Speed Cameras

[sandant]

Or maybe we could fit fart detectors to every pair of jocks sold, then big brother could tax you for farting??
Ooops, I just cost meself $5

Al

im with oz blown away about 50 bucks today allready ? wonder what a skidmark would cost?

[barnsey]

When we grow up we are taught (generally) that it is not polite to **** in public, not polite to use foul language, not polite to s@#t on the floor or anywhere but in a toilet or other secluded area. And guess what - unless under the influence of mind altering substances it happens :eek:

Why does society need to regulate speed by speed cameras?
Coz they couldn't afford to put poo cameras to cover the whole country

Anyone who gets caught should be fined and perhaps even heavier. :mad:
Or lets introduce legislation to say it's OK to go straight through a red light coz if you're in a hurry we need to do what you want to do :confused:

Better still put a notice on every lathe sold "You will never suffer any injury from this product no matter what you do"

PLEEEEZZZEE

Jamie

[AlexS]

As my daughter said when she was four years old..."If you let me do what I want to, I wouldn't get into trouble!"

[DaveInOz]

Speed limits are supposedly based on the risk of an incident, driver reaction times etc etc.
Problem is that the driver that is checking the loverly tree in that garden is a danger at any speed. So the speeds are lowered to account for people with poor attention, and slow reflexes.
This mean many people get bored driving, their mind wanders etc. Why are there more accidents on freeways? because they are boring and people stop concentrating.

On a motorcycle you can never lose concentration of the entire road and surroundings, why? because even in a minor incident you can die. In a car a fender bender is a pain but not a problem.
So the reasoning is, cars are too easy to drive, too safe, too condusive to inattention. The answer is a 12" metal spike in the centre of every steering wheel. If even a minor crash could kill you how much attention would you pay? Would you increase the chances of a collision by going too fast for the conditions? The good news is if you answer yes you will soon be killed and no longer a danger to others.

[barnsey]

AlexS

Profound words indeed - and from a four year old

DaveInOz

Why do we need the 12" spike? Surely everyone reads enough newspaper clippings, sees news reports on the TV or knows somebody who has suffered the trauma much less watched a soapie that depicts it and thought..... :confused:

OHHHH I forgot - too much for people to think


PS. Sorry got 15 & 17 year olds who can't get this concept through their thick heads :confused:
Jamie

[Wood Borer]

I stick to the limit now - I only do it to save money which is not a satisfactory reason at all.

I also tell SWMBO that every 3rd time I don't get booked, I can afford to buy an new LN plane!

The joy of the planes far outweighs the joy of receiving a fine. The logic is a bit twisted I know but I am happy.

I think most people see excessive speeding as not a good thing but most people see 3 or 5 Km/h over the limit as ridiculous and purely money grabbing.

If 3 Km/h over the limit is dangerous, then perhaps we should be educated rather than punished.

[craigb]

I also tell SWMBO that every 3rd time I don't get booked, I can afford to buy an new LN plane!

But how do you figure out when the times would have been when you would have been booked?

[Wood Borer]

But how do you figure out when the times would have been when you would have been booked?

Shhhhhhhhh, just whose side are you on?

That No 5 you had a play with was paid for not getting booked at the following places:

Maroondah Highway 1/4/04 10:43 AM

Hume Highway Goulburn 10/5/02 11:12 PM (Could have been a big fine if I was speeding a lot)

Main Drag of Rockhampton 2/9/01 8:01 PM (If there had been a breathalyser there and if I had been pulled over and blew over the limit the taxi fare back to Melbourne would have cost heaps so a No5 is cheap in anyone's language)

All my planes have been paid for in this manner and just look at how much I have saved.
:confused

[Ben from Vic.]

This is a subject that really gets my goat because I live in Victoria, speed camera capital of Australia.

A few years ago (about two or three) the road toll had droped, the number of people (being caught) speeding was down, everything was good.
It appeared people were finaly changing their ways. This was what the state government wanted, right?

Wrong.

The move that made a mockery of the whole "we're only doing this for you" deal was soon to follow.

The state govenrment lowered the tolerance from 10% to three kph across the board.

This means that instead of being allowed to be 10% over the limit before being fined (this is fair because car speedo's are only required to be winthin 10% of the speed they're reading), if my car rolls up to 104 in a 100 zone, I'm considered lethal, but 103 and I'm OK.

We (Victorian drivers) met the targets, they changed the rules to compensate.

In a little bit of a follow on from Dave, the most destracing thing while driving, is now the speedo. People used to watch the road and check the speedo, now they watch the speedo and check the road.


Himzol.
I support peoples right to travel at a reasonable level under the limit, but the amount of times I'm ( and the 20 or 30 cars with me) forced to travel at the speed someone else deems safe (or, more truthfully, feels like doing) is, quite simply, disgusting (this mainly applies to those who drive slowly in anything but the left lane).

My other thought is if people don't think they're safe doing 80 in an 80 zone on a normal day and feel the need to drive at 60 instead, they shouldn't be on the road at all. They shouldn't have a license.

Ps. I don't knwo how you drive, so this isn't to personal.



BTW I've only had one speeding fine, about 4 years ago, and I was caught fair and square by a real person.


Ben.

[Sturdee]

I think most people see excessive speeding as not a good thing but most people see 3 or 5 Km/h over the limit as ridiculous and purely money grabbing.

If 3 Km/h over the limit is dangerous, then perhaps we should be educated rather than punished.

A 3 or 5 Km/h over the limit is less than the 10 % tolerance in speedo accuracy that the goverment allows through the design rules. Thus whilst thinking you are obeying the speed limit you are often speeding and liable to get booked.

Thus it is purely money grabbing and maybe the pollies and public servants who allow this situation to remain should be sent away for " re-education ".


Peter.

[DanP]

Wow, so many things for me to comment on.

First, the start of the thread want speed recordings in cars. How does the car know what the speed zone is? Or where you are for that matter? Or who's driving? All crucial points if you want to charge or fine someone. The cost of such a system would be massive.

Ben said, "I want a box that records when people spend excessive amounts of time bellow the speed limit and fines them"

Can't agree more. IMHO people who are well under the speed limit (15 - 20 kph not 5kph) are a greater danger on the road than the 6 or 7 k's over people who get fined by camera's.

Rob (WB) said, "Fines can be quite unfair, the poorer person being affected by a $150 fine far more than a wealthier person"

I can't see what's fairer than everybody getting the same penalty for the same offence. Sure it hits the poorer people harder, but it's fair.

Daveinoz said, "Why are there more accidents on freeways? because they are boring and people stop concentrating"

Spot on IMO. Fatigue is a massive killer on major STRAIGHT roads. You nod off in town and you run up somones bum. You do it at 100 kph and someone dies. Another big cause IMO is inattention due to boredom.


The default speed limit in a built up area is 50 kph. In School Zones this 50 becomes 40 kph - 24 HOURS A DAY. Why have a school area as 40 kph at 2am? Or on the weekend? Why? Because you can stick a camera in it and get 1000+ tickets a day at a MINIMUM of $128. You do the math. It's not hard to see why the govt is pushing these "Road Safety Cameras" They make billions of dollars out of these things.

If they were serious about them not being for revenue and only for road safety they would put fixed cameras in black spots and put a big sign up saying "SPEED CAMERA HERE" Everyone slows down through the black spot, problem solved. Mobile cameras should be overt rather than covert. Anyone who then gets caught deserves the ticket for their stupidity. Independant studies have questioned the effectiveness of cameras as a road toll reduction strategy in their current format. I have emailed the Chief Commissioner regarding my theories as stated above and got a typical bull$h1t "your comments have been read and will be considered" reply.

The Police Department has no control over this. It is all governmental policy. You can and will be booked doing anythin over 4kph over the speed limit, yet vehicle manufacturers are allowed 10% tolerance in the accuracy of your speedo. That means that you can be driving your brand new car down the freeway thinking you are being very carful doing 99kph, got the cruise control set, and BANG, $128 bucks and one demerit point for being careful. No one should have to drive around at 5 kph under, just in case.

Anyway, got myself all worked up now, think I'll have a lie down. In case you could't tell, I hate the bluddy things.

[Wood Borer]

Thanks for the response Dan.

I know a few cops and their feelings are the same. It must be frustrating for many cops to police some laws especially when it seems to be just a money grab.

[silentC]

If they were serious about them not being for revenue and only for road safety they would put fixed cameras in black spots and put a big sign up saying "SPEED CAMERA HERE"

I don't know if this is the case throughout NSW but certainly all the fixed cameras down my way and the majority of the ones I have seen in and around Sydney are clearly signposted "Speed Camera 24 Hours. Fines in excess of $x". The signs start about 500m down the road and there's another every 100m or so. If you get caught by one of them you're an idiot or you don't care.

Having said that, I copped a 68 in a 60 zone in Sydney a few months ago. There's a section of the Princes Highway near Kogarah where it goes from 70 to 60 and back to 70. I missed the 60 because I turned onto it from a side street and just assumed it was 70. Wrong. :mad:

Let's face it, if the government really wanted to stop speeding, they would legislate for speed limiters on cars like they have in trucks.

[DaveInOz]

DaveInOz

Why do we need the 12" spike? Surely everyone reads enough newspaper clippings, sees news reports on the TV or knows somebody who has suffered the trauma much less watched a soapie that depicts it and thought..... :confused:

Jamie

People have become desensitised to the road toll, they are even desensitised to the grafic ads the TAC run, they should be making people sick, but they aren't.
The theory of the 12" spike is a constant reminder that your life is at stake if you don't concentrate and drive accordingly.

Daveinoz said, "Why are there more accidents on freeways? because they are boring and people stop concentrating"

Spot on IMO. Fatigue is a massive killer on major STRAIGHT roads. You nod off in town and you run up somones bum. You do it at 100 kph and someone dies. Another big cause IMO is inattention due to boredom.

So to stop this they LOWER the speed limit and make people more bored, :eek: how much attention do you pay to driving when you are forced to do 10km/h, or do you look around at the scenery?

[Ben from Vic.]

Rob (WB) said, "Fines can be quite unfair, the poorer person being affected by a $150 fine far more than a wealthier person"

I can't see what's fairer than everybody getting the same penalty for the same offence. Sure it hits the poorer people harder, but it's fair.

In Sweden or Norway (can't remember which) your fine is worked out according to your wage. This led to a Nokia executive being fined about $240,000 AUD!

If they were serious about them not being for revenue and only for road safety they would put fixed cameras in black spots

They used to only put cameras only in black spots, till some bright spark decided they'd be better off were they'd make more money.

Ben said, "I want a box that records when people spend excessive amounts of time bellow the speed limit and fines them"

Can't agree more. IMHO people who are well under the speed limit (15 - 20 kph not 5kph) are a greater danger on the road than the 6 or 7 k's over people who get fined by camera's.

That's what I ment.


I'd also like to see some of the money go back to the Police themselves. They need it.
Have a look at the condition of some fo the police stations while your out and about, some of them are shocking.
(not you DanP )

Ben.