Matt Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 Anti speed-camera groups are calling for a change in the Government's road safety policy as official figures show that driver inattention rather than excess speed is the major cause of accidents.In the first report of its kind, the Department for Transport (DfT) published details of contributory factors to road accidents. Covering most accidents that took place in 2005, the report said that failure by drivers to look properly was the most contributory factor in 32 per cent of accidents. Exceeding the speed limit was the contributory factor in only five per cent of accidents and going too fast for the conditions was a contributory factor in 10 per cent. Speed or going too fast for conditions were a contributory factor in 26 per cent of fatal accidents. Five of the six most frequently reported contributory factors were some kind of driver or rider error, or reaction. The Safe Speed campaign group said the Government should use the findings to scrap speed cameras. It added that the DfT's "entire road safety policy has been based on dodgy data''. The RAC Foundation said drivers needed to concentrate more, while the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said the fight against speeding was "not just about cameras''. The AA Motoring Trust called for "a greater visible police presence on the roads'' Its about time, Get rid of them! Possibly keep certain ones but on a whole get rid of most. I ain't gonna lie, I do speed, but i'm sure everyone has/does, But most of the time I stick to the speed limit, but speed cameras just annoy me and with speed cameras your always worried about what speed your doing if you doing 5mph over and you get caught its a joke! Speed Cameras just make people more concious of there speed they don't prevent accidents they don't stop accidents due to speed, there just there to make easy money for the police! Another thing is police never pull slow driver over do they? People forget going slow is also illegal. Fair enough cameras can't catch slow drivers because they are automatic, e.t.c, but police patrols can. Slow drivers in some cases cause accidents, i.e. someone following a slow driver, the driver behind gets pissed off, this makes the an arratic driver possibly leading to a crash or its make the driver behind overtake therefore possibly causeing a crash... As I said - bye bye to the speed camera
stez Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 Its about time, Get rid of them! Possibly keep certain ones but on a whole get rid of most. I ain't gonna lie, I do speed, but i'm sure everyone has/does, But most of the time I stick to the speed limit, but speed cameras just annoy me and with speed cameras your always worried about what speed your doing if you doing 5mph over and you get caught its a joke! Speed Cameras just make people more concious of there speed they don't prevent accidents they don't stop accidents due to speed, there just there to make easy money for the police! Another thing is police never pull slow driver over do they? People forget going slow is also illegal. Fair enough cameras can't catch slow drivers because they are automatic, e.t.c, but police patrols can. Slow drivers in some cases cause accidents, i.e. someone following a slow driver, the driver behind gets pissed off, this makes the an arratic driver possibly leading to a crash or its make the driver behind overtake therefore possibly causeing a crash... As I said - bye bye to the speed camera i know top gear (clarkson) is pretty anti-speed camera, but they did say once that in cumbria (i think) they got rid of their speed camera's and deaths on the road actually fell! also one of the chaps, taking the govenment to court in europe over incriminating himself, said that if you're travelling at 47 mphspot someone, slam on the anchors and hit someone you'll do as much harm as if you hit them at 30 having taken 3/4 of a second to check your speedo then spot them and slam the brakes on. i've no idea if this is true, but i do feel its pretty dangerous to be checking your speedo all the time to avoid being clocked. <------- hope that makes sense?!
Thracian Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 No contest! Scrap them! They are just an authoritarian means by which the state can bully people and extort money from them. I've even heard say that speeding claims are often not pursued if the people live at certain addresses when the feeling is that it will be hard to extract the fine. If that's true what sort of justice is that?
stez Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 They are just an authoritarian means by which the state can bully people and extort money from them. I've even heard say that speeding claims are often not pursued if the people live at certain addresses when the feeling is that it will be hard to extract the fine. If that's true what sort of justice is that? are you still smarting from the '34 in a thirty zone after aiding someone' situation?
Ultra Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 I see the petrolheads are out in force in this poll. Speed limits exist for a reason. Speed cameras exist to enforce them. If you're caught, you only have yourself to blame for indulging in sad fantasies of being Michael Schumacher. Too many folk are killed or maimed by maniacs behind the wheel of a car. The fact that casualty levels are falling show that cameras are doing a good job!
lildave3 Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 I see the petrolheads are out in force in this poll. Speed limits exist for a reason. Speed cameras exist to enforce them. If you're caught, you only have yourself to blame for indulging in sad fantasies of being Michael Schumacher. Too many folk are killed or maimed by maniacs behind the wheel of a car. The fact that casualty levels are falling show that cameras are doing a good job! Speed cameras are their to make money. All people do is slow down when they get near one. They're pointless and annoying
Daggers Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 As the late, great Bill Hicks proposed ~ do away with all traffic control. Get rid of all cameras, all traffic police, all vehicle laws...and place a ****ing great spike in the middle of the steering wheel of every car, pointing at the drivers chest.
Thracian Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 I see the petrolheads are out in force in this poll. Speed limits exist for a reason. Speed cameras exist to enforce them. If you're caught, you only have yourself to blame for indulging in sad fantasies of being Michael Schumacher. Too many folk are killed or maimed by maniacs behind the wheel of a car. The fact that casualty levels are falling show that cameras are doing a good job! I'll tell you where too many people are killed - in pointless Wars started by leaders who are forever forcing things on people with their wacko ideas and their self-centred ambitions.
stez Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 As the late, great Bill Hicks proposed ~ do away with all traffic control. Get rid of all cameras, all traffic police, all vehicle laws...and place a ****ing great spike in the middle of the steering wheel of every car, pointing at the drivers chest. thats harsh is someone hits you head on!
Daggers Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 I'll tell you where too many people are killed - in pointless Wars started by leaders who are forever forcing things on people with their wacko ideas and their self-centred ambitions.
stez Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 jesus! to think i used to fancy princess leah, she's as rough as!
Daggers Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 jesus! to think i used to fancy princess leah, she's as rough as! ...it's like 'Hungover Star Wars' where they all get to meet each other in the morning and apologise for their bad behaviour...
cisono Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 Too many folk are killed or maimed by maniacs behind the wheel of a car. Not necessarily by the speeding ones though (according to the stats)! Some people drive recklessly, cutting people up, or driving without a license/insurance - that is criminal in my view!
Craig Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 Speed Cameras should be there, in relevant places, like school areas etc. However, there shouldn't be fines, there should be community service, curphews imposed, bans etc instead.
stez Posted 29 September 2006 Posted 29 September 2006 Speed Cameras should be there, in relevant places, like school areas etc. However, there shouldn't be fines, there should be community service, curphews imposed, bans etc instead. the trouble is with them (especially outside schools and that) is you'll end up knocking someone over because your to concerned with looking at your speedo to make sure you're not staying over 20
Matt Posted 30 September 2006 Author Posted 30 September 2006 the trouble is with them (especially outside schools and that) is you'll end up knocking someone over because your to concerned with looking at your speedo to make sure you're not staying over 20 Exactly Speed Cameras don't prevent crashes they just make people more worried/concious of there speedo, and I was reading that most crashes are due to people minds being on other things/looking at other things/eyes not on the road.
The People's Hero Posted 2 October 2006 Posted 2 October 2006 i'll confess there is one near me on a 30mph bit of road. There is no way it should be 30 anyway, it should be 40. Everyone drives along it at about 45ish then slams on the anchors (pretty dangerous) when they get to the camera... crawl along a bit and then speed away.
Master Fox Posted 2 October 2006 Posted 2 October 2006 What's wrong with lollypop ladies? They do a sound job!
Finnegan Posted 2 October 2006 Posted 2 October 2006 Speed cameras aren't the problem, out of date speed restrictions are.
Head Honcho Posted 2 October 2006 Posted 2 October 2006 I think they should stay but the guidelines as to where and why they are placed need to be tightened. At the minute I think I'm right in saying that a serious accident or death needs to have occured on that stretch of road in the past 2 years for a mobile speed camera to be placed! The grey area for me there is who decides what a serious accident is! The police and council should be allowed to keep a certain amount of the revenue received, but on no account should profit be made, any profit should be given to road safety organisations. It doesn't really bother me too much anyway as everytime(4 times) I've been caught speeding I've never replied to the notice of intent document they send asking who the driver was.
Head Honcho Posted 2 October 2006 Posted 2 October 2006 Speed Cameras should be there, in relevant places, like school areas etc. However, there shouldn't be fines, there should be community service, curphews imposed, bans etc instead. Yeh fine! Put them outside schools, but don't prosecute anyone for speeding outside a school at 2am in the morning!
Dr The Singh Posted 2 October 2006 Posted 2 October 2006 Speed cameras aren't the problem, out of date speed restrictions are. I have no issue os speed camera's where there aare schools, paedestrians being at risk, but the rest of em are money makers and I agree with Sosbanfach, the speed restrictions, certainly on the motroways are out of date!!
Dr The Singh Posted 2 October 2006 Posted 2 October 2006 Yeh fine! Put them outside schools, but don't prosecute anyone for speeding outside a school at 2am in the morning! AGreed!!!
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