Zero Tolerance Speed Cameras

[DefcoL]

Zero Tolerance Speed Cameras

With the road toll continuing to increase each year especially around holiday period s , Zero Tolerance Speed Cameras will be introduced to the UK just in time for the summer

The new, German made cameras look different to the normal cameras,

so I have included a photo so that you are familiar with them and able to make sure

YOU DO NOT SPEED when approaching one of these devices.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Please take this warning seriously as you will not get another chance.

[rtbarton]

The scary thing is I'm not sure if you're joking or not!

[mike4444244]

if they stick one of them up round here it will still last about a week before its burnt and chopped up! All the cameras round here are safe as long as they aren't turned on, as soon as they flash people they last a few days, i went home the other day and saw one flash for the first time in months, on my return journey later that day it had been cut off about a foot above the floor, burnt and thrown over the barrier

part of me cant help thinking i might have found another use for those hydraulic jaws of life things....

mike

[white90]

http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2b.htm

[Guest WALFY]

Whilst working for ACPO TAM a couple of years ago there was a spate of Gatso's being blown up. At the time just after 9/11 everything with explosives was classed as terrorism.

Now I'm all for removing/disabling the Gatso's but to blow 1 up is stupid. Yes it achieves the aim but the incident reports we got back from the ATO, stated that the rear door was found some 70m up the road in the verge on the OTHER side of the road. Not bad considering that they weigh a few kg, to move that from a fixed position bolted down to that distance needs some force. What if there was a car/lorry coming the other way or worse still a cyclist.

How would you fancy driving down the road and 3kg of steel came through your windscreen at lets say 50mph combined with your 60mph so a total of 110mph. Doesn't bear thinking about the carnage caused.

Sorry rant over, from a man with no points on his liscense

[western]

[FridgeFreezer]

Someone dropped a tyre over the top of one locally and lit it, that messed it up for a good period of time. Which, obviously, I don't approve of at all.

I wonder what the most simple / effective method is for disabling a GATSO? A drive-by paintballing seems like it could work well. Hypothetically speaking, of course

[Guest WALFY]

Paintballing would be good. No permanent damage and with the lense under a shroud it wouldn't wash off with the rain to quickly.

[Mr Bean]

I too have witnessed a tyre full of a flammable liquid being set on fire around the GATSO, it did make me laugh,

What is annoying though is that it's just another stealth tax to screw the individual over while the govenment awards itself a 20% pay increase.....

[rtbarton]

What is annoying though is that it's just another stealth tax to screw the individual over while the govenment awards itself a 20% pay increase.....

Exactly. If it was safety only they could impose a 30 day ban on speeders instead. That would hit rich and poor alike.

[sheeppimp]

I too have witnessed a tyre full of a flammable liquid being set on fire around the GATSO, it did make me laugh,

What is annoying though is that it's just another stealth tax to screw the individual over while the govenment awards itself a 20% pay increase.....

sorry got to take issue here, it's not a tax and it's entirely possible to opt out - Don't break the speed limit.

Ultimately if you do break the speed limit then you have to accept if a camera gets you then you get to contribute...

My issue with the increased use of cameras is the apparent lessening of numbers of traffic police and the amount of other poor driving that is not picked up.

[BogMonster]

I would like to blat one with something like a 66mm LAW, not that you would stand much chance of hitting something the size of a GATSO with one of those from a safe distance!

I have never been caught by one but don't like them all the same

[Mr Bean]

sorry got to take issue here, it's not a tax

Yes it is.

I do not agree with driving unsafely however due to the numerous amount that have been in put areas that are not accident black spots how can they be justified.

I agree with your statement that if you are not speeding you won't get caught and anybody who does speed deserves to get caught.

Unfortunatly i do not feel that speed cameras are being used as well as they could be (i.e. to prevent accidents) and they are now used more as a source of income.

[Guest WALFY]

I would like to blat one with something like a 66mm LAW, not that you would stand much chance of hitting something the size of a GATSO with one of those from a safe distance!

I have never been caught by one but don't like them all the same

66mm LAW

YOu are showing your age now Stephen. They went out of service a short while ago

[sheeppimp]

To try and clarify my take on cameras, I drive on average 30,000 miles a year and am not known for travelling slowly , I don't like the proliferation of cameras for the reason stated above, it leaves a huge gap of poor driving below posted limits that they are unable to pick up. I've been caught by one and don't like them

As for the oft stated effect of cameras for reducing accidents I'm not convinced it would work, what's actually needed is a more rigorous testing and in my opinion re-testing @ 5year intervals to improve the general quality of driving.

It's not speed per se that causes accidents, it's speed innappropriate for the prevailing conditions (and that includes driving too slowly as well as too fast)

Of course they're used as a source of income but then how can you argue when it's incredibly easy to remove that element from the equation simply by driving within the speed limit?

[FridgeFreezer]

I think the issue is that, as you say, there is a vast amount of poor driving that isn't speed-related - and cameras enforce the letter of the law, not the spirit. What's needed are fewer cameras and more police.

Speed is no different than anything else we do while driving, we can do it safely or we can do it dangerously - a police officer can pick up on this, a camera can't.

[HiFonics]

Someone dropped a tyre over the top of one locally and lit it, that messed it up for a good period of time. Which, obviously, I don't approve of at all.

I wonder what the most simple / effective method is for disabling a GATSO? A drive-by paintballing seems like it could work well. Hypothetically speaking, of course

Was watching an old Top Gear on Dave the other night with Gordon Ramsey and he suggested wrapping them in cling film and Clarkson mentioned people quirting expanding foam into them in Holland or something. I think our cameras are sealed units over here though.

[FridgeFreezer]

I guess a bit of black vinyl stuck over the lens would be effective and very hard to spot.

[DefcoL]

I liked the lack of Land rover kills..... it seems to be targeting Toyzuki's

[ciderman]

I did see a gatso cut off with oxy accetelyne once , Indian queens , Cornwall . A few years back now , but id made me laugh that someone had the brassneck to lamp it off and take the evidence with them .

[andyb]

I'm pretty sure that someone on Top Gear last series mentioned emptying the contents of a can of expanding foam thru one of the small holes in the back was an effective method.

Purely a theoritical suggestion and only mentioned here for academic consideration with respect to the current discussion.

[s2hotdog]

Very good 1st post ! ................ its good to have a smile!

[Guest diesel_jim]

But arn't most camera's digital these days, and the image gets sent instantly to the MI5/interpol/KGB or whoever to process.

would be interesting if they were all "on line"... you could hook up to one with your laptop!

better still, like has been mentioned.... don't speed, or at least, don't speed past a camera..

[OilIT]

there are two that have been cut off around here - one on the oxford to swindon road, and another on the cirencester to tetbury road !!

Ive seen one on fire before (I wonder if anybody called 999 !!!!)

re expanding foam - see:-

speed camera facts

[Night Train]

To try and clarify my take on cameras, I drive on average 30,000 miles a year and am not known for travelling slowly , I don't like the proliferation of cameras for the reason stated above, it leaves a huge gap of poor driving below posted limits that they are unable to pick up. I've been caught by one and don't like them

As for the oft stated effect of cameras for reducing accidents I'm not convinced it would work, what's actually needed is a more rigorous testing and in my opinion re-testing @ 5year intervals to improve the general quality of driving.

It's not speed per se that causes accidents, it's speed innappropriate for the prevailing conditions (and that includes driving too slowly as well as too fast)

Of course they're used as a source of income but then how can you argue when it's incredibly easy to remove that element from the equation simply by driving within the speed limit?

That is my thoughts exactly. Many of us drive for our work and rely on being able to drive to have access to work and yet we would rather put efforts into updating our computing skills or our trade registration and getting the latest in skills, knowledge and ability. We should also put as much effort into our ability to drive, both to prove we are still safe and knowledgable and to improve our skills. Perhaps if regular testing was compulsory and only those who failed would pay for the retest, after some training, then things would get better. How many of us bought the new Higway Code and read it for the changes?

I argued the speed thing with someone on line recently and said the same thing, that it is inappropriate speed fo rthe conditions and other poor driving that causes accidents not the speed of the vehicle per se. If deaths were cause only by speed then Andy Green would be a mass murderer for breaking the sound barrier speed record and the police would not be allowed to speed at any time.

I don't mind cameras as such but I would prefer if they detected bad driving as well as illegal driving.