Is anyone else depressed about impending speed cameras etc?

pburns

Most regular forum dwellers on this section are car enthusiasts. Some have hot hatches, various hot Audis/Bimmers, a Mazda 3 MPS etc. I started a thread recently about buying a Golf GTI, but I'm beginning to think - what's the point?

I was travelling through a 50km/h zone tonight and I swear, to travel at that speed on a good quality road would have been ridiculous. No-one was obeying the limit 'cos it was far too low. Nothing new in that but despite all the delays, at some time in the not-too-distant future we're likely to have far more speed cameras, some of them privatised (€€€€€). It seems the moral majority have been brainwashed by hysterical media coverage. Can anyone point me toward statistics which prove - per capita - that the situation is worse than it was 30 years ago or that we fare badly against our European neighbours?

OK, maybe there is a problem but it is clearly down to the number of untrained, unlicenced drivers on our roads. The FFers have had years to sort out the whole driving test issue but the incompetence of the minister over the last 12 days or so has been mind-blowing. We also need some sort of driver-awareness programme in our schools - I guess that ain't likely to happen within the next decade...

I also read today about the alcohol limit being lowered to such a degree that priests are worried that the few sips they have as part of the Mass ritual will put them over the limit:eek:. For sure, there is a problem here also but wouldn't more stringent enforcement of the current limit would be the sensible option instead of introducing yet more new legislation to be seen to be doing something?!? I don't condone drink-driving, have never done it but a zero-tolerence policy + day after breathalising means some of us might as well become reborn pioneers I realise this is unlikely to illicit any sympathy amongst the mainly urban-dwelling populace of this forum but in the real world, if you have a zero-policy attitude towards the tiniest milgram of alcohol in the system, why not a zero-policy attitude towards tired driving? Or hungry-driving? Or argueing with-your-girlfriend-whilst-driving?

I'm looking forward to the recession. The politicans will be distracted by the dole queues and economic unrest and will have more on their plates than implementing the perfect 'Nanny State'. The poor people will be back where they belong - thumbing. The driving test queues will vanish overnight and traffic chaos will subside.

E92

The problem here is that many of the speed limits are too low(all our Motorways, and Dual Carriageways), some are too high(twisty N roads with no hard shoulder and a limit of 100 km/h) and my absolute pet hate the 60 km/h limit.

If the speed limits were higher, I would have less of a problem with them.

And by the way, the private speed cameras are going to be paid a lump sum by the Government, they will not be rewarded for the amount of fines they manage to issue. And there will be signs on the road telling you that you are entering an area where there are speed cameras. But yes I hope they are an unmitagated disaster.

junkyard

It's all revenue generating in my view, the general public are fair game all the time for fines and taxes because they're made to pay and they do 99% of the time for fear of going to court or jail. Someone's got to pay the w*nkers who are supposed to be running the country, as far as I'm concerned they're wages should be based on their performance and if the f*ck up they should be fined or fired end of story, God knows they have enough spin doctors and advisers, all they seem to be doing is awarding themselves wage hikes and covering up for each other. I get a pain in my head when I start thinking about it all tbh.:mad:

mikemac

pburns wrote: »

OK, maybe there is a problem but it is clearly down to the number of untrained, unlicenced drivers on our roads.

You raise some good points but seriously, every problem is down to unlicenced drivers? :rolleyes:
And many licenced drivers have less training (and more time to get bad habits) than unlicensed drivers.

Speed cameras have a role to play. Like a school may have a 30 limit and someone who does 50 deserves a hefty fine.
120 in a 100 is still speeding but on a clear open road, well not as serious imo but speed cameras will be be the judge of that.

lol at thumbing. I reguarly thumbed a lift to work or school. Don't see many people doing this anymore.

projectgtr

E92 wrote: »

And by the way, the private speed cameras are going to be paid a lump sum by the Government, they will not be rewarded for the amount of fines they manage to issue. And there will be signs on the road telling you that you are entering an area where there are speed cameras. But yes I hope they are an unmitagated disaster.

The privaters will be getting a lump sum but is the government still profiting from the fines? the good news is they will be signposted i supose

Pete4779

Introducing private speed cameras is just the same as privatisation of the health service.

There is a clear financial incentive to keep speed limits unreasonably low. As long as there is a financial incentive for the government and private speed camera companies the solution to road deaths will not be found. It is clearly a conflict of interest.

- i.e., can anyone identify an incentive for the government to reduce road deaths? Are road accidents investigated as to the cause including road conditions and is any accountable? No - that is the answer.
- so we continue with the sad situation that there is no incentive for the government to increase road safety, and there is clear financial incentive to maintain and/or step-up the system of unreasonable speed limit enforcement.


(Likewise in the health service, there is a clear financial incentive to not provide treatment or screening services for e.g., cancer patients, etc., . Why would a system provide a service that costs them more money - that is the incentive with our new found social focus.
- the health service is geared just as the transport service. A good public service demands accountability and costs money. Neither are forthcoming from our government).

Don't like my logic or reasoning? Well I'd be more than happy to hear some reasoned responses. The government will gain millions of euros and make a clear profit with the introduction of private speed cameras. I would rather they were just up front and said that you can drive with no limit on motorways, but you have to pay an extra €500 in road tax or something, rather than the "ruling by fooling" that is so endemic in the UK.

BostonB

I'm annoyed with them because there seems little logic to where/how speed limits and cameras are used.

Blitzkrieger

E92 wrote: »

And by the way, the private speed cameras are going to be paid a lump sum by the Government, they will not be rewarded for the amount of fines they manage to issue.

Maybe not directly, but they're bound to have targets to hit and the more money they generate for the government the more likely they are to keep the contract. As if it's not going to go to some cronie anyway.......

TBH I don't care much about fixed cameras. If they put them in good places (school zones, playgrounds, dangerous junctions, etc.) they could actually be of benefit. Otherwise I'll just treat them the same way I treat the likely speed trap spots - slow down until your past them then put the boot down to make up the lost time.

E92

Blitzkrieger wrote: »

TBH I don't care much about fixed cameras. If they put them in good places (school zones, playgrounds, dangerous junctions, etc.) they could actually be of benefit.

Outside schools, dangerouys junctions are exactly the places where they should be installed. Accident blackspots I don't have an issue with either(unless the limit there is ridiculously low). I would even support speed cameras being installed in places like these.

However, what usually happens is that they are put in the wrong place, like a Motorway or other high standard roads where it is prefectly safe to exceed the speed limit.

I don't like the fact that they can only catch you for speed. I don't like the fact that they are used as revenue generating machines for the Governments coffers. I don't like the fact that they are not used for the purpose for which they were designed i.e to save lives.

They are used to do the job the Guards are supposed to be doing, catching speeding, however Guards can catch you for breaking other rules of the road like not stoppong at a red light, overtaking on a road with a continuous white line etc. They are as much a ROTR as a speed limit is. If anything, they're more important.

One person may find 70 km/h to be unsafe whereas another may find 130 km/h to be perfectly safe on the same stretch of road.