't smoke, take drugs or drink too much either, but that's what a large number of people do and you can't stop them by telling them that they can't. The only way we stand a chance of stopping people doing things that are wrong or dangerous is to put police onto every street in the country or use other techniques such as warnings, alerts, and personal consequences to deter them. You can't deter someone from speeding past an accident black spot if they don't know a) that it exists and b) there is s personal consequence if they do so.

As much as I dislike cameras, the original honest intention of them was to a) warn drivers of an accident black spot so they will slow down, and b) show them there's a consequence if they don't comply. Cameras that are not clearly visible and signposted don't achieve a or b so therefore there is no intention by the authorities to get the driver to slow down and avert a potential accident. The only guaranteed outcome from that set up is an increased risk of an accident and a fine and 3 points. A driver slowing down cannot possibly be part of that outcome because the camera is not clearly visible.

And the RAC agree.

If anyone else feels like chipping in to this discussion...

[tracker]

Perhaps you could tell us all what type of 'speed camera' it is Gary?
Could it be a WATCHMAN?
AFAIK they are only about in North West England and as yet not been granted type approval...(but I could be wrong as I've been out of the loop a while) They work in conjunction with a light board and basically the camera tags your speed as you approach and shows it on the light board...They also have ANPR capabilities and take digital shots of the rear of your vehicle (similar to 'Old Man Gatso')until they get type approval all you are likely to get is (at the most) a letter at best you get to see your measured speed flashed up on the board (helps decide what sort of leeway you have with your speedo).
I suspect that because there is no type approval that is why there are no warning signs = they're firing blanks until T/A is granted. At which point they will be painted yellow and signs erected and you would need to be a weapons Grade K/end to speed past these babies!

[troychocolate]

The way I see it, human nature tells us everyone will push the boundaries of our own lives inmany differnet arenas, if we think there is a valid reason for it. Late for meeting, lack of pedestrian / vehicular traffic in 40 zone, departing a restriction etc etc

There is no perfect world where everyone follows the rules and no-one dies from accidents, indeed a world where there are no accidents. We live and learn, often through people's mistakes.

If we accept the idea that human nature tells us people will speed (for right or wrong), not excessively perhaps, but they will speed nonetheless, it is unfair to punish them without warning.

As a teacher, I know it is important to give kids fair warning of what they are doing wrong beofre they get a punishment. Not doing so creates aggro.

Quid pro quo, the police should be giving drivers fair warning that there are speed cameras being used in an area and they are intended to slow peeps down at appropriate moments to save lives. They should be proud of this fact that this is what they are doing.

Unfortuantely, the police see all cameras including mobile ones as money making schemes. It probably started as a scheme to break even on running costs and has now escalated into a nice little earner. Why do you think mobile cameras are no longer required to go to spots where there is significant evidence of fatal accidents.

I rest my case.

[troychocolate]

In any civilised society it is essential to fina a balance between notletting the bastards getting away with it and having a draconian system that is inflexible and unfair.

When you get a system that is inflexibel and unfair, eventually you will also get revolution which is costly and often unsavoury.

THe balance is all important, and good balance comes from telling people straight what you are tyring to do and subsequent penalites for ignoring these wishes, but also not trying to con people into handing over their money and liberties unfairly by being sneaky.

You will never win by forcing people to do sthg against their will simply because you know how many accidents have happened on a particular stretch of road, you have to inform people and allow the information to settle and be passed on for the greater good.

Informing people by punishing them with sneaky, hidden cameras will not work. Eventually there will be revolution.

[Forum_Admin]

Good arguments. Speed cameras will never reduce the number of speeding drivers and the proof reflects that with more and more drivers issued with speeding tickets each year - over a million. If cameras were an adequate deterrent for speeding then surely the number of tickets would be going down, not up. Therefore one has to assume the motivation behind cameras is not to deter people from speeding.