Watch out for horse boxes

[joebloggsVR69 0]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7322582.stm

 

I dont see how Welsh police hiding in a horse box is supposed to prevent speeding drivers.

Oh wait - it's just another way to generate money! :hitler:

[Jim Bowen 1]

i think its getting to the point where it could be classed as Horse-rassment on the polices behalf

[ben16v 0]

saw thisin the paper yesterday not far from me, bang out of order, brunstroms bonkers!

[Andy665 0]

Surely having marked police cars to prevent speeding is far more effective in reducing speeding and helping to prevent speed related accidents than merely catching speeders.

 

So blindingly obvious that its all about generating revenue - they don't give a damn about accident prevention - this policy makes me sick - I'm a law abiding person but the police are losing all of my respect

[yorkshireone 0]

Devious f*cking weasels!

[joby 0]

When you live in north wales like ben16v and i do, you end up spending more time watching the sliproads and looking out for unmarked police cars and traps than concentrating on driving :shock: Its plain to see that all they care about is revenue :cuckoo: The A55 is a nightmare they are hidden everywhere, Ive just sold my Audi S3 because its just a waste of time owning such a fast car here..

[Critical_Mass 10]

If only they were that 'obsessed' with catch other real criminals.

[dr_mat 0]

I'm a law abiding person

 

.. apart from when you get in your car? ;)

 

The reasoning behind hidden cameras in this respect is simple: if everyone knows they might get caught at ANY time, ANY where, they just won't break the speed limits ever. And those that would speed anyway would pretty soon lose their license.

 

That said, I don't like it either, and it's a difficult one to follow through on because of exactly what you already mentioned: respect. Policing has to be done with the support of the community, no one organisation can stand along and do just what it wants (except perhaps the US government or Microsoft). Standing on bridges over dual carriageways pointing radar guns at people doing 85 does NOT win you any friends.

 

Fact is there's no way the police or anyone are going to stop people speeding on motorways by trying to tell them it's "not safe". It'll never work. Everyone knows it's perfectly safe - except if you have an accident .. at which point you were in trouble either way. Ok having an accident at 85 means you'll probably be in hospital a few weeks longer than having one at 70, but people simply WILL NOT judge risk that way. Never going to happen.

 

Best hope they have, IMHO, is to do a campaign based on MONEY. Once people start to realise that cruising for 5 hours at 90 mph reduces your miles per gallon by about 10-20% compared to 70mph, and they start to have to actually *pay* for it, some people will change their habits. Some won't, of course, and that's inevitable, but those people also need to remember: if you crash into someone at 90+ you'd better have a bloody good lawyer cos otherwise you're not going to be going near a car for quite a long time ...

[dr_mat 0]

If only they were that 'obsessed' with catch other real criminals.

 

If criminals wore large plastic electronically readable name tags they would be... :)

[ben16v 0]

if i hadnt of seen this yesterday in the daily post, which had more photos where you can see the police uniform with a handheld camera, and didnt live in nwales i`d of called april fool!

:lcop: joker:

[Guest]

Its quite an ingenious idea though :lol:

 

Motoring offences ARENT criminal offences (unless you go into the realms of causing death by dangerous driving etc :| )

 

as Drmat has said if you speed you know its against the law AND have to accept the consequences if caught, however that may be

 

As for people "losing respect" for the police, who cares, on the other side of the coin Im sure you would have more "respect" for the police if they stop some arsehole speeding who might just crash into your car and wipe 1/2 your family out, wouldnt you? sure it makes revenue but that is not the main issue, the amount of people killed due to driver error and speed combined if horendous

 

Break the law, its the law you answer too, simple, nothing to do with respect, infact those who blatantly speed everywhere i dont have any respect for, a far as im concerned you are a criminal as you are potentially risking mine, my familys and everyone elses life when you do it

 

Bleat about fines and police when you have lost a family member this way and see if your view changes any?

[Andy665 0]

Aqua G60 - I agree totally with what you're saying. I observe 20, 30, 40 limits etc absolutely, only time I exceed the speed limit is on the motorway when conditions make it safe to do so - if I was caught I would not bleat about it, I would accept that I was breaking the law and I would suffer the consequences.

 

Why can't the police / government use the money it raises through these methods being directly fed back into education / training of drivers to really ram the message home, taking money out of peoples pockets is not the same as showing people the error of their ways and the possible consequences to themselves and innocent people around them.

 

I do not believe it is as simple as "excess speed" kills people, I have been on the motorway in appalling weather conditions where travelling at the legal limit is madness but countless people still do - IMHO its inappropriate speed that kills

 

Tactics like the horsebox, or indeed any speed camera do not catch the huge number of poor drivers that may stick within the speed limits. Driving in excess of 1,000 miles per week as I do, I would say that the majority of poor / dangerous driving that I have witnessed in recent months has, in the main, not had speed involved - mainly poor awareness of what is going on around them, poor lane discipline etc etc

[Guest]

Even doing 5 mph is dangerous lets face it, but when you combine a powerfull car with someone young or old and add speed, it can be a recipe for a disaster.

 

The speed limits were set on British roads due to the Suez oil crisis etc in the 50`s i believe? I know cars, brakes and road surfaces have come a long way since then, but at every coroners court in the land speed is a recuring major factor in road deaths, be that the judgement of the driver of the speeding car OR someone else on the road pulling out on them or making miss judgment themselves/ the end result is the same, what other drivers do is a factor none of us can build into our driving regardless of abillity or car, what other drivers see or dont see and do on the road is a lottery!

 

Yearly driving assesments should be mandatory, we arent blatant enough in this country, in Europe they have adverts and graphic images of what can happen to you, in France they have little black figures or multiple figures sometimes at the road side with red lightning cracks in their head to designate a spot were someones been killed just to make people think a bit more

[Critical_Mass 10]

I think there need to be more emphasis on pedestrians too though, especially kids. On the A64 in Leeds, theres a fence dividing the carrigeways. Even though there are regular crossings, even a new one put in, within the last year, people still insist on jumping the fence where ever and dashing across the roads.

 

I live near a school and the kids there jsut dont give a sh!t. A school bus had pulled up to let people across and there was queue of traffic behind. I was going passed the bus at no more then 20mph. I then saw the women who was pulled behind the buss flinging her arms about, suddenly a kid runs across the road and i have to slam on, although i wasnt going fast. He ran over the road and kept going not even looking back. Made me so angry at the ignorance. If it wasnt for the woman id have probably clipped the kid.

 

I say this becuase sometimes it isnt the drivers speed thats the issue its the fact that people dont respect the road, like some pedestrians. Drunk louts getting hit cos they stumbled into the road, people crossing on zebra crossings assuming you'll stop IN TIME because youre obliged to stop.

They should bring in some kid of jaywalking law.

[CTWG60 0]

I say this becuase sometimes it isnt the drivers speed thats the issue its the fact that people dont respect the road, like some pedestrians. Drunk louts getting hit cos they stumbled into the road, people crossing on zebra crossings assuming you'll stop IN TIME because youre obliged to stop.

They should bring in some kid of jaywalking law.

 

My opinion is that accidents will always happen but it's the speed at which the accident occurs that determines whether severe injury or death occurs. Back to the original article, recently a friend who was visiting north wales to visit his retired parents he travelled through a village behind an elderly lady doing 20-25mph through the village she pulled over within sight of the "national speed limit" signs. At which my friend accelerated off to continue on his way, he was caught doing 58mph in a 30mph zone meters from the signs. You draw your own opinion as to whether this sort of road policing is right or wrong.

[bcstudent 0]

at every coroners court in the land speed is a recuring major factor in road deaths

Of course it is. You can't crash into something if you're stationary.

 

My opinion is that speed limits have their place but they're outdated and laughably enforced. That is all.

[Guest]

at every coroners court in the land speed is a recuring major factor in road deaths

Of course it is. You can't crash into something if you're stationary.

 

My opinion is that speed limits have their place but they're outdated and laughably enforced. That is all.

 

 

And what about if your stationary and some twat hits you doing 80 in a 50? its about consideration for others, not about not being clever :wave:

 

Speed limits are enforced in different ways around the country, some places need it, all those big sweeping moor roads in yorkshire that 20 bikers die on each year! more orphans more burden on the state! and speed cameras are only placed where there have been at least 4 fatal or very serious accidents in a 12 month period

[Andy665 0]

speed cameras are only placed where there have been at least 4 fatal or very serious accidents in a 12 month period

 

Got to disagree on this one - I know many brand new stretches of road that had speed cameras placed on them from day one, that can be for one of only two reasons:

 

1. To raise revenue

 

2. The road was poorly designed in the first place

[bcstudent 0]

And what about if your stationary and some twit hits you doing 80 in a 50? its about consideration for others, not about not being clever :wave:

 

Speed limits are enforced in different ways around the country, some places need it, all those big sweeping moor roads in yorkshire that 20 bikers die on each year! more orphans more burden on the state!

What I was getting at is that it's a bit of a daft phrase. If *everybody* was stationary then there'd be no crashes therefore, obviously, speed is going to be a factor in any collision.

 

Breaking the speed limit can not always be classed as being inconsiderate towards others. I have no sympathy for people that blatantly shatter the speed limit in built-up areas though...much like the d**k in the Escort that must have been doing 70 over the 30mph blind crest close to my work this evening (with a full car-load of chavs).

 

and speed cameras are only placed where there have been at least 4 fatal or very serious accidents in a 12 month period

Puuuurrrllleeeeaassseee. Do you really believe that to be the case?! It sure as heck isn't around these parts.

[dr_mat 0]

Even the police's own figures state that "excessive speed" is a probably cause of very few accidents, whilst as has been pointed out "excessive speed" is frequently cited as "contributory" to the severity of the accident. These are different things that the press (particularly) mix up all the time, and of course the politicians and speed camera groups twist these figures ...

[bcstudent 0]

Amen to that.

[Guest]

And what about if your stationary and some twit hits you doing 80 in a 50? its about consideration for others, not about not being clever :wave:

 

Speed limits are enforced in different ways around the country, some places need it, all those big sweeping moor roads in yorkshire that 20 bikers die on each year! more orphans more burden on the state!

What I was getting at is that it's a bit of a daft phrase. If *everybody* was stationary then there'd be no crashes therefore, obviously, speed is going to be a factor in any collision.

 

Breaking the speed limit can not always be classed as being inconsiderate towards others. I have no sympathy for people that blatantly shatter the speed limit in built-up areas though...much like the d**k in the Escort that must have been doing 70 over the 30mph blind crest close to my work this evening (with a full car-load of chavs).

 

and speed cameras are only placed where there have been at least 4 fatal or very serious accidents in a 12 month period

Puuuurrrllleeeeaassseee. Do you really believe that to be the case?! It sure as heck isn't around these parts.[/quote:1k2i9njk]

 

 

I think you know full well I was talking about speeding, more speed = more velocity = more impact = more carnage, and more likely of a fatality or serious injurys,

 

you can dismiss the camera thing if you like, I dont believe it, I know it :grin: but in Kent where i live people have campaigned to have cameras put on certain roads! due to a small element of people using the roads like a race track, the camera partnership will not place a camera at a site unless it has resulted in at least 4 road deaths or serious injurys, and guess what? the roads were these incidents have happened have cameras now, and guess what? no more fatalitys since they were put up, so is it that people think more of money than other people? because i gaurantee if you took those cameras away people would speed and more people would die again be they in a car or pedestrians

 

I can understand why people think negatively about being fined and moaning about the police but if you had a speeding/drunk driver or somone on his/her phone kill a member of your family maybe people would think differently?

 

people deplore drink driving apparantly? (it seems to have skipped a generation at the moment though with 24-30 year olds being the worst offenders) but excesive speeding is no different in reality, plain truth is people like getting away with stuff, and if caught always try to lessen their offence by comparing it to something else, common phrases used on the police i believe are normally along the lines of "go catch some rapists"/real criminals or "i pay your taxes" "did you get bullied at school" and pointing at other passing motorists who may or may not? be speeding whilst they are issued their ticket, its called naughty child syndrome which is instilled as a defence mechanism from childhood :lol:

 

We all know the risks if we speed, we all know the cosequences of our actions if things go badly wrong, the ultimate one is death or taking anothers life, imprisonment or losing your licence, the lowest is a few points and 60 beer tokens being taken off us

[bcstudent 0]

I did know that, you're right. I was just being perdantic.

 

I'll do more than dismiss the 'camera thing' - I'll call it complete fantasy. While there may be a government white paper that suggests how the camera partnerships choose camera sites, there's no obligation for them to follow it.

 

This discussion was about speeding and police hiding in horse boxes. The use of mobile phones whilst driving is a completely seperate issue, and one I imagine would be viewed unanimously.

 

I'm amazed that you can regard speeding and drink driving as an offence of the same magnitude. If we're talking about 100mph past a primary school then fine but is, say, 85mph on a motorway comparable to *any* drink driving offence? It's no excuse of course, but it's easy to find yourself creeping to 85mph on a motorway while concentrating on the road ahead and the drivers around you. Drink driving requires a concious effort.

[Guest]

Well ok, we will just have to beg to differ on the camera thing then, your right camera sites do have guidelines, that dont have to be followed to the letter, i do however have a little "inside" information though :lol:

 

Prehaps the comparison between drink drive/speed was badly put, what i was getting at was that the same end results can occur, ie, it is a higher risk if you do either

 

At the end of the day everyone speeds somewhere, the way i see it is that if the police adopt methods to catch out speeding motorists by using horse boxes or other methods then thats fair enough surely? people buy snoopers and such like to gain an advantage, you just need to be hyper vigilant if your gonna speed, everyone knows the speed limits, and its your licence and livelyhood at stake if you get caught :grin:

[kaiserVR6 0]

i must admit i agree that speed cameras are necessary, and the ductch hid their cameras in wheelie bins and the like and have very little speeding offences.

 

I still think it is wrong though, its the welshpolice being over zealous as usual!

 

I germany the speed limits on the local roads are respected as the autobahns are open and a place to make time up by letting the car reach some decent speeds........

 

its a bit or agree and disagree situation.......

Outside schools and public places (parks, town centres) yes, in the country side no!