NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[howardr]

Just heard on Radio London

Effective MONDAY(!) the police are mounting SPECS cameras along Upper Thames Street.

Apparently they will be clearly marked with plenty of warning signs etc. BUT the damn things take a piccy of your number plate and measure your average speed over a distance - no escape - comply or get nicked!

That's my journey to work knackered then :cry:

[Boomer]

I wish I had heard this before. Just been flashed by a camera on Lower Thames Street! Oh well lets see if I get caught.

[chazzyb]

All the SPECS sites I have come across in the past have photo'd the front plate... However, they may have been working on updating the system , as bikes are an acknowledged problem (and some :lol: )

[svsk2]

AND it's to enforce a 20mph speed limit!!!!!!!

[Scoobs]

As Chazzy said, I thought they were front facing. Can you get to more than 20 on Upper Thames Street then?

[Jabba]

I wish I had heard this before. Just been flashed by a camera on Lower Thames Street! Oh well lets see if I get caught.

it wouldn't have saved you - SPECS cameras don't flash.

20mph limit? Why?

Didn't think that traffic moved that fast in London anyway :lol:

[Flamin_Squirrel]

I wish I had heard this before. Just been flashed by a camera on Lower Thames Street! Oh well lets see if I get caught.

it wouldn't have saved you - SPECS cameras don't flash.

20mph limit? Why?

Didn't think that traffic moved that fast in London anyway :lol:

20mph limit? To steal from people of course.

The traffic might not move that fast, but bikes will.

What infuriated me was what was said on the news... '6% increase in a chance of a fatal accident for every extra mph'. So, since motorway speed limit is 50mph more than this 20mph streach, that'll be a 300% increased chance of a fatal accident. On the safest roads in the country, on some of the safest roads in the world. riiiggggghtt :roll:

[northwind]

Flamin' Squirrel, that stat is 6% extra chance of a fatality for each mph above 30, which is supposed to be true.

But aye, current Specs cams only flash the front, bikes are immune

[Jelster]

Can you get to more than 20 on Upper Thames Street then?

Upper Thames St is at the end of a glorious 300m underpass, so you do tend to speed through the "tunnel". However it has 2 rear facing GATSO's in both directions anyway... So you just have to behave all the way along it :cry:

I'll be looking for a different route anyway, what with the roadworks and all that. Stupid thing is, they've only just resurfaced it all anyway :roll:

.

[embee]

Flamin' Squirrel, that stat is 6% extra chance of a fatality for each mph above 30, which is supposed to be true.


That statistic is often quoted and comes from a particular case study in a particular location with a 30mph limit if I recall correctly. It's a very dubious extrapolation of a limited data set to insinuate that it applies globally. Not saying there isn't correlation between the severity of accidents and higher speeds, but that "fact" should be treated with the caution it deserves.

Not getting into that debate again though, it was tedious enough last time. :roll:

[Gforceuk]

i think there's a new specs system that is front and rear facing...

[Patch]

i think there's a new specs system that is front and rear facing...

There is one but it is not type approved yet.

The key difference with the new system (in addition to monitoring the rear of the vehicle) is the ability to monitor multiple lanes which the current specs is unable to do.

So if in a Specs area change lane at each camera. it will lose you.

The new system, will not get home office approval until at least 2006

[MavUK]

I seem to recall seeing some work done on this stat - basically for it to be true Spanish drivers must drive an average speed of more than 300mph (or something similar) to get UK and Germany accident / fatality rates into line with theirs.

Statistics are made by people wanting to fudge the data most of the time...

Stu

[Jabba]

But aye, current Specs cams only flash the front, bikes are immune

SPECS cameras don't flash......................

[howardr]

I found the blurb on the 'safety' camera website.

There's gonna be roadworks for a stretch between Southwark Bridge and London Bridge for 18 months (!).

I believe the road is going to get reduced down to one lane each way so I doubt anyone will be able to go 20 mph anyway!.

Given the amount of bikes and scooters that use this road I can't see them being anything BUT rear-facing.

I'll see how congested it gets (ha! ha!) before planning a detour - there's a little cut-through you can take to avoid this so it won't cause me too much grief.

Who wants to place a bet now that the cameras get re-calibrated and left in place after the roadworks are finished. :roll:

[Flamin_Squirrel]

18 months!

And I thought 2 years for the M25 work was a long time. Thats absolutely disgusting. Entire cities have been rebuilt after major disasters... why the same length of time for some damn road works :evil:

[BillyC]

The SPECS system on Tower Bridge has cameras that face both directions on both ends... :-k

[Ed]

Can someone explain pls - what is a Specs camera - here we have 'normal' ones, and one Truvelco thing. The Truvelco looks very aggressive with lenses sticking out but I haven't a clue what the operational differences are. Is there a website that explains all these different types?

[Carsick]

I think the normal ones are GATSO, they flash twice when they catch you.
Truvelo don't flash, and I believe can face either direction, and in some cases have lenses on both ends.
SPECS record every number plate that goes through, then checks their time through a section when they go through the second one, and they know if you're speeding. No flash, just a little camera and an NIP a week later. :cry:

[Ed]

Hvae found this, which is a short & sweet guide to thickos like me:

http://www.ukspeedcameras.co.uk/index1.htm

[Flamin_Squirrel]

I just hope MAD destroy the cameras.

[BaggaZee]

So these tiny cameras in the sky are meant to be a deterrent rather than a revenue generator? Yeah right. Why not make them large & paint them fluorescent yellow like gatsos then? :evil:

[Nick762]

Can someone explain pls - what is a Specs camera - here we have 'normal' ones, and one Truvelco thing. The Truvelco looks very aggressive with lenses sticking out but I haven't a clue what the operational differences are. Is there a website that explains all these different types?

Check out this one as well

http://www.speedcheck.co.uk/specs.htm


SPECS is a digital safety camera system providing point-to-point speed enforcement based on calculation of average speed. This is a unique system, which is an excellent deterrent against speeding motorists.

There is no other safety camera system in the world able to offer both unique features in one product, whilst maintaining the same level of accuracy and integrity of evidence.

A dramatic reduction in accident levels has been achieved within SPECS controlled zones, as well as a high level of compliance with speed limits. Furthermore, SPECS can be installed on virtually any route.

The SPECS system is so efficient and user friendly that Manchester CTO
processed 2,500 offences in 6 man-hours.

Gives you a nice warm glow inside

Edit: Just a thought, are SPECS cameras always mounted on those nice blue wrought iron effect pillars? They have some covering roadworks on the M2 near Faversham at the moment and while quite decorative, they look really out of place.

http://www.speedcheck.co.uk/images/pictsnot.jpg