Joy for those who use this section of the A14 :)

[Reeder]

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/news/default.asp?storyId=22747

[speedplay]

Forward facing cameras....

[-Ralph-]

Brilliant cameras IMO. The only type of speed camera I like, doesn't make any money, cos nobody speeds, so nobody gets any fines. Does exactly what it says on the tin, reduces speed over a whole stretch of road, not just 100 yds, and improves road safety. I just hope Cambridgeshire Police don't think that because nobody is speeding, that means they don't have to patrol the roads to catch drunk drivers and tailgaiters.

I hate Gatsos and Speed Camera vans. They are only there to catch people out an generate easy stealth tax revenue, and they achieve nothing in terms of road safety. The really annoying thing with the vans especially, is the taxpayer is already paying for a vehicle and a person to sit in it, so why the hell don't they spend that money on a police officer in a car or on a bike?

[maviczap]

Ok, they might have slowed the traffic down on this stretch so there's less fatalities, but the road is so congested that it slows every thing down, and there's still as many accidents and break downs which makes it my most loathed stretch of the A14.

As part of the spending cuts they aren't going to widen it either :evil:

People still slow down for the cameras, so you still get the stop start stop start driving, just less so than when the fixed cameras were there.

I can see how anyone can speed there during the day, so how can the cameras raise any money?

[keith_d]

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I'd like a bit more information about the road safety statistics before I believe them.

Given the low frequency of accidents, there's bound to be quite a bit of variation from year to year. Cameras are most likely to be installed following a particularly bad year. Consequently, most sites will show an improvement after the cameras were installed. It would be interesting to see how the figures compared over a longer period, but I'd imagine the speed camera partnerships won't be rushing to do any longer term analysis with figures adjusted for traffic volumes. It might put them out of a job!

Keith.

[-Ralph-]

SPECS camera's might put them out of a job, 'cos they don't need reloaded with film, the systems connects up with the DVLA and issues tickets automatically, and they don't make any money.

[454697819]

good its a **** section of road

[seedy100]

I would be convinced or the "Road Safety" argument for deploying cameras if the law was changed so that the penalty for being caught was changed to points only.
No issues of revenue raising
No incentive to put them in the wrong place, and,
The entire justification for deploying them becomes the money they supposedly save on accident costs.

QED

[sauluk]

These cameras cost a fortune though, for anyone that knows the m4 on the welsh side, I'd hate to think how much all that has cost!! You're right saying they do their job and I'm a big advocate just for that reason. A pinch of common sense should be taken with them though, I mean 50mph on a motorway?? Sitting on that at night with not a car in sight at 50mph is terrible!!

[beabert]

SPECS camera's might put them out of a job, 'cos they don't need reloaded with film, the systems connects up with the DVLA and issues tickets automatically, and they don't make any money.

Id always assumed they all did that lol.

[-Ralph-]

I would be convinced or the "Road Safety" argument for deploying cameras if the law was changed so that the penalty for being caught was changed to points only.
No issues of revenue raising
No incentive to put them in the wrong place, and,
The entire justification for deploying them becomes the money they supposedly save on accident costs.

QED

SPECS do exactly that, other than the fine part of it. One of the first sections of permanent SPECS cameras was on the A77 in Scotland. They caught people speeding for the first little while as people either didn't realise they were there, or thought they could speed up between cameras. Once everybody knew about them and how they worked, they were catching 3 people (idiots) per month! That's £2160 a year in fines, which is nothing. They effectively don't make money.

A pinch of common sense should be taken with them though, I mean 50mph on a motorway?? Sitting on that at night with not a car in sight at 50mph is terrible!!

Yes, a variable speed limit system would be a better idea, but they should be left fully automated, so each unit monitors traffic flow and sets the speed limit a mile behind as appropriate, BUT WHEN THE LEVEL OF TRAFFIC DROPS THEY SWITCH THEMSELVES BACK OFF! Far too often with the traffic flow system on the M42 you can come though at 7:30 at night on an empty motorway, and there is still a 60 mph limit showing, 'cos some meddler in a control office who thinks he knows better than the computer, decided to press buttons, then forgot to press them for a second time.

This system has been installed along a considerable length of the M1 and the M6 as well, but on the M1 the cameras haven't been installed yet (note the date of the post if you are reading this). I'm not sure how it compares to the older system on the M25.

The other trouble with this system is the cameras are not SPECS, ie: they don't take an average speed and they work in the same way as a gatso, there is also not a camera on every gantry, just the markings on the road, people are getting wise to this and speeding for a mile, before slowing down for the gantry that does actually have a camera, then speeding up again. It would be much better if they could get this system to integrate with SPECS cameras, then the system, including the camera, was switched off at times of day when it wasn't needed.

Front
http://www.businesscar.co.uk/Pictures/Title/s/e/y/Variable_speed_limit.jpg

Back
http://www.speedcam.co.uk/g293.jpg

Id always assumed they all did that lol.

Nope, don't know about the gantry ones above, I would imagine because of their location and how recent they are, it would be a digital camera as it would be difficult to load and collect film. But they work in the same way as a Gatso using a dual radar bounce off the back of the car to measure speed.

Traditional Gatsos though are a very manual process, loading film, collecting film, analysing photos and issuing fines.

[Graciepants]

is that the bit between thingy and huntingdon and the A1 (M) bit? please say its not because my drive/ride to/from sheffield is already boring with that stupid stretch bit in it. hardly anyone actually ever does 70, i always get stuck behind someone doing 63 mph and they never move!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[maviczap]

Yes, it is that joyous section of the A14, you could go cross country from the A1 to Boston - Kings Lynn - Swafham & Thetford. But will add more time to your jouney & mostly straight fen roads

[Sean_C]

I don't see those cameras as a bad thing, they work well between the M11 and spittals. I only wish they could get turned off later in the night as it's irritating to drive down there when it's an empty road.

I'm not sure how much of a difference they'll make once extended to Fen Ditton. Not much I'd say. It'd be more beneficial to stop people cutting across at the last minute when turning off at the M11 interchange.