Speed Cameras

[Ian H]

Every speed camera in an entire county looks set to disappear following central government funding cuts, it has been disclosed.

Oxfordshire County Council is cutting its funding to the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership by £600,000 in a bid to meet £11 million savings.

It has resulted in the partnership taking steps to cease all enforcement in the county and switch off its 72 fixed speed cameras, possibly as soon as August 1.

The Government said it was delivering its pledge to \"end the war on the motorist\" by following through its promise to end central funding for fixed speed cameras.

Interesting.

[BLIR]

Not sure I agree with this. I hate speed cameras as much as the next man but I think they're good when used for the right reasons - to protect people ie outside schools or accident black spots.

Ditch those that are clearly a money making excercise and keep the others?

[Dagenham Rover]

BLIR wrote:

Not sure I agree with this. I hate speed cameras as much as the next man but I think they're good when used for the right reasons - to protect people ie outside schools or accident black spots.

Ditch those that are clearly a money making excercise and keep the others?

I tend to agree with that.
So at a rough guess I reckon 75% to get the chop

My missus is a \"lollypop lady\" and the number of drivers who see a couple of kids with her and then speed up to make sure they get past   is untrue

[BobG]

I agree too BLIR. I hate the damn things, but they are incrediblya im;portant in black spots etc etc. What really gets up my nose though are the cunningly hidden one in the middle of nowhere designed simply to trap you for no other reason than to raise some dosh. I'd rather pay a sensible rate of income tax. There's 3 of the sodding things on the A427 near here on the road to Oxford. be glad to see the back of them all. They do no one any good at all except some bas**rds' bank balance.

BobG

[jucyberry]

My sister is also a lolly pop lady, and the amount of lunatics she has to deal with is untrue.. They care nothing for the fact that it is a school crossing.. Seems to me that it is a miracle that there isn't more accidents involving school crossings.

As for speed cameras, well, in my opinion if you speed it bloody well serves you right if you get a ticket.. That is the trouble, people get behind the wheel and think they own the road. If you drive you know the rules of the road, and speed limits are there for a reason.

another thing that really gets me is the way they think it is perfectly acceptable to park on the path , especially on a corner..Morons..  :angry:

[RoversDave]

A few weeks back I was driving down Church Balk at Edenthorpe, it was after 3pm, school turnout time. Traffic in front of me waiting to get passed the parked cars and lollypop lady. Not easy as the front driver had to keep giving way to the on-coming traffic. Silly t**t from behind me couldn't wait and drove 50-100 yards down the pavement to get by.

Outside the Hollybush pub 5-6 cars were waiting to join the Barnby Dunn road. Silly t**t actually got out of his car and confronted the driver who had been giving way at the school.

[jucyberry]

That doesn't suprise me in the slightest..You wouldn't want to hear the unladylike comments I spew as I go past my sister about car driving  parents. Being on a bike is quite frankly terrifying at that time of day. Divvy cows can't see past their own noses and the number of times I have had to stop fast to avoid beink knocked off is untrue..Getting on the path is no better, they all stand gossiping with car doors open, forcing the pedestrian into the stinging nettles on the vrege instead......

Thank god for the summer holidays!

[CusworthRovers]

A sad tale of today.

Now we have moved onto schools parking. Schools were built years ago in the middle of housing estates with no parking or on main roads with no parking. In short not built to have 400 cars turn up at once.

Why do people who live 300-400yds from school have to drive there?
Why do parents of kids who are in the same school or class and live next door to each other, both have to drive?
What is the fixation on driving everywhere (short journeys)

Looking at some of them, I would suggest many of the parents and kids ought to walking to be honest.

Half of it is a show of wealth. Most turn up in a massive vehicle, about 10ft off the ground and 1 x 4yr old kid and mother get out.

The ones that park infront of the lollipop lady and abandon their cars. This causes a massive dangerous headache to the lollipop lady and the 100 kids that want to cross.....but hey oh, f**k all those kids, as long as mine is OK. The big fat Kitsons, aaaarrgghhh

[jucyberry]

You sure you don't live in Heacham Cussy?

The one I save most of my loathing for is the bloke who waits for his kid right on the verge and then as soon as the kid is in the car pulls out no matter how many kids are front of his bonnet at the time.. I save most of my loudest comments about stupid parents until I'm just next to his window... My sister is used to me abusing them en masse now...lol

[BillyStubbsTears]

CusworthRovers wrote:

A sad tale of today.

Now we have moved onto schools parking. Schools were built years ago in the middle of housing estates with no parking or on main roads with no parking. In short not built to have 400 cars turn up at once.

Why do people who live 300-400yds from school have to drive there?
Why do parents of kids who are in the same school or class and live next door to each other, both have to drive?
What is the fixation on driving everywhere (short journeys)

Looking at some of them, I would suggest many of the parents and kids ought to walking to be honest.

Half of it is a show of wealth. Most turn up in a massive vehicle, about 10ft off the ground and 1 x 4yr old kid and mother get out.

The ones that park infront of the lollipop lady and abandon their cars. This causes a massive dangerous headache to the lollipop lady and the 100 kids that want to cross.....but hey oh, fcuk all those kids, as long as mine is OK. The big fat cnuts, aaaarrgghhh

It's like that old Viz spoof advert. Picture of one of them big, macho, cock-substitute off-roaders driving through the wilderness. Tag line underneath. \"Is your kid's school half way up a mountain? Then what the f**k do you need one of these for?\"

[BLIR]

Dagenham.Rover wrote:

My missus is a \"lollypop lady\" and the number of drivers who see a couple of kids with her and then speed up to make sure they get past is untrue

Not sure if it's true, or an urban legend, but I heard that there is a black bar on the lollypop and the lollypop man/lady was issued with chalk so they could write the reg plate of the offending cars and then report to the correct authority?

Guessing this might have been true years ago, but they'd run out of room nowadays

RoversDave wrote:

Silly t**t actually got out of his car and confronted the driver who had been giving way at the school.

How I wish I had been in the car that the idiot had a go at. Anyone getting out of their car constitues an act of aggression to me, and they get what they deserve!

[Thinwhiteduke]

BLIR wrote:

Anyone getting out of their car constitues an act of aggression to me

Bit harsh that isnt it??  

[BLIR]

Maybe should have included something along the lines of \"...and confronts me....?\"

It's easy to be a bully in a big 4x4, and also to be aggressive towards a young mum in a car, but not sure he'd have stayed out of his car for very long if it had been me he tried it on with.

I'm on the large side and don't get intimidated very easily

[Sheepskin Stu]

It's not your size people are afraid of Neil it's your sandals.  

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

CusworthRovers wrote:

A sad tale of today.

Now we have moved onto schools parking. Schools were built years ago in the middle of housing estates with no parking or on main roads with no parking. In short not built to have 400 cars turn up at once.

Why do people who live 300-400yds from school have to drive there?
Why do parents of kids who are in the same school or class and live next door to each other, both have to drive?
What is the fixation on driving everywhere (short journeys)

Looking at some of them, I would suggest many of the parents and kids ought to walking to be honest.

Half of it is a show of wealth. Most turn up in a massive vehicle, about 10ft off the ground and 1 x 4yr old kid and mother get out.

The ones that park infront of the lollipop lady and abandon their cars. This causes a massive dangerous headache to the lollipop lady and the 100 kids that want to cross.....but hey oh, fcuk all those kids, as long as mine is OK. The big fat cnuts, aaaarrgghhh

Because people want to go to the best school, not the one closest to where they live.  Results in the situation we had when we moved back to Doncaster in 2001 when I was 14 from Scotland.  I had a 4 month break that summer due to schooling issues.  Living in Edenthorpe, 10 minutes away from Hungerhill it was quite logical that I would go there we thought, especially as my younger sister had a place there.  No was the answer, I was to go to a different school as the school was full.  Another person at the same time from Hatfield was awarded a place.  Crazy, there's a bloody school in Hatfield FFS.  On top of this I was told I wasn't to be given provisions for getting to a school further away and was to walk down a path that's well known for not quite being safe alongside fields etc and through subways on my tod.

Life was far simpler when we went to the school closest to our house, it makes sense.  Now we have people driving accross towns to go to the better school etc.  Something's not quite right there and I can't say I agree with it.

[Mike_F]

You're quite right, Andy. It's a ludicrous state of affairs which perpetuates its own problems.

When people went to the nearest school there would be a balance of people with wide ranging abilities and personalities mixing together. The standard of education could be maintained through the set system so that the brightest and hardest working could crack on apace whilst those at the other end of the scale could get the extra attention and the slower pace they needed to attain any positive results. Outside of the classrooms the mixture of pupils (I can't bring myself to call schoolchildren \"students\") would give each other valuable exposure to the many-faceted society and prepare them for the world at large.

Today you find all the brightest kids in one school which is subsequently far more attractive to the best teachers whilst the divs, nutters and nincompoops all end up in a school that's more akin to a zoo with only the barrel-scrapings form the teaching profession biting their nails to the quick and trembling in corners whilst the kids run riot. What chance has anyone got in that environment?!

[Dagenham Rover]

Not sure if it's true, or an urban legend, but I heard that there is a black bar on the lollypop and the lollypop man/lady was issued with chalk so they could write the reg plate of the offending cars and then report to the correct authority?

Guessing this might have been true years ago, but they'd run out of room nowadays

Dunno but shes got an official notebook

And just as a point of interest the only people in law  allowed to stop moving traffic is coppers and youve guessed it ...Lollypop Ladys/men and yes they can technically report you

[jucyberry]

The 'I have to drive my little darling across town' might work in a town....But in a village like mine it's more lazy women with lazy kids who can't be arsed..

It gets so bad that every now and again Cheryl  has to have a copper there to point out that the way some park is illegal, and it's even worse at the main enterance  which is in the middle of an estate.  Home owners are blocked in by parents too idle to walk, some get really abusive when asked to move. It just isn't right.

[Filo]

Mike_F wrote:

You're quite right, Andy. It's a ludicrous state of affairs which perpetuates its own problems.

When people went to the nearest school there would be a balance of people with wide ranging abilities and personalities mixing together. The standard of education could be maintained through the set system so that the brightest and hardest working could crack on apace whilst those at the other end of the scale could get the extra attention and the slower pace they needed to attain any positive results. Outside of the classrooms the mixture of pupils (I can't bring myself to call schoolchildren \"students\") would give each other valuable exposure to the many-faceted society and prepare them for the world at large.

Today you find all the brightest kids in one school which is subsequently far more attractive to the best teachers whilst the divs, nutters and nincompoops all end up in a school that's more akin to a zoo with only the barrel-scrapings form the teaching profession biting their nails to the quick and trembling in corners whilst the kids run riot. What chance has anyone got in that environment?!

nincompoops    


Mike, you`ve morphed into an 80 year old lady thats never used a swear word in her life            

[Mike_F]

Go and f**k yourself!    

[Filo]

Oooooo! you nincompoop! you!        

[BLIR]

Sheepskin Stu wrote:

It's not your size people are afraid of Neil it's your sandals.  

Still got them, still going strong    

[Redandwhitewhizards]

jucyberry wrote:

My sister is also a lolly pop lady, and the amount of lunatics she has to deal with is untrue.. They care nothing for the fact that it is a school crossing.. Seems to me that it is a miracle that there isn't more accidents involving school crossings.

As for speed cameras, well, in my opinion if you speed it bloody well serves you right if you get a ticket.. That is the trouble, people get behind the wheel and think they own the road. If you drive you know the rules of the road, and speed limits are there for a reason.

another thing that really gets me is the way they think it is perfectly acceptable to park on the path , especially on a corner..Morons..  :angry:

My guess is that you don't drive?

Yes, anyone who breaks the law deserves to be punished, but the speed limits on our roads are so outdated its untrue. Cars have come such a long way since the national speed limit was set at 70mph, the limits should be reassessed and set according to the conditions and flow of traffic rather than just a blanket speed.

[jucyberry]

But, just because cars can go faster it doesn't mean they should.. There are too many on the roads that cannot handle speed. They think they are Sterlng Moss but have crash test dummy tendancies, they sure as hell don't have the skill to control a car at speed...



If every speed camera in the country saved one life, then surely they would be worth it?

[Ian H]

If every speed camera in the country saved one life, then surely they would be worth it?

- Not if the life was Ian Huntley :D ........

I am happy to have speed cameras in urban settings - the ones on motorways annoy me though (imho 70 is not a suitable limit on motorways) and, as Bob says, the ones that they hide in a bush on the few bits of straight road after you've been following a bloody caravan for ages, just to get your cash.

[BLIR]

Redandwhitewhizards wrote:

Yes, anyone who breaks the law deserves to be punished, but the speed limits on our roads are so outdated its untrue. Cars have come such a long way since the national speed limit was set at 70mph, the limits should be reassessed and set according to the conditions and flow of traffic rather than just a blanket speed.

Absolutely agree with this but not sure it's feasible. I drive somewhere around 450 miles per week, the vast majority on either motorways or dual carriageways. I drive more quickly when I finish in the early hours of the morning than I do in the afternoon because of the volume of traffic.

I can finish at 2am on a Saturday morning and drive from Stoke back to Doncaster barely seeing another car - there's no way that 70mph is the safest maximum speed in those conditions? My car has ABS, disc brakes all round, vehicle stability assist technology etc etc etc - none of which were available when the speed limits were set. I can (in my opinion) safely drive at 90mph when conditions are suitable but recognise that there are times when 70mph is TOO fast on a motorway when weather conditions are poor or traffic is heavy.

I think there are too many variables to impose varied speed limits and they would be impossible to police, but the idea is a good one!

[BillyStubbsTears]

Never ceases to amaze me just how casual we are about the annual carnage on the roads. In my lifetime, there has been something like 250,000 deaths on the roads in this country. The rate has dramatically reduced in recent years but we still have the equivalent of a 9/11 death toll on our roads every 14 months or so.

Imagine if there were 10 plane crashes every year in the UK that killed 250 people a time. Or if 5 tower blocks collapsed every year killing 500 people each time. There would be outrage. There would be riots on the streets demanding that businesses and Government sort it out. But THAT is the scale of deaths that we have on the roads every year - predominantly caused by rank bad driving. And all that drivers do is moan when the mesures that reducde this toll are introduced and enforced.

Since we started getting serious about enforcing safer driving and safer driver behaviour, there has been a steady decline in road deaths in this country. In the mid 60s, there were about 7000 deaths a year on the roads in the UK. Then we introduced breathalyser tests and the number declined markedly. When we enforced wearing seat-belts in the early 80s, there was a marked dip in the casualty rate, and most significantly of all, when speed cameras started to come in in the late 80s, the casualty rate dropped dramatically - from 5000 deaths a year in 87 to 3500 deaths a year in 92. Every one of those impositions caused outrage among drivers - infringing on our right to do just what the f**k we want.

The Top Gear mob will tell you it's all down to better, safer technology. Utter b*llocks. If that was the case, then why has the death rate in America (where they don't enforce the speed limit law as aggressively as we do) been pretty much static over the last 20 years while ours has more than halved? Or Italy. Their death rate was very static until four or five years ago when they started more aggressively enforcing the speed limit with fixed cameras, and giving out penalty points and bans for trangressions. There has been outrage in Italy at the prospect of the Government daring to take away drivers' licences for as trivial a thing as repeatedly driving like a t**t. My in-laws in Italy have talked about it as though it was a removal of their human rights. But the death rate on their roads has come down by 25% in five years after this, after hardly fluctuating for the previous 2 decades. f**k-all to do with new safety technology - everything to to with FORCING drivers to drive more sensibly. Just like we have been doing in this country for the last few decades, with spectacularly good results.

There's something about cars that brings out the worst in us. We're isolated from the rest of society, cossetted, safe. Everyone else on the road is a shit driver and we personally are excellent. We are competent to judge for ourselves when it is safe to break the law, beacuse we, individually are superb at driving. I wonder what the people involved in the crashes that kill 2,500-ish people every year in the UK think about their own driving? Do they go out on the morning that they become a killer thinking, \"Actually, I shouldn't be doing this - I'm not a competent driver\"? Or do they, like the rest of us get in the car and drive how the fcuk they want, safe in the knowledge that the road laws are for soft liberal t**ts and they personally know better than that?

[MrFrost]

BobG wrote:

I agree too BLIR. I hate the damn things, but they are incrediblya im;portant in black spots etc etc. What really gets up my nose though are the cunningly hidden one in the middle of nowhere designed simply to trap you for no other reason than to raise some dosh. I'd rather pay a sensible rate of income tax. There's 3 of the sodding things on the A427 near here on the road to Oxford. be glad to see the back of them all. They do no one any good at all except some bas**rds' bank balance.

BobG

Really? Is that all of them, or just the oens you say are designed to add to someone's bank balance? As another posted has said, if all the speed camera's in the country save one life between them, then it is worth it.

This is one Tory policy I don't agree with. I have absolutely no problem with speed camera's. Anyone stupid enough to be caught by one, then you only have yourself to blame. Speed limits are in force, it is the law no matter how much you may not agree with them, you have to abide by them. If you don't, be prepared to take the punishment.

One thing I would start doing is limiting the engine size's young drivers are able to drive.

A 17 year old fresh from their test shouldn't be jumping into large cars with massive engines. Its a recipie for disaster.

I would make everyone take a seperate test before they can drive on the motorway.

[Ian H]

Strangely though, whilst all this talk is going on, it appears that the ones where multiple deaths occur are down to Large Vehicles, behind the wheel of which are \"professional drivers\".

A 17 year old can go fast in any car, and give me a kid with good sense over an 85 year old with no reflexes.

I admit that I don't like speed cameras (I drive about 2000 miles per month), I have (as at right now) no points on my license, but I cannot compare any other countries, and as someone who has manipulated stats at different times in my life I set little store in the selective use of figures.

It is true that deaths on the road have reduced in the UK, and it is also true that in-car features like seat belts & air bags have assisted in driver protection.

Do the stats tell us how traffic volumes have risen, or whether the number of collisions has increased or reduced or whether lighting technology has assisted drivers' vision?

It is also true that I seldom meet anyone who admits to being a crap driver, or who doesn't follow correct lane discipline, and I see a certain pride in people when they tell me how much quicker they are than me from A to B.

I am an experienced driver, I understand about lanes, I sometimes get in the wrong one, I apologise if I appear to have f**ked up, I acknowledge people who let me in/out, but I still think that there are opportunities on motorways to reassess speed restrictions, and what America does or doesn't do on their roads is not important to me - they can't even drive on the correct side of them!

[Sandy Lane]

Don't most countries drive on the right side?  It's only UK and Bermuda that I can think of offhand that don't.

Does anyone know the origin of this?