1000 speeding drivers caught in 4 days

[lalaland 10]

what alternative would you suggest? speed bumps on the M1?

Please read my earlier post (#21)

[Tony 10]

Surely the sheer number of people caught in such a short amount of time shows that these cameras are not effective at reducing the danger to road workers.

Oh I'm not so sure. I suspect that there are now 1,000 people that won't ever speed through roadworks again.

[Blade1983 10]

But it requires them to carry out the offence and put the worker at risk in the first place before the deterrent is applied.

 

So it's not as effective as say having these areas manned by a couple of traffic cops who dish out immediate justice. If they spotted you speeding you'd be stopped and dealt with instead of being able to speed through the area and then being prosecuted a week or two later.

 

missed that one!!

 

problem with the above is that the cops will only be able to pull the odd driver - most will get away with it!!

 

for example

- 20 cars in a row in outside lane, all doing 80.

- the police will have to pick 1 from 20

- chase the driver

- pull the driver over

- take details

- issue fine

- send the driver on their way

- get back to their perch.

[Tony 10]

We would not need speed cameras if the whole of the M1 was like the stretch that runs through Barnsley.

 

The only bit of the M1 that is still cobbled.

I didn't know they had resurfaced the bit to Leeds. No more dust clouds in summer and tractor tows in winter!

[DaFoot 10]

But it requires them to carry out the offence and put the worker at risk in the first place before the deterrent is applied.

But the detterent *is* applied with a punishment at the same time.

 

So it's not as effective as say having these areas manned by a couple of traffic cops who dish out immediate justice. If they spotted you speeding you'd be stopped and dealt with instead of being able to speed through the area and then being prosecuted a week or two later.

They gotta catch people first...so more chases.

Would think that would cost a lot more too and I doubt they would be as efficient at catching people as cameras.

 

Maybe a combination of both? But then that costs money (which is being used...argh...no I'll stop there before a rant starts )

[lalaland 10]

Oh I'm not so sure. I suspect that there are now 1,000 people that won't ever speed through roadworks again.

I don't think so. I reckon that a good number of those will risk it again at some point.

 

Either way, my point is still valid as you state 'won't ever speed through roadworks again'. Yes they were prosecuted for it this time, but they were still able to speed through the roadworks and as such I still say that speed cameras are not good at giving the workers protection. Yes they catch people and prosecute them at a later date, but on the day they do nothing, the offence is still committed and the danger is still very much there to the workers.

 

Fair enough the worker may die knowing that at least the driver of the car that was speeding and killed him / her will be prosecuted, but surely it would be better to stop them in the first place? Like I said before, prevention instead of punishment.

[lalaland 10]

I admit my example of having officers there would cost more (and you could have more than one vehicle there, maybe 2 or 3 bikes would be ideal and a spotter vehicle to call in to the bikes who could then pull the vehicles over to a location and process them or something along those lines) but it would be a form of prevention instead of punishment.

 

The cameras punish but don't stop the event from happening as a camera won't chase you and stop you. Officers on the scene would do and I also think that officers on those stretches would be more of a deterrent too. You wouldn't see people slow down for the copper then speed up immediately after (admittedly this can't be done with SPECS).

[H.O.D. 10]

I'm not sure your argument is valid, lalaland.

You argue that cameras are ineffective as the perpetrator must be speeding in the first place to be punished... but surely the traffic cop solution won't be any different - the traffic cops will pull the driver over after, and only after, they were speeding...

In addition, I'd like to echo the argument of Blade1983 - the cops can only police the roadworks one law-breaker at a time.

I'd also add the increased danger to other roadusers (and workers) posed by the police car chasing the perpetrator through the roadworks to pull them over...

[Tony 10]

It's impossible to stop people speeding. Speed cameras are merely one of a suite of measures that try to provide extra safety to workers. To be honest there's not much to complain about in these circumstances.

 

Yet again on these threads I find myself pointing out the blinking obvious - people can simply slow down and not get one! That's all there is to it.

[adambaz 10]

I thought SPECS were already in use on the M1? I certainly passed through a SPECS controlled zone on the M1 the other week when going to London from Sheffield in the car and that was road works.

 

LaLa, re-read my post.

 

That is exactly what I was saying, that there are spec cameras in place on the m1 between 12 and 10, and there used to be in leciester about 3 months ago, and they work much better than static ones.

 

For the people wondering:

"This particular stretch is one of the busiest in the region, with approximately 100,000 vehicles using it every day."

 

They are even installing a sign gantry near the M18. About time I say, that portable illuminated sign is pants.

[lalaland 10]

I'm not sure your argument is valid, lalaland.

You argue that cameras are ineffective as the perpetrator must be speeding in the first place to be punished... but surely the traffic cop solution won't be any different - the traffic cops will pull the driver over after, and only after, they were speeding...

That's the difference though, where as the camera will take a photo and leave punishment for a few weeks, the Police would actually stop them. This is where the safety for the workers is, that's one less car speeding through the area.

 

In addition, I'd like to echo the argument of Blade1983 - the cops can only police the roadworks one law-breaker at a time.

I'd also add the increased danger to other roadusers (and workers) posed by the police car chasing the perpetrator through the roadworks to pull them over...

I would suggest more then one officer or vehicle per road works and as the limit would be 50mph it wouldn't be hard to have a couple of speed check points where officers could stand either side of the carriageway and flag vehicles in to a pull in point and prosecute them. This would remove the need for a chase and with careful planning when starting out the roadworks could be implemented quite easily.

 

This is just my suggestion though, I am sure there are other ways that they could think up.

[Cyclone 10]

If the cameras catch 1000 people in 4 days, then how many have the cameras dettered?

 

I'd guess it will be in excess of 100 times that amount.

 

A (very) rough estimate of traffic flow (at being 1 car per lane per 100 metres travelling at 60 mph) would give us 70k a day.

So that would be 270k in 4 days. Even if this is a vast overestimation, I'd say that the cameras have done a very good job of slowing people down. Although you'd need an un camera'd section and some stats for how many people speed through there.