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UK Govt set to introduce 20mph speed cameras

D

Devil's Refugee

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 14, 2007
316
0
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7046200.stm

WTF :mad:

The UK is no longer a place to drive in, the Govt. thinks adding cameras (why stop at 20mph, why not introduce them for EVERY speed limit in place FFS?! <sarcasm>) is the way forward (for boosting the coffers maybe!)

Country has really gone to the dogs in the last 10 years. This isn't progress. Pointless owning a car here tbh.

I can't wait for them to introduce satellite tracking..... :rolleyes:
 
You guys don't use mph over there, do you? :confused:

Anyway, 20 mph is pretty slow. The default over here is 25 mph in residential areas (unless 30 is posted), or near schools if children are present. Considering the differences in traffic and the number of pedestrians and bicyclist, however, 20 maybe the best choice.

Although I am surprised to see how many European countries rely on speed cameras ...I've only ever seen them for busy traffic lights over here.
 
No, this is a study to explore the possibility... and personally, I'd be pleased because speeding on an open motorway and 'A' road is one thing, speeding in a built-up city centre is far more hazardous to other users of the street.

I'll give you two examples. The shortish street outside my flat is a rat-run between two major London streets, it has cars parked all along both sides so it's often not wide enough for two cars to pass. It has two schools, a busy estate with lots of kids living on it, a church and an old person's home along it... yet, some twunts seem to enjoy barreling down it at over 40mph, sometimes even faster, oblivious to the hazard.

The other one is a pedestrian crossing on the Caledonian Road which drivers accelerate towards after rounding a blind corner; there's one of these in each direction. And what's more, this pedestrian crossing is used by schoolkids each day... and I've seen drivers tooting their horns at people using the crossing while they're hitting easily 60mph coming towards it.

So, let's put others' safety before others' selfish needs to speed dangerously in built-up areas.
 
Cameras are probably cheaper than policemen monitoring the roads. Plus it frees up the resources used in speed enforcement for other tasks.

BTW, we have plenty of cameras on the highways over here in Japan.
 
What do others think a reasonable speed limit for a street like this should be? Especially if the weather's poor, which it isn't in this picture.

Uk-eton-high-street.jpg
 
On streets like that, or outside schools or in residential streets I'll drive between 20 and 25mph. Sometimes even slower.

Nermal said:
They're only half metric over there :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Now the EU have given up trying to impose metric weights I'd say we were 1/4 metric.
 
Devil's Refugee said:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7046200.stm

WTF :mad:

The UK is no longer a place to drive in, the Govt. thinks adding cameras (why stop at 20mph, why not introduce them for EVERY speed limit in place FFS?! <sarcasm>) is the way forward (for boosting the coffers maybe!)

Country has really gone to the dogs in the last 10 years. This isn't progress. Pointless owning a car here tbh.

I can't wait for them to introduce satellite tracking..... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

They're not 'set to introduce' - it's merely a report about the possibility.

I drive, and personally on some inner city roads a 20mph speed limit is about right. Might not be fun, but if it saves lives then I'm all for it. Especially when I saw a friend of mine get hit by a car a few years back in the town centre that can't have been doing more than about 35. Not a fun experience.

-Leemo
 
Here in Hull we currently have more 20mph zones in operation than any other city in the country. Just another indication of what trailblazers we are here. ;)

Point is, according to this it's reckoned that since the zones were introduced crashes within them have fallen by 56%, while the number of people killed and seriously injured has fallen by 90%. Overall, I think less people being killed on the roads is a good thing but I'm a bit odd like that.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Here in Hull we currently have more 20mph zones in operation than any other city in the country. Just another indication of what trailblazers we are here. ;)
Click to expand...

But getting a canoe to go over 20 is pretty hard isn't it?;)
 
Blue Velvet said:
What do others think a reasonable speed limit for a street like this should be? Especially if the weather's poor, which it isn't in this picture.

Uk-eton-high-street.jpg
Click to expand...

The speed limit of course would be 30mph, but what people forget is that 30mph is the maximum speed. I was taught that although 30, 40, 50 60, or 70 mph may be the maximum speed you always drive to the conditions of the road. So in the case of the picture 15-20mph would seem about right.
 
I'm not disputing the fact they need to be set, it's why they need to be enforced with cameras. Does a fine really slow people down ? All people do is slow down for the 20 or so yards for the tracking then speed back up. It's a false study and does not reflect accurate driving behaviour in the UK.

If anyone's driven abroad before, they all drive like loons in europe but I feel no more threatened or less safe than I do in the UK (in fact, I feel worse in the UK because drivers are that erratic you can't predict behaviour.....why ? because there are so many bl00dy laws to try and get around)

:rolleyes:
 
Well with the traffic levels these days i'd be pleased to get to 20mph most times. However i do lots o f driving at night and would hate being restricted to 20mph when all the kiddies+everyone else is in bed.

I recently got back from Malaysia and Thailand so i think we should introduce millions of mopeds which ace actually family vehicles. I once saw 5 people on one:eek:
 
sushi said:
Cameras are probably cheaper than policemen monitoring the roads. Plus it frees up the resources used in speed enforcement for other tasks.

BTW, we have plenty of cameras on the highways over here in Japan.
Click to expand...

Hope you don't mind me saying this but I live near Tokyo and have seen very few speed cameras around. Driving in Japan I would say most drivers travel around 10kph over the limit and some are just speed freaks. I have only ever seen cops opperating speed traps on select sections of by-passes and expressways (motorways).

Having said that the speed limits in Japan are quite slow. e.g. and mountain road near my home away from housing and juctions with good visability is posted at 40kph!
 
Jaffa Cake said:
That’s a fair point. On that note I should mention that the 20mph zones around here don’t generally seem to be enforced by speed cameras – instead, methods are in place to physically slow down the traffic, for example speed bumps and little twisty bits of road.
Click to expand...

Speed bumps are terrible, i feel for the emergency response drives who have to deal with these.
 
maybe we should all have a tracker in the car and every time you go over the speed limit the government just takes the money from your bank account.

OK that was a joke, but there has to be something done about the speed some people drive at through towns and areas where kids are. At the same time I feel the speed limit on the motorway should be increased to 85mph (136 kph)
 
If it will help save lives then I'm all for it. Our road is barely wide enough to support dual lanes, yet (I feel now is this time to use this) twunts feel it necessary to drive fast in either direction. Usually resulting in yet another closure for an accident.

It's not so bad when they pick each other off, but if a pedestrian or a non-speeding car is involved it's a bit tragic.

Bloody speeders.
 
Blue Velvet said:
What do others think a reasonable speed limit for a street like this should be? Especially if the weather's poor, which it isn't in this picture.

Uk-eton-high-street.jpg
Click to expand...

hehe, I think I know that street (from the visit to windsor and eton not too long ago)

Sad thing is, I bet they don't put speed cameras on streets like that, they'll put them somewhere that is far less logical.

On motorways (and many other places) I've seen the speed limit drop for no apparent reason other than to hopefully catch you not noticing the needless speed change and get you speeding for the camera. So people are slamming on their brakes "oh crap, a speed camera." just so the speed can go back up to 50 or whatever just a few metres up the road. It's senseless BS.

There are many places where speed cameras are appropriate but I am seeing them more and more in the dumbest places. Seems they are just trying to be sneaky and catch people to simply fatten wallets.
 
iBlue said:
On motorways (and many other places) I've seen the speed limit drop for no apparent reason other than to hopefully catch you not noticing the needless speed change and get you speeding for the camera. So people are slamming on their brakes "oh crap, a speed camera." just so the speed can go back up to 50 or whatever just a few metres up the road. It's senseless BS.

There are many places where speed cameras are appropriate but I am seeing them more and more in the dumbest places. Seems they are just trying to be sneaky and catch people to simply fatten wallets.
Click to expand...

We have that over here too, except instead of cameras they're run by hokey backwater cops whose radar guns haven't been calibrated properly since they took them out of the box and have quotas to meet each month.

So if you loan someone your car and they get caught speeding, who has to pay the fine? Do you they allow you to introduce evidence that it wasn't you driving, or are you pretty much screwed?
 
CorvusCamenarum said:
So if you loan someone your car and they get caught speeding, who has to pay the fine? Do you they allow you to introduce evidence that it wasn't you driving, or are you pretty much screwed?
Click to expand...

You give the name of the person who was driving. ;)

Otherwise they assume you were and you either pay the fine and get some rather spiffy stars on your license.

Or.

They take you to court and your fine goes from maybe £60 to £1000 or so (I can't remember the exact numbers), and probably a ban for not taking it like a man too. ;)

My 3 points expire next year. :D
 
My grandad was told to either pay the £60 fine and get 3 points or pay a £60 fee to go on a one day driving course. He chose the driving course.
 
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