Scamera poll

I wonder how many people will get fined when doing trackdays?

YOU KNOW the technology would screw-up!

I've been away form the site for a while and came back to 26 pages of this thread! I got to page 8 before rembering I didn't like tennis and jumped to the last page!

Livvy, first & foremost welcome to the site, and I sincerely hope, the Club!

The rest of you... be nice to the newbie, we live in a society that thankfully allows us express our own opinions and stand up & be counted for them.

I've driven well in excess of 500K miles since I passed my test in this country and too many others to mention here and would (as most do) consider myself a good driver - doesn't mean to say I am, and one day I'll do my IAM and prove differently I'm sure.

To get it in the open from the outset, I am a firm believer that addressing speed alone isn't the answer. I enjoy driving at speed - when the conditions,  not necessarily laws, allow - as do many of the people that post here.... It's a site for those who love their cars after all.

That said there is no absolute right or wrong in much of what has been posted here in favour or against the use of cameras, and the many other aspects covered. They are there - supposedly - for safety. No right minded person can claim that there are not a number of them posted in locations which are not, nor ever were 'blackspots' and as such they generate revenue without increasing road safety.

I think all would agree that an increase in proper traffic police officers as opposed to cameras would help in controlling bad drivers as well as those using speed inappropriately.

I don't agree with pulling somone driving in circumstances that suit the conditions - road, weather & traffic, the drivers ability and the vehicle itself, but do agree with dealing with the muppets who tear through residential areas, tailgate, undertake and all of the other vices that seem prevalent in todays society.

I do not subscribe to the idea of tiered speed limits as it would be difficult if not impossible for the officers on the street to police. That said, the current speed limits are not relative to the braking or handling abilities of modern cars.

There is no easy answer to the issue, we love our cars, we love driving, but at the end of the day we need to be responsible for our actions.

Ok, without editing my earlier post I believe the children are our future... oops sorry wrong thread!

Whilst I agree it would be fiendishly difficult to spot a rogue driver cruising along at 5 or 10 miles over the limit - circumsatnces permitting of course -  I believe that there should be more traffic police on the ground and they should be able use their discretion as to who deserves to be pulled over and spoken to, warned or written up and who doesn't. These are highly trained, very skilled & generally very experienced individuals that our taxes pay to train & employ and I would rather put my faith in a stretch of road monitored by a decent traffic cop over some computerised cash cow.

livvy wrote: People seem to think that if Police officers only do speed enforcement that they will turn a blind eye to speeding. I think people are living in cuckoo land. There are no guarantees other than not being over the limit at all if you want to avoid prosecution.

Bit of a contradiction there Livvy methinks! I'm all for more Traffic Police, but not at the expense of other duties - to my mind they should almost be a separate force. I don't believe that the officers formally on traffic detail were reassigned to other duties to appease the public, more a case of running down the numbers of experienced officers who were costing more to run than probationers or these new community jobbies they are so fond of.

Don't get me/us wrong, we're not all out thugs who wantonly flout laws and endanger the public, it's a case of bringing things into perspective and dealing with matters accordingly. Day after day you read of rapists & child molestors walikng free while Joe Soap sales rep with wife & two kids loses his livelihood over some spirited driving in circumstances that wouldn't have harmed anyone - except possibly the tree huggers due to his increased carbon usage. It's got to be a balanced approach.

I think you are missing the point, I'm all for more traffic officers on the streets and from your figures there are currently less than 2% of the serving officers on the MET on traffic duties while there is still chaos and carnage on our roads.... tell me how then cameras can improve on good old common sense from an experienced officer????

The issue here is not about those few traffic officers who have a lidar or such in their hands, it's the fact that they are being replaced by technology that is often misplaced and is incapable of making any form of judgement call other than the obvious

Whilst I agree with much of what you say and you seem to be very well informed on the state & nature of the deployment of police resources, I don't agree that my slowing down for cameras on a deserted dual carriageway is going to stop some muppet in a nova rear ending someone and causing a major pile up as a result.

I got caught earlier this year on an empty stretch of dual carriageway in dry, bright conditions. The opposing lanes were separted by armco, the perifery was fenced to protect the deer and aside from th ebloke hiding in the bushes with a laser, there wasn't a sole in the area.... I was 10 kms over the limit, yes I was over the limit no question, no on made me do it, but where was that chap in the proceeding 15 km's when it was single lane and I was was being tailgated by an overkeen youth in a punto with drum brakes vs my race derived abs developed on the Nuburgring setup as standard on an M5???

Which scenario was more likely to end in tears?? Common Sense, is that too much to ask? I and most others here would agree that it's the government not the Police that are to blame. I rather see a dozen patrol cars sitting in those little bays on the motorways than 1000 cameras covering the same area.