Foamed Gatso - someone listened to Clarkson!

[TW]Fox said:
In summary to your "Explain this please?" stuff, which is not relevant to my opinion/argument/waffling: No, I don't have to explain any of it, I didn't put them there, and shock-horror, I agree some cameras are disgustingly placed, or misused, including those you mention.

I've never said I agree with the placement of every camera, and I've certainly never said I agree with every speed limit. But, as the law stands, you speed (and get caught) you face a fine and points. Don't speed, and you don't get fined or get points for speeding. There's nothing to argue there, it really is that simple.

Your analogies were so barely relevant, almost to the point of not being relevant. They were, as you typically do, taking situations to the absolute extreme.

Here's one for you: Everyone who has a driving license has proven they can keep an eye on their speed and are able to tell what speed limits are in force on the road they are on.

Explain why some of these same people are now incapable of maintaining that ability, please?

The argument here is cameras vs police officers. What I am opposing is people asking for police officers back so they can get away with speeding.

It's really that simple, so something you can take to be amazingly complicated, is not. That's it.

If you want to argue about the speedlimits, then shock-horror, you'll find I agree with you. There are some absolutely cringeworthy limits in some places, but it is still just as simple: don't speed == don't get fined.

Now onto possibilities of why some speed limits have been put in place..

It only takes a few people to spoil something, one of these cases could be that corner you referred to before that was 60 and is now 50.. it's a rural road, as you so explicity explained, and isn't used much, or rather, doesn't have much traffic, as you also explicity explained, some turkey in a bent car does some automobile gymnastics into a tree, someone else does so again after a while.. after 'x' number of incidents, that corner is now flagged as a blackspot.. so what do you propose? Stick a copper there to sit and rot on the off chance that the car passing every god knows when might be duff/the driver is unfit to drive, or to reduce the speed limit? Which of those is viable? Which of those is easily possible with the current state of affairs (with regards to [lack of] money at the govt.'s disposal,) and with the technology available to us, and that is not going to require a complete revamp of all the cars on the road?

This is of course not the same case for every reduced limit around, as I said before, I am leaving motives aside, but felt it necessary to show this example.

Risk increases with speed. There is no argument here, either. (let's see how long it takes for someone to quote that and put 'So by your example, we should all drive around at sub-10mph or get out and walk?')
The only time reducing your speed marginally, poses a risk is when the difference in speed between vehicles is big - e.g. someone doing 40 on a motorway whilst the rest of the traffic is doing 70+ is damn well dangerous.

So to reduce the risk at that corner, the speed limit is lowered, and as in many cases, a camera placed to penalise those who disregard the limit.

Tax/MOT/Insurance/License evasion is a seperate issue, and is being dealt with seperately. There are new 'improvements' being put in place, such as of course the DVLA Tax DB. MOT's I hear will be using a similar system. I also agree there isn't as much enthusiasm with these as there is in the anti-speeding 'campaign' from the Govt.

Cameras are there to catch people who speed. They seem to be doing their job very well for such an uproar to come around. Maybe, just maybe, this is a sign of how many people have a blatant disregard for speed limits, but no, it must be the cameras that are at fault. It can't possibly be the fault of people who ignore the speedlimits now, can it?
 
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JRS said:
I considered writing a proper reply to this (i.e one that would have gotten me banned), but fortunately for my account here restraint caught up and grabbed hold of me before I could get into trouble.
My response was also that of a restrained reply.

note: I use the word 'crap' lightly, if it offended, I apologise.
JRS said:
Couple of things:

1) We just aren't going to find anything resembling an understanding on this issue. Some of you obviously see speeding as the 8th deadly sin, and I can think of a few things that would make that list long before committing the (apparently) heinous crime of doing 80mph on a motorway.
No. I've never called speeding a heinous crime, or even a severe crime. It's civil crime. I consider shoplifting a handful of penny sweets more heinous than speeding, but for people who profess speeding to be such an unworthy affair, there sure is a lot of fuss over it and not just slowing down.
JRS said:
2) Is it just me that gets annoyed by the self-righteous attitude that gets trotted out every damn time we have a thread on this subject? It's getting old - we realise speeding is illegal, we realise that most speed limits are there for a reason, I'm fairly certain that most of us obey those limits nearly all the time and when we don't, we only do it when it's safe* to do so.
The subject is old. Both sides are tired of the other.

JRS said:
Also, another limitation of cameras over officers. Quick example for you:

Long, straight road on a dry, clear day. 60mph limit. JRS in his Fiat is coming down it at 70mph. Sees the camera and the lines in the road up ahead, and a little before getting to them slows to 60. As soon as he's past the markings, he speeds back up again. A traffic cop would have been able to catch this childkiller, the camera didn't. And if you want to see this camera - A45 heading into Coventry, there's two of them on that stretch. Why are they there? They never catch anyone, and in the last 4 years of regularly using that road I've never seen anyone stack it or heard of anyone crashing on it.



*As safe as it possibly could be when you're controlling a dirty great lump of assorted metals, plastics and fabrics travelling at speed....



***edit***

Fox - best post ever. :)
Perhaps you should consider that a benefit of having cameras over police officers then.. but in either scenario, if you were doing 60 as the limit says you should, you wouldn't of had a problem. Assuming your fiat is roadworthy and you were fit to drive :p
 
Since the topic has changed, and we are now onto pros/cons of speed cameras I will input my limited knowledge. For me a stationary gatso only ever really catches one kind of person, and that is someone who is new to the road and has never been on it before. People who know the roads just learn where the cameras are and break and accelerate at the right times. Also, if you go on the web you can get a list of the stationary cameras, that coupled with gps software can effectivly make them void.

I think what slows people down (me) is the man in the green coat with a mobile speed checker. Whenever I see one of them on a road I always think next time I'm on that road, they might be there again, so no going above the limit. That therefore makes me go 30 through the whole zone, as opposed to doing 40, (camera) 29.9999 , 40 for instance.

However far worse than gatso are these new average speed checkers (M1-Luton), although more effective ( speed check more road) they are just a pain in the ass since now instead of speedo watching for the 10 seconds you end up doing it for however long they last. Also you are left pondering whether you are going to get flashed since it is hard to guesstimate what you average speed is going to be.
 
Mr.T said:
However far worse than gatso are these new average speed checkers (M1-Luton), although more effective ( speed check more road) they are just a pain in the ass since now instead of speedo watching for the 10 seconds you end up doing it for however long they last. Also you are left pondering whether you are going to get flashed since it is hard to guesstimate what you average speed is going to be.
Do what I've done. Take your front number plate off!

edit: SPECS are really good at getting people to slow down for roadworks though.
 
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Elaborate please...

I guess that means they cannot get your plate then? I often cosy up to a lorry when going past :D

Oh also if you join at a junction inbetween a camera ( if you understand) I take it you can just bomb it, since they have no speed to start with?
 
Mr.T said:
Oh also if you join at a junction inbetween a camera ( if you understand) I take it you can just bomb it, since they have no speed to start with?
No, there isn't a "start" and "end" point, the system records your average speed between cameras, all of em, not just from the first, to the last.
 
What I meant is that you can bomb it until you get to the first camera, because you have yet to been registered as being on the road.
 
Well I have better things todo than watch out for speed camera's when I'm driving.
Yes in a 50 zone my speed may fluctuate between 45-55 while I watch traffic, watch for pedestrians, people opening car doors, children running out, diesel on the road, bits of broken cars and all the other stuff that can and does happen.
As explained above a copper will ignore this as they rightly should I'm not a machine that has ONE thing to do while driving, if I knock some little kid getting his ball over is it fair for me to say "sorry I was watching my speed he should have been watching where he's going, but it's ok I wasn't speeding", I'm pretty sure his mum would have prefured me going a little slower or faster but actually watching the road and stopping instead.

I already use a gps camera locator, satnav and proper hands free phone kit to take away as many distractions as possible to allow me to drive and drive well. Speed camera's do the opposite they take your consentration away from what you should be doing, which is driving well.
 
Mr.T said:
What I meant is that you can bomb it until you get to the first camera, because you have yet to been registered as being on the road.
Ah, well yeah, in that case you can. But I'm willing to bet they have a cam at every on (and off) ramp. :)
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Rikk said:
Well I have better things todo than watch out for speed camera's when I'm driving.
Yes in a 50 zone my speed may fluctuate between 45-55 while I watch traffic, watch for pedestrians, people opening car doors, children running out, diesel on the road, bits of broken cars and all the other stuff that can and does happen.
As explained above a copper will ignore this as they rightly should I'm not a machine that has ONE thing to do while driving, if I knock some little kid getting his ball over is it fair for me to say "sorry I was watching my speed he should have been watching where he's going, but it's ok I wasn't speeding", I'm pretty sure his mum would have prefured me going a little slower or faster but actually watching the road and stopping instead.
Then how did you pass your test, if you don't look out for your speed and for indications of speed limit?
 
First of all, an excellent post Fox, someone please save that somewhere.

What Rikk said is also very true - another good post.

Furthermore, on many of these roads that Fox comments on, which are dotted all over the country. They do not have any notification of the speed limit. For instance there is a road in eastbourne which is just so. A very long stretch of road in which the speed fluctuates (with signage) between 40 and 60 mph. Then theres a Gatso after about a two mile stretch which there is no speed notification. The last one being 40mph. So am I supposed to slow down in rush hour with a backlog of traffic to 40? That makes me popular.

However one day I see the policeman servicing the camera and I pull over and ask him what speed the camera is set to. Just over 60mph of course.


Dj_Jestar said:
Vary, yes, but go over the limit? No. Speeding = failed. :)


So what you are saying is that he should sit at 35 in a 40 just in case? Wonderful.
 
I've never said I agree with the placement of every camera, and I've certainly never said I agree with every speed limit. But, as the law stands, you speed (and get caught) you face a fine and points. Don't speed, and you don't get fined or get points for speeding. There's nothing to argue there, it really is that simple.

What about those who have been found "guilty" of speeding due to lies or the fact that the equipment used to check speeds is flawed?
 
Gaijin said:
So what you are saying is that he should sit at 35 in a 40 just in case? Wonderful.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but if 40 is the speed limit . It doesn't mean you must drive upto 40 all the time. :confused:
 
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It does if you don't want someone one inch from your bumper, trying to hear what radio station you are listening to :p
 
Muncher said:
Saw it today on Ipswich road just off the A12 into Colchester, had to stop and take a photo :D

Pity they didn't use building foam, not quite sure what they used, similar to shaving foam I think, but no doubt it has buggered it up good and proper :D


I saw that on the way to work yesterday, also saw a nice little VX with a cool number plate in the university car park ;)
 
Morba said:
no doubt we will see people saying that topgear is again being silly and promoting braking the law etc etc
strictly speaking though, if mr clarkson mentioned this on the program in a jokingly-encouraging way, then he/the program is indeed encouraging people to vandalise.
Nozzer said:
The expanding foam trick has been around for years, it's not Top Gear's fault!
handguns had been around for decades, until some nut went on a killing spree and promptly made sure they were banned for the rest of us.
[TW]Fox said:
Yes, it's true, but it's just as pointless and irrelevent as comments like:

'If you don't drive anywhere, you won't have to pay for petrol' in response to complaints about fuel tax

'If you don't live here, you won't have to pay income tax' in response to tax complaints, etc etc.

All true, but totally pointless and not even worth mentioning.
not really,
many people HAVE to drive, they also HAVE to live in the UK for many different reasons.
the point Stoofa is making is people CHOOSE to break the limit.
 
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