Mobile speed camera

[Jayneflakes]

I had an interesting chat last night at Weston Bike Night with a retired Policeman who is now working as a camera operator. The camera is carried by a Police BMW bike and the recorder is mounted in the top box.

What really shocked me is just how clear the image is over a great distance. Do not think that you are safe if you are a mile away from the camera. As an experiment I asked him to train the camera on my number plate which is a custom job and it was very easily readable.

The Officer involved claimed that the camera unit was requested by the public and being bike mounted could go to places that the camera van could not. Currently we have three bikes in Somerset and he informed me that there are plans to introduce another three and maybe even more. The guy firmly believes that speeding bikers are a terrible menace and this is the way forwards.

My personal view is that the increase in cameras is immoral and an intrusion into freedom of movement, however when it was mentioned that further cameras were being planned, it was the people wearing the fluro vests with "Polite" stamped on the back who asked if they could apply for the job of operator.

So folks, if you see a Police Bike parked on the side of the road, make sure that you are careful.

[LewSpeight]

Very good info, thanks

[Red Herring]

Out of interest Jayne are they stopping offenders detected with this system at the time or sending a nice letter to the supposed registered keeper a few days later?

[squirrel_hunter]

Originally Posted by Jayneflakes

The Officer involved claimed that the camera unit was requested by the public and being bike mounted could go to places that the camera van could not.

What was requested was that the camera vans should stop parking illegally and dangerously. It appears this is the solution. It only took them 15 years to listen. Personally I would prefer it if the time and resource was spent on road safety.

[maviczap]

Ok, speeding is a factor in many accidents, but what about people on their phone or texting at the wheel?

One speed camera, one operator (or two) equates to minimum expenditure, but results in easy revenue gathering. Slows a few people down for a time.

Catching people using their phone at the wheel requires a greater reliance on observed activity, which would require at least 2 officers, a vehicle, fuel, at a time when Police numbers are being reduced to save money.

Its about time some work was done on this problem, instead on focusing on speeding all the time

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

Out of interest Jayne are they stopping offenders detected with this system at the time or sending a nice letter to the supposed registered keeper a few days later?

I was told that the data recorded with the camera is passed to another operative and that this person goes then through photos and sends out the letter later. The camera operative merely records the offender, but as a non Police Officer is not able to stop speeders.

This means that the person recording your offences is not a Police Officer, but a privately employed person. So that is going to be a fair assessment of your crimes!

The big issue with speed cameras, and one that has now been acknowledged by most police forces is that they only detect one "crime" -speeding. They have no discretion to decide whether the speed was excessive for the circumstances, nor do they see whether a driver/rider was driving dangerously (speed does not automatically equal dangerous, many people are dangerous drivers without exceeding the speed limit - donuts in a car or on a bike are usually performed at very low speed but in the middle of a dual carriageway can be exceptionally dangerous, old drivers who cannot see over their steering wheel or any further than 20 feet in front of their car are exceptionally dangerous and oblivious) and nor do they detect things like no insurance, tax or MOT, nor whether the driver is under the influence of drink or drugs or whether the vehicle in question is fit to be on the road at all. It is time that the money spent on speed cameras (which are incredibly expensive) and their administration was spent on more police officers on the road. Every single day I shout at somebody for using their phone for calls, texts or emails or driving with their kids jumping around in the back or front of the car but these "crimes" almost always go unnoticed and unpunished - all at the same time as authorities are finding ever more sophisticated ways to empty our bank accounts and make our lives miserable. Rant over.

[Ch00]

Maybe you should contact your local Police and Crime Commissioner and ask them to lobby the Chief Con of that area for a change of tact?

If people paid a little more attention when driving then most of the time they would not get caught by a camera (mobile sites are harder to avoid). If people were not getting caught then they would not upgrade them or add new ones.

Which is a great argument if you consider exceeding the speed limit as a serious crime. Personally, I feel that any speed on an empty, wide road is not a problem. The real issue is that speed cameras of all sorts are sold to the public on a "road safety" ticket. Road safety would be far better (and ultimately more cheaply) achieved by recruiting more police officers and prosecuting all of the uninsured, untaxed, unlicenced, inconsiderate and incompetent drivers and riders that inhabit British roads. There are thousands of drivers and riders that have been licenced for years, never had or caused an accident and have never evaded any of the expensive legal requirements for driving in the UK but because they have been caught travelling as little as 5mph over the speed limit now find themselves with points on their licence and a fine. It's just wrong. As for not getting caught by paying greater attention, I spend most of my time on the bike paying attention to not being wiped out by drivers who seem to spend most of their time in a dream world.

[Ch00]

Originally Posted by Ninthbike

Which is a great argument if you consider exceeding the speed limit as a serious crime. Personally, I feel that any speed on an empty, wide road is not a problem.

I don't consider it to be a serious crime but it appears that if you can justify it eg night time, wide road, good weather then you can break the law to suit!

Taken to the extreme, its like stealing a chocolate bar because there was a queue and you were in a hurry.

I do agree however that there does need to be more focus on driving standards but there is not the staff to cover everything.