Speeding ticket for 37mph in a 30 zone :(

[Drewboyaus]

quote:Originally posted by netsmithUK

Speed is just a concept or a measurement, so as such I completely agree 'can't kill' - in the same way 'guns don't kill' its the people that use them that do.

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Speed is in essence the same as velocity and I have to disagree with the idea that speed doesn't kill......

This is the pedantic point the various law enforcement agencies will get us on every time, and they are indeed correct because literally without speed/velocity, there can be no crash. You cannot argue any other way. I am not saying they are right with that literal interpretation, but you cannot argue with the physics.

What you can argue with though is the poor driver skill and lack of attention on roads all over the world. Law enforcement agencies and law making pollies need to have a good hard look at how drivers are trained and policed......a wholistic approach is what should be used not just taxation with so-called safety cameras.

So there...I'll get back to my beer now.....[]

Cheers,

Drew.

[netsmithUK]

I agree completely. Better training and better enforce. What makes me laugh about this thread though, is the fact that 'safer driving' seems to be being used as smoke screen to hide the fact that most 'protest sites' want speed limits aboloshing or increasing so they can drive fast.

Personally I see the two as seperate arguemnts I think you can make the roads much safer and penalties much fairer without increasing any speed limits.

Chris

[TWINSET]

Go Leadfoot []

Regardless of whether the cameras are concealed, or have big neon aroows visible from 5 miles away, they only go off if you exceed the limits, regardless of whether they're a money making gadget or not.

I reckon they should all be hidden, then you'd catch anyone that ignored speed limits, and not miss those lucky enough to slow down for the camera!

One thing that really makes me chuckle is the amount of people who complain about the existence of cameras, not the existence of 30mph zones.

I got a mate who has no clue of the speeds of the roads he's on, and only slows down, and then crawls past every camera at 30 - if they were hidden, he'd have to know the limits!

[Drewboyaus]

My irritation is not with speed limits and cameras as such, but their enforcement in areas where there is no real danger, but where the enforcement agencies know they will raise revenue...

Indeed, in some areas seed limits should be lowered as they have in Australia around schools during school hours and suburban shopping strips (high streets)etc. Some should also be raised as well.

What really bugs me is a hidden "safety camera" with a 3km/h tolerance located on a straight stretch of slightly downhill dual carriageway with a 60km/h speed limit...Happily snapping drivers at 63-64km/h when there are far more dangerous locations where this device would be better deployed. Also, driver training and road upgrade programs only ever see a tiny fraction of the revenue raised from these devices...If governments were serious about reducing road trauma and not just adding to consolidated revenue, they would put far more of the money raised in fines back to driver education and training programs, road mainainence, and tighter manufacturing standards for car makers ie; Why in Australia is it only a manufacturers option for a car to have anti-lock brakes? Active safety, that is what it should be about...

[WillyChang]

Methink ABS & SRS just give today's drivers a false sense of security, making them drive even faster and with less care.

Replace the steering wheel airbag with a big metal spike pointed at your chin... and let's see how fast one dares to drive then. [|)]

[theshopkeeper]

It's beyond me why european cars are not fitted with overspeed warnings - given almost all modern cars have speedo's electronically controlled rather than the old cable drive system it can't be hard to fit something where the car would either receive a signal from a roadside beacon as the limit changes (or even a series of buttons on the dash - hit 40 on entering a 40 zone for example). Or even a dumb system that would beep loudly as you pass speed + 2 mph (i.e. you'd hear a series of beeps as you accellerate but if you were crusing along at 40 and crept over the limit the car would warn you audibly - you could then ignore it *if* you wanted).

I might be wrong but I believe some Japanese home-market cars have a audio warning on many models when you exceed the motorway (equivalent) limit over there?

[WillyChang]

Over-speed warnings don't really work... generally drivers either get immune to the "ping-ping-ping" beeper or find other ways of disabling it. Besides its set only for the max freeway speed anyway.

No, over here in DrewBoy land they'd prefer to snapshot us when doing 3km/h over in a 60 zone rather than bother with drivers on freeways @ 100/110. Especially in areas where the speed changes from 60 to 40 to 50 within a 500m stretch.

Our big interstate trucks which are speedlimited to 100/110 have the limiters hooked to the ignition, so it works like traction control. Doesn't stop them falling asleep at the wheel but.

[raemin]

I've seen a prototype that would make the right pedal feel harder (not bloking it though) when exceeding 130kmh or any user defined speed. It's not as annoying as a bip bip and less restricitve than a speed limiter.

[Drewboyaus]

quote:Originally posted by WillyChang

Our big interstate trucks which are speedlimited to 100/110 have the limiters hooked to the ignition, so it works like traction control. Doesn't stop them falling asleep at the wheel but.

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Yeh but 'speed' does....LOL[]

[WillyChang]

They've started drugged-driving testing now.

Interesting that the "tests" they use aren't failsafe and already have gotten 1 guy wrongly accused.

If you watch "MythBusters" even eating 2 poppy seed bagles can cause a false positive on the cocaine tongue swab test.

[Drewboyaus]

Yeah, he was the first positive they had too....and one of the local rags had him photographed and pegged as guilty before the confirmation came through. No apology I suspect.

I saw Mythbusters for the first time a couple of weeks ago, it's quite funny.

I don't think they will ever get the roadside drug testing right, so many drugs seem to linger in the body for a long time.....not that I'd know, of course[]

Cheers,

Drew.

[WillyChang]

I thought petrol sniffing might do *me* in, but got breath'd

in Jan/05 after a long day sniffing and still tested zero.

Cool! []

Petrol at A$1.15 (usually 85-90c/L) isn't, though.

Stupid US$54/bl oil prices.

[fatboyslim]

quote:Originally posted by WillyChang

Petrol at A$1.15 (usually 85-90c/L) isn't, though.

Stupid US$54/bl oil prices.

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AUS$1.15 a litre which makes it around AUS$5.17 a gallon(4.5 L)

So at todays exchange rate is about UK£2.14

That's cheap!!

Here in the UK we pay around 82p per litre so a gallon is UK£3.69 a gallon which is about AUS$8.92

[amigamad]

I got caught in bristol doing 41 in a 30 worse thing was it was the wrong road i was on. plus before getting caught i was blinded by the sun the road was wet and i had slowed to twenty mile an hour and was caught by a motorbike cop who was hiding behind a bush .i got 3 points and a 60 pound fine .I have not been to bristol for a while now.

[jonpeck]

I think it puts you off if ure trying to stick to the limit yeah i would understand if you where doin 100mph in a 20mph zone but it puts u off.My brother didnt buy a mazda rx7 to do 70 on the motorway when it can do 130mph no problem.

[Sonic]

Just one of many true stories i heared on the radio a bit ago that are speed camera related.

A guy on his way home from work passes a speed camera every day, this particular day while going past the camera it flashes him, now the guy knowing that he was doing under the limit decides to turn round and drive past it again to see if the camera again flashes him and sure enough it does he does this a further two times to prove his theory that the camera was incorrectly calibrated. The next day he sends a letter out to the governing body of the speed camera with his account of the event, a few weeks later he receives a reply saying that they had looked in to this and he was quiet right the camera was incorrectly calibrated and that no fine for speeding would be presented for that occasion. However included with the letter was a fine for not wearing his seat belt on the four counts that he drove past the camera that had undeservingly flashed him and sure enough they had it all on camera [!] .

The moral of the story is???? well i'll let you guys work it out.

[tarznatz]

Hey - why do you say mph whenyou are in the uK? Shouldn't you say Kph? just wondering!

[fatboyslim]

quote:Originally posted by tarznatz

Hey - why do you say mph whenyou are in the uK? Shouldn't you say Kph? just wondering!

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GRRRRRR!!!![!]

Why would we say KPH when all our road signs and car speedos are marked in miles??

Miles are an imperial measurement from the British Empire!!

But if the meddling EU get their way we'll no doubt bow down and change to KPH, same as we did with pounds and ounces now we use stupid kilograms!!

I trained as and I am a qualified Baker and ALL the mixes I learnt were in Pounds and ounces!!

[Stefan(2)]

To go even more off topic,

Always love to do that

a local shopkeeper even got a find (ehm, ticket(?)

For using in his storefront "pounds and ounces" !

(we had them also but i think we used other value's)

And that in the o so free minded netherlands.

It actually is against the law to use it these days.

....Insane..

I am a big fan of the euro, even as it did de-value our old

currenty.

It does make european trade more easy.

But they are going over the top with that euro

stuff.

i am Dutch, and i don't want a Frensh or German to decide what i

can or can not do.

We soon have to vote around here pro or against a new european

ground law. Hope it bounces.

Back to topic and coffee !

Stefan

[mud4fun]

LOL Chris, I've got 6 points on my licence, 2 x 3 points from speed cameras in 30mph zones in areas that I don't normally drive. Both of them were on back country roads were I actually thought the limit was 60mph so to have only been done at 37 and 39mph was quite lucky! - However, I say fair cop, I was in the wrong and I accept my punishment.

I personally agree with you Chris. It is irrelevent as to whether speed kills in most accidents or not, going slower is simply safer for all concerned.

I have two kids myself and we live in a tiny village which you would assume to be a safe place for them but sadly the opposite is true - we are too small a village to warrant a speed camera despite the 30mph limit. This means that most people, especially young lads, drive at wreckless speeds thru the village (I'm not even talking about 10mph over the limit, in some cases these idiots are doing 70mph). It is only a matter of time before somebody gets killed. I don't want that somebody to be one of my daughters.

I'm quite happy to have speed cameras all over the place as long as they are self funding because at the end of the day they only catch you if you exceed the limit, don't speed and you'll not get fined - on the proviso that the speed limit is CLEARLY marked and not obscured by trees, road signs, vote-for-me signs, parked cars etc AND the other problem with this is that self-funding means they have to be placed where they can earn the most money which is NOT necessarily where there is the most risk of people getting killed, hence you have speed cameras and vans on almost empty stretches of motorway (Humberside Police are especially bad at this on the M180 near S****horpe) but none outside our local infant school........ in practise the Government should restrict camera placements to areas of known risk and not allow the local police force to dictate their location.

I also find it difficult to drive exactly at or below the limit, especially when I'm driving in an unknown area. It is so easy to be distracted looking for somewhere that you fail to notice the speed limit - Why can't they simply have a speed limiter on the car that prevents you from going faster than the limit? My GPS speed trap detector (bought after the second fine) knows the limits and what speed I'm driving at so I'm sure it can't be that difficult to get the technology installed to keep the car below the limit?

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On a similar topic, it is actually speed differential that kills on the motorway. While they are busy installing all these radar guns they should be dealing with the morons that wonder down motorway slip roads at 30mph and then simply expect you all to move out of there way as they pull onto the inside lane where traffic is doing 60-70mph. This causes everybody to either brake hard or veer into the middle lane causing a knock on effect rippling back down the motorway and inevitably causes somebody else to have an accident while the idiot who meandered down the slip road is blissfully unware of any problem.

You should generally always go down a slip road at a speed HIGHER than the motorway traffic as it is quicker and safer to brake and fall in behind if required than to try and speed up from a slow speed just as you are entering the motorway ahead of another vehicle. It is also a good idea to have actually looked at the traffic on the motorway and adjusted speed accordingly BEFORE you reach the carriageway and find yourself driving into the side of somebody......

[fatboyslim]

Of course none of this matters if you're a copper driving an unmarked car!!

159mph and he got let off as he said 'I was practising high-speed driving!!'

Think I'll try that!!

[tarznatz]

quote:Originally posted by fatboyslim

quote:Originally posted by tarznatz

Hey - why do you say mph whenyou are in the uK? Shouldn't you say Kph? just wondering!

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id="quote">id="quote">

GRRRRRR!!!![!]

Why would we say KPH when all our road signs and car speedos are marked in miles??

Miles are an imperial measurement from the British Empire!!

But if the meddling EU get their way we'll no doubt bow down and change to KPH, same as we did with pounds and ounces now we use stupid kilograms!!

I trained as and I am a qualified Baker and ALL the mixes I learnt were in Pounds and ounces!!

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AHHHH! That's right. Forgot about that. uS went metric and then someone said it was a commie plot, so no one learned it... haha!

[STAX]

Is it worth complaining to anyone?

No... You deserve it. 30mph is 30mph

[tamartin]

You all should not complaint about your police behavior!!!

I think here in Austria will have the best thing in the world soon.

We now have to pay our freeway toll (fees) with a socalled Vignette once a year.

In Germany and in Austria trucks were billed by boxes which count every mile or kilometer driven freeway with checkpionts or satelite.

The goverment wants to widen this system to the private cars.

So not only your driven miles Kilometers were known, they know how often you drive, to which place and the best THE AVERAGE SPEED.

Because they know the time between the checkpionts.

Thats then Orwells Big Brother!!!!!!

You french, spanish, german, aso should not complaint about your situation.

And for you overseas driver!!!!

What would you say if you have to pay 4,60 uSD for a gallon like we have to do!!!!!!

Would you buy then all these SUVs and Vans with the big engines, when a trip of 300km or around 200 miles will cost you 45,- uSD???

[terry.sc]

quote:Originally posted by tamartin

And for you overseas driver!!!!

What would you say if you have to pay 4,60 uSD for a gallon like we have to do!!!!!!

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Not a bad price, here in the uK its around $7usd per gallon.