ADUK Archive

Son came home from work today and said that the local authority had installed a speed camera along with calibrations, on a busy junction controlled by traffic lights and a traffic light camera on the A350 Holes Bay Rd just as you enter Poole. The road is a dual carriageway subject to a 50mph limit untill just before the juntion in question, when it changes to 30mph. There is also a camera covering the outward carriageway.

Does anyone know of any other junctions that have both a speed camera and a traffic light camera?

Nigel ADI
IAM trainee observer

No but why do you ask?

fungus wrote:Does anyone know of any other junctions that have both a speed camera and a traffic light camera?

I know of a junction that used to just have a traffic lights camera but then paint was added and it now looks like it performs as a speed camera as well. This is on the A329 from Bracknell towards the M3 at J3, very shortly before the motorway.

martine wrote, No but why do you ask?

Just that my son had heard that it was something that was being introduced, and this was one of the first in the country. As I had never seen one, I wondered if it was just hearsay, or whether it is something that we might see more commonly.

Nigel ADI
IAM trainee observer

fungus wrote:Just that my son had heard that it was something that was being introduced, and this was one of the first in the country. As I had never seen one, I wondered if it was just hearsay, or whether it is something that we might see more commonly.

If there's automated enforcement to done and money to be made for companies with vested interests, you can bet we'll be seeing it more commonly

Whether we see more of them or not they will only catch volunteers!

Nigel

adiNigel wrote:Whether we see more of them or not they will only catch volunteers!

Nigel

I can't see any excuse for getting caught by a fixed camera. If drivers can't spot a great big yellow box stuck on a pole it's not just their speed that needs looking at.

The high-level cameras, mounted about 6-7m above the road surface and much smaller than the traditional Gatso, are much more difficult to spot if workload is high.

regards
P.

Porker wrote:The high-level cameras, mounted about 6-7m above the road surface and much smaller than the traditional Gatso, are much more difficult to spot if workload is high.

regards
P.

....and even the full size Gatso box mounted on a normal height pole can be missed if it is sneakily placed or concealed by foliage. Even a good driver being vigilant could be caught out on the odd occasion, especially if there is doubt as to the prevailing speed limit.

Von (BTW, where is he these days, got his hands full with the PH gang? ) might say that if the work load is high, the speed should be reduced so that the work load becomes normal. OTOH he might say something completely different.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

The problem nowadays is that we (the authorities) are obsessed with speed. As one of our senior observers (ex Dorset police car & bike instuctor) said, " It is not feasible to expect drivers to be within the speed limit all the time. There are too many other factors to deal with, and speedo watching should be a lower priority." I remember one of the questions in the ADI part one exam. A learner should be told that it is more important to (a) check the speedometer. or (b) check the rear view mirror. Yes you've guessed correctly, the answer is (b).

As far as Von is concerned. I would imagine he has a similar situation to James. Maybe his employers have got wind that he posts on internet forums.

Nigel ADI
IAM trainee observer

fungus wrote:The problem nowadays is that we (the authorities) are obsessed with speed. As one of our senior observers (ex Dorset police car & bike instuctor) said, " It is not feasible to expect drivers to be within the speed limit all the time. There are too many other factors to deal with, and speedo watching should be a lower priority."

It's also been observed on here previously that speed limits are now frequently set by local authorities for political considerations, rather than anything related to hazard density. Similar roads in different authorities will now often have different limits which means you can no longer apply common sense and instead have to spend additional effort looking for signage/repeaters.

There has been a speed camera on a set of traffic lights on the colwick loop road in Nottingham for around 5 years this is also a multi lane section with a 30 mph limit.

On this junction

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 27423&z=15

If you go to street view of that location you can see the cameras.

fungus wrote:As far as Von is concerned. I would imagine he has a similar situation to James. Maybe his employers have got wind that he posts on internet forums.

Given what happened toNightjack, I suspect that most officers who open post online will be keeping their heads down for a long while.

michael769 wrote:

fungus wrote:As far as Von is concerned. I would imagine he has a similar situation to James. Maybe his employers have got wind that he posts on internet forums.

Given what happened to Nightjack, I suspect that most officers who open post online will be keeping their heads down for a long while.

Yes, god forbid the public get an opinion from an insider of what the job is like and where the systemic shortcomings are. Just as stupid as these proposals for teachers. And of course, double standards business as usual for MPs.

Double standards indeed. One rule for them. And one for us.

Nigel ADI
IAm trainee observer