Just thought i,d start a new topic as the other one where the fella thought he got caught speeding has veered off the subject somewhat.
Im just interested in the policepersons view on speed cameras and have a few questions.NOT with a view to "having a go" but purely just to see things from your point of view.
I read a report in the press last year somewhere along the lines that an independent body had done a study into speed cameras and found that they actually caused accidents and that the government had put a halt on anymore cameras being installed while more research was done.This doesnt appear to have been followed out after the recent installation of several new speed cameras in my local area.Is the above paragraph true?If it is,how come cameras are still being installed?How many incidents have you come across where the driver has hit the brakes because of a speed camera and caused an accident?(i realise this is down to driver error,but im just wondering how common this is)
I cover a lot of miles each year on the british roads ,after long periods out the country and every time i come back i can honestly say that the standard of driving appears to be getting worse.dangerously so .Statistics have also shown a drop in traffic cops (last time i looked).From a traffic cops point of view do you really think that the addition of more speed cameras is the way forward for British roads?or,like most of the general public do you think that they are a poor excuse for raising revenue?or possibly a bit of both?
Im just after a personal point of view from people who do this job for a living as i feel our roads are changing for the worse.I know that speeding convictions have gone up by a lot in the last few years due to cameras but i also feel that because of the lack of traffic cops people are getting away with more dangerous driving than ever before.I could give you some examples but im sure you guys have seen it all.

Pete.

 

Traffic cops might be to embarrased to expose themselves by replying.

Only kidding.

I wonder how many traffic cops on this forum have scoobs and raz the pants of it at the weekend.

I had a traffic cop leacture me one time (which i prefer to a camera) and he was on his high horse saying he didnt see why people should spped and that he owned a ducati 916 and never speeds. WTF is the point of having a bike like that and not speeding and dont say going round corners at the speed limit.

Sorry, not really the point of this thread.

I only hate traffic cops as ive got 9 points. Soon as my licence is clean ill love them again.

 

I speed quite a lot.Especially when ive finally broken free from London.I have a clean licence and i actually find it easier to speed these days!I suppose this is one of the points im trying to make.That with the police/government starting to rely pretty heavily on speed cameras then we are free to commit any number of road traffic offences elsewhere. i.e a friend of mine was stabbed recently at the traffic lights because he had overtaken some young lads on scooters.When he stopped at the next set of lights they stabbed him in the back narrowly missing his spine.

 

Holy **** thats nuts.

Excess speeders should be punished but doing 80-85 on a motorway in modern cars is not dangerous. Clamp down on speeders in built up areas is a good idea but on country roads and motorways. But this is obviously where the majority of speeding takes place so has the best potential to make money.

I hate the way they make speeders out to be criminals. Some poor dear going to shops is busy looking ahead for kids jumping out onto road and car creaps up to 35, flash, caught, NIP- criminal. Joke. Or she sits with her face glued to the speedo and wipes out a kid.

I would be interested to see, as you say, what traffic cops think is best. I would definately prefer them to be patrolling.

 

the insurance industry must be loving it

i have no problem habnding out £30 for a fine for speeding, but i think £60 is too much. TBH if it was just a £60 fine i wouldn't be that outraged, but when you add the insurance hike of several hundred over the 5 year insurance rise, that is ALOT of cash, and that really f@cks me off. because all the government really want is your £60.

i bought the scoob partly because it is probably the last car i will be able to really drive fast. i would imagine in 5 years or so all new cars will be fitted with somekind of receiver which will map out your speed at all times, or possibly a 77mph limiter, so may as well speed while you still can!

 

I dont mind paying a fine its the points that suck. 9 points hasnt affected my insurance premium one bit only a ban will. If your insurance company put your premiums up for points say goodbye to them and change.

If you get caught speeding, as i have, its no ones fault but your own so therefore i will quite happily pay a fine. But having points on your licence and facing a potential ban achieves nothing. There must be thousands of people who currently cant drive as they did 34mph a few times and got caught. Thank god they are off the road imagine how dangerous the roads would be if everyone drove at 34mph it would be terrifying. Thanks cops for keeping these hooligans off our streets.

Rather than speed cameras why not cctv to catch dangerous drivers. I could crawl past a gatso at 69mph reading a map or having a ******* and be fine but some poor sod sets it off at 80mph or whatever and is fined(which isnt a big deal) but faces potentially being banned. Where is the sense in that. Oh i forgot its not there to actually save lives its a revenue collector i keep forgetting.

Cue another rant about how traffic cops peel people off the road again. Yea i dare say they do but probably victim was getting a ******* at the time while trying to open his tin off lager and concentrating on keeping speed below70mph so he would be safe.
Come on cops be honest you know thye cameras are all about the money.

 

I am a cop, but not a traffic cop.

Dont really know that much about exactly where the money generated from speed cameras go, but I know it doesnt go to the Police.
I often see them in certain places and cant help but think that it has been positioned because it will catch more people there (eg 40mph into a 30mph). I thought they were supposd to be outside schools etc but ive never seen one outside a school near me?

In my area the camera vans are not staffed by traffic cops so it does not depleat the number of traffic cops on patrol.

I see where you are coming from, I dont like the cameras, but I do a fair few miles each year, and I wont lie and say I always stick to speed limits because I dont, but I have a clean licence. Cant help thinking that if I can do it with all those cameras about then why cant everyone else?! Maybe people need to improve their observational skills? (and no I dont get special privelidges!!)

Si

 

I have to agree with you there mate.If it really was a safety issue then i believe cameras would be better placed with actual safety in mind as opposed to being what appears to be hidden from line of site as close behind a motorway sign as possible,thereby catching out the unwary.

Thanks for your reply Si.Just wondering if your average copper/traffic copper has any sort of feedback method i.e Do they actually take into account actual policing when it comes to speed cameras?Also why is it that speed has been labelled as the main offender on the roads?I,m mainly on about motorways here as i believe this is where the problem lies.

 

I don't think your average traffic copper will have any idea of anything much to do with speed cameras as they don't have anything to do with them. I certainly don't .....

I dread the mobile man as much as anyone - we are all human - honest ! 99% of the people who manage them seem to be civilians.

I am just as likely to be caught a bit over as anyone and would never report someone for something I think it is feasible I could be doing myself! Most traffic officers are the same; though I know there are some who forget that people are human. The day I change like that is the day I resign.....

Cameras, unfortunately, have limits which take into account absolutely nothing except the speed you are doing .... go over it and the brown envelope drops though the door .....

The police don't get any money from the cameras - the government effectively gets that. All the police get is the bad press and the government are more than happy with that, IMO of course !

I certainly think the growth in these things is probably the single worst thing that has happened for public / traffic police relations ..... and, as I say, we have no control over it - look to the government as to why they are seen as the answer to everything. Traffic Police and their cars cost lots of money ..... cameras make money. Budgets are everything at the moment - I think you will see what I'm getting at.

I would stress views here are my own and not necessarily those of my employer......

 

A good point was just made about cameras being a big factor in poor police / public relations. I totally agree and its good to hear that some of the cops are not totally satisfied with the camera situation as well. Its been a long time since i was stopped for speeding and given a talking to but not convicted. After an incident like this you do still respect the coppers as you know you were wrong and as long as you werent driving dangerously they do normally let you off with just a warning. The same instance but having a camera catch you means instant prosecution regardless of the prevailing conditions i.e empty road dry conditions. Its no wonder people get pissed off as there is no reasoning with the cameras and i suppose its just a natural reaction to blame the police but as someone else said the cameras is a system put in place by the govt. But we hate them anyway so gotta blame someone.