Rebellion in the UK

[PolkThug]

Wow! Guess they're getting fed up with all those cameras over there.
(4 pages worth)
http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm

[MacLeod]

Good for them!

Those effin' speeding cams and red light cams should be ripped apart and burned......along with the people that put em there!

[cindy100]

MacLeod,

May I ask why you don't the red light cameras? They have installed them where I live and personally, I think it's a good idea. In my opinion, I think it will hopefully save the lives of innocent people. People running red lights(not yellow but definitely red) is a huge problem here. If I'm the first one to go once the light turns green, I always wait to make sure some idiot isn't going through the red light and usually get honked at but I feel much safer.

Cindy

[VR3]

Big Brother.

I dont want no one watching me. Unless a cop catches me going 5 or 50 mph over the speed limit, it should be fair and open game. As for running red lights...

Do what Cindy suggests, wait and look before going on green.

[brettw22]

Part of driving defensively is waiting to make sure all cars are stopped or stopping before you go through an intersection.

Their primary purpose is flaunted as safety, but the reality is that they're a 24hour money maker for the city. Putting them up at intersections that are monumentally documented as most dangerous in a city I can understand. Arbtrarily putting them up all over and in the middle of a block (not at a light) is nothing more than lazy city governments. They've gone so far in Arizona as putting them all up and down the freeway. If you think that it's a regional problem, wait until every other city sees how much money they can rape people out of before they start showing up everywhere.

Also in AZ, they have photocop vans sitting on the side of the road (typically on the other side of a sidewalk behind a bush) with a camera hanging out the back and an operator sitting in the back reading a paper.

It's all about money......period

[szhleppy]

I got caught by one of these a couple years ago. I was driving a little too fast, and the guy in a truck in front of me slammed on his brakes to make a left turn just through the light, leaving me in the intersection just long enough to get a pic of my mug. It was completely my fault...I mean how can you argue that you shouldn't get a red light ticket, but rather a speeding ticket???

The options once you receive your custom picture in the mail leave you with no other choice than to take driving safety class. When I called to register for the class (run by a private agency), I thought it might be beneficial to plead my case and see if I had a chance at fighting it...after all, the class takes up an entire Saturday.

Anyways, the guy gets defensive right away and explains to me that the cameras are right 100% of the time and that there is no way that someone would get trapped in the intersection without intentionally trying to run the red light. I found his position interesting, so continued to prod him for info. He finally got pissed and told me he knows so much about it because his company designed and installed the cameras...WHAT???!!!

Naturally, my next position was to question the conflict of interest this presented. How can the individual who contracts with the city to install and receive a cut from citiations on the red light cameras also benefit from the class that is practically obligatory to take when caught????

He hung up on me.

[Refefer]

Strange, I was under the impression that there was just a fee imposed on a redlight camera's ticket since they can't prove most of the time who is behind the wheel? Didn't think it required a driving class as well :/

I also remember reading that red light cameras have done nothing to improve on traffic violations in a given area, and in some cases have actually created more crashes. "CRAP, don't want to stop at this light, don't want to get a ticket.... well, better floor it"

I'm with the brits on this one. I got pulled over going 66mph in a 55 mph zone and found out that the cop was low in his quota for last month so he was pulling everyone over.... a BIG source of revenue in a lot of the smaller counties. Ticketing for revenue makes me angry.

[SCompRacer]

Their primary purpose is flaunted as safety, but the reality is that they're a 24hour money maker for the city.

I strongly disagree with that. These cameras are in response to the major part of society’s attitude of reckless abandon for their fellow driver, pedestrian or work zones on the road. How dare you impede my progress and cheating is allowed, getting caught isn’t brought this on.

[brettw22]

You certainly can disagree, but each camera pulls in roughly a a million dolllars per month. They're not put anywhere that won't make the city their millions.

[brettw22]

You absolutely can prove who's behind the wheel because it takes a picture to you and sends you a picture of yourself (or whomever's driving) to the registered owners house.

If you try to dispute the ticket, you will only get off one of two ways. Give the person that was driving up, or never show up to the courthouse because ultimately they have no proof of you having received your ticket until you go in and pay it. From the point of getting the ticket, quit accepting certified mail too......:D

[Mike682]

Just speed past these cameras wearing a wolfman or bigfoot mask. Let the city try to figure it out..:D

You could say it stole your car, and then sell the pic and the story to one of those rag magazines, like the enquirer

[bobman1235]

I don't midn the red light cameras as much, as running red lights is kind of an obvious thing that RARELY (of course there are exceptions) has an excuse. Speed cameras are ridiculous, because, honestly, speed limits are ridiculous. They're always set lower than they should be, and everyone goes faster than the speed limit, always. Plus, trying to talk the officer out of the ticket is an American institution, I'll be damned if they took it away :)

[PhantomOG]

A friend of mine from high school was almost killed when he flipped his car while avoiding a collision with a red light runner. The guy never stopped and got away clean. Meanwhile, my friend's insurance had to cover ALL of his medical bills and the totaling of his car. I'm sure he wished there was a red light camera at that intersection.

[Skynut]

This is another way the government divides us and takes advantage of us.

It is not just a money maker but a way to make money and free up police services for other crimes.

On that note, it pisses me off. I want human interaction if I violate a law.
I want the chance to face my accuser, not a camera.

Here is the future according to Skynut.

Flash foreward 20 years. Every car in America is required to have a global possitioning system on board. It monitors all aspects of your driving and sends tickets in the mail everytime you blow it.

68 mph in a 65 zone = ticket. Doesn't matter that you were passing a truck that was going 54 mph.

Your wheels did not stop turning at that stop sign = ticket.

Following too close for their taste = ticket.

no blinker on the lane change, change more than one lane at a time = ticket.

they are going to try to force everyone to obey the letter of the law while the cops speed by on their way to the doughnut shop.

Total big brother money maker to me.

[brettw22]

Red Light Camera's are a totally different scenario IMO. They are warranted and should be utilized to prevent the type of undeniable damage that can occur with those that run reds.

In the near future though, they're planning on outfitting those red light camera's to be dual purpose and start snapping pics of people speeding. At that point, it becomes BS IMO.

[wodom1]

There are red light cameras in Chicago. They only put them at intersections where there is a high rate of side collisions, and they list the intersections where they are installed online. Apparently they cut the accident rate by something like 60%. I managed to get myself a ticket through one and had to pay $90 to the city. They don't go on your driving record record and are not reported to your insurance, it's just a city fine. In my defense, I couldn't have stopped for the yellow light without locking up my brakes and could have sworn it was yellow when I went through the intersection. One funny thing about Chicago is that out of the entire police fleet, only eight cars have radar, meaning only four radar-equiped cars are in the city at a given time. The only time I've ever seen them is on Lakeshore Dr.

[bert26]

This article is in the current Car and Driver....

http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/...-scameras.html

[bikezappa]

Skynut

In 20 years or sooner every person will have a chip installed under their skin to track them 24/7.

It's much worse than big brother imagined.

[Skynut]

This article is in the current Car and Driver....

http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/...-scameras.html

Great article.
It makes sence to me that if you know you are comming up to a photo intersection, you now have one more thing to think about other than the intersection.
Maybe you gaze up to see where is the camera and now you stare at the light to make sure you are safe to proceed.
While you are thinking about this you neglect the other vehicles dealing with the same intersection.
Still your fault for not paying attention to your driving but maybe avoidable without the cameras.

[Skynut]

Skynut

In 20 years or sooner every person will have a chip installed under their skin to track them 24/7.

It's much worse than big brother imagined.

They are trying to do it now.
I saw an add for a company that will instal a lo-jack type of chip in your child in case they ever dissapear.

This sounds like a good reason but what else will they begin using them for?
How long till it becomes law that all children be "protected" with this device.
Once protected, how long till it is manditory for life?

[cfrizz]

They should have both Brett, since if you are running a red light, then you are no doubt speeding as well to make it!

I can't believe how many cars speed up to go through an orange light & then see 3-4 cars going through the now red one!

So as far as I'm concerned, let them have at it! It should also be required that the first offense, you have to go back to class to learn what you obviously missed the first time round & a fine. Second offense, a repeat class & bigger fine. 3rd offense means you lose your license for a year!

Everyone is always in a big hurry to get nowhere! Give yourself plenty of time to get where you're going & slow the hell down!

Red Light Camera's are a totally different scenario IMO. They are warranted and should be utilized to prevent the type of undeniable damage that can occur with those that run reds.

In the near future though, they're planning on outfitting those red light camera's to be dual purpose and start snapping pics of people speeding. At that point, it becomes BS IMO.

[ND13]

Just another sign of the APOCALYPSE!!!!:p

[F1nut]

The Brits have the right idea, destroy all that Big Brother crapola, NOW!!!

[Shizelbs]

Big brother.

I would be tempted to do the same if I lived over there.

[PolkThug]

The Brits have the right idea, destroy all that Big Brother crapola, NOW!!!

"If we don't take action now, We settle for nothing later" -Rage Against the Machine :)

[ND13]

RAGE ROX!!!

Too bad they quit.

[nadams]

Rebellion against speed cameras in the UK is nothing new. Watch any episode of Top Gear and there's something derogatory said about speed cameras. In their news one week they featured a road map that has all of the locations of speed cameras in the UK, so that you can plan your route by where there aren't any :D

[Shizelbs]

FWIW, Seattle will soon be adding more of these eyes of big brother to our streets.

[Demiurge]

It's just all about safety! ;)

[Shizelbs]

My sack its all about safety.