Whats the problem with speed cameras

[ivan edake]

Why do the government and the police not pursue drivers using mobile phones and other similar devices with the same vigor as they do speeders? These are the really dangerous drivers but little is done to catch them.

[DT Ralge]

Inappropriate speed doesn't necessarily mean breaking the speed limit of course.

 

The last figures that I saw from the government though recorded speed as a major contributor to accidents (total figures) in only 5%.

The extra 9% might be where it's recorded as a minor contributory factor.

 

Rather than rely on Brake, the Daily Mail or the likes of Jeremy Buffoon and the ABD read and digest the figures for yourself here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/357888/ras50008.xls

 

And select the 2013 tab, for instance, for the figures.

Don't forget that the Police officer filling in the Stats19 form has 78 contributory factors to select from and that he/she can rank up to six factors.

He/she also has to have evidence of illegal speed before marking that particular box.

Edited May 5, 2015 by DT Ralge

[Cyclone]

I read the figures before, I spent a few hours looking at them in a spreadsheet.

 

Your last sentence, illegal speed, is that entirely new, because when I looked before the category was excessive speed and could be applied without breaking the speed limit as you would expect.

[DT Ralge]

I read the figures before, I spent a few hours looking at them in a spreadsheet.

 

Your last sentence, illegal speed, is that entirely new, because when I looked before the category was excessive speed and could be applied without breaking the speed limit as you would expect.

 

If you are asking whether the category "exceeding the limit" is new, it isn't.

It is the category that the ABD et al bang on about being so low and insignificant.

 

See my contribution, please, as neutral. I'm not making a case either way. (Anyone could argue (stupidly) that speed is a factor in 100% of crashes.)

 

Why, because any Police officer's judgment as to which boxes (contributory factors) to tick on the Stats19 form is pretty subjective as per the caveat on the front page of the link. Contributory factors should not be taken as fact.

 

"It is important to note that it may be difficult for a police officer, attending the scene after an accident has occurred, to identify certain factors that may have contributed to a cause of an accident.

 

The contributory factors are therefore different in nature from the remainder of the STATS19 data which is based on the reporting of factual information. This should be kept in mind when interpreting the data."

Edited May 6, 2015 by DT Ralge

[Justin Smith]

Because blind adherence to the speed limit does not make you a better driver. Driving to the conditions is what is important.

 

jb

 

All other things being equal driving more slowly is safer, you not only have more time to react to any problem but the consequences of any accident you have will be less serious. These are unarguable facts. It is never acceptable to break the speed limit, who are these arrogant wazzocks who think they can choose which law to adhere to or not as they see fit ? T*****s.

 

---------- Post added 06-05-2015 at 16:32 ----------

 

I am genuinely confused. When ever motoring or traffic gets mentioned speed cameras come up.

 

You then have a group of motorists (presumably ones who dont follow the speed limit) saying these are a cash cow and a tax. So much so that the government backs down and limits their use tells councils to make them more visible but why. Is it not people who breaking the law dictating how it should be run.

 

Why do motorists have a huge problem with them?

 

The only problem with speed cameras is that they`re all visible. As far as I`m concerned they`d work much better (and their effect would be more widely spread) if they were all made invisible so these speeding motorists would never know if they`d get done or not, thus they`d have to slow down all the time. My heart bleeds for them, not.

 

I do think that there should be speed limit sings round where a speed camera is sited, it`s not enough to say there was a speed limit sign a mile or so back and the speed limit hasn`t changed since. Ideally the speed limit sign would actually appear in the picture that the speed camera takes, thus the errant driver would have no argument whatsoever.