Speed Trap A34 Kingsway
Discussion
Southbound (out of Mcr) between Parrswood entertainment complex and the A560 junction, just before A34 goes to 3 lanes for filter-in from M60. 2-30pm today (Thursday). 2-manned gun well hidden behind bushes etc as road has a slight left-hand curve.
40 mph limit.
Have a nice day
2 cars pulled as I went past
40 mph limit.
Have a nice day
2 cars pulled as I went past
Typical! And where there aren't any pedestrians as well! I take it you mean where the old Barnes Hospital is Andy?
Why exactly do they feel the need to hide, I wonder!?
Were there any speed camera signs (as required) a good distance before the actual camera and sad individuals operating it?
I don't seem to remember there being any mention of this camera in the 'press release' for the next 6 months. It was supposed to be further north around the Didsbury / Burnage border where there are plenty of people living! Surely this area makes more sense as a camera site if they wish us to believe their "saving people's lives" spiel. Rather than a sparsely populated area over the brow of a hill, hide in the bushes near motorway junctions location! Maximising revenue collection? I think so!!!!!
Disgraceful.Why do you never see them out in the rain when it is far more dangerous to speed, after all they give them Noddy hats and capes to wear.
In my country the speed limit automatically reduces in wet weather!!That seems far more sensible if safety is an issue, not hiding in bushes and ripping someone off for a few mph over the limit on a dry road
In my country the speed limit automatically reduces in wet weather!!That seems far more sensible if safety is an issue, not hiding in bushes and ripping someone off for a few mph over the limit on a dry road
It wasn't a scamera van, it was two real genuine proper traffic police (yes they still exist!!) with a marked Volvo parked up the entrance to the old hospital.
By the looks of things they were actually pulling people they'd lasered and hopefully educating them rather than issuing tickets (unlikely I know - what with all this bad weather they'll be well down on their monthly targets).
The real point is that where they'd set up camp isn't an accident blackspot - as you say, further into town through Burnage is where fatalities occur - where the houses are right onto the road
not 200 yards from the nearest house, on a stretch of road where any accidents are likely to be a result of merging the M60 off ramp with the A34 right at a set of (camera'd) traffic lights.
Anyway, hope anyone travelling thru tonight is now aware the laser may still be there
By the looks of things they were actually pulling people they'd lasered and hopefully educating them rather than issuing tickets (unlikely I know - what with all this bad weather they'll be well down on their monthly targets).
The real point is that where they'd set up camp isn't an accident blackspot - as you say, further into town through Burnage is where fatalities occur - where the houses are right onto the road
not 200 yards from the nearest house, on a stretch of road where any accidents are likely to be a result of merging the M60 off ramp with the A34 right at a set of (camera'd) traffic lights.
Anyway, hope anyone travelling thru tonight is now aware the laser may still be there
Actually, two reasons for that site, a few fatal RTC's over the years and also it is an 'area of community concern' which basically means that the local residents have complained to either the Police or local council regarding the speed of vehicles on that road. Mind you if you can't see two/three coppers in high viz jackets and slow down in time you have got serious problems with your observation skills, so perhaps slowing down might be a good idea. They were, just for the record not 'hiding in bushes' either.
>> Edited by john robson on Friday 10th September 23:34
>> Edited by john robson on Friday 10th September 23:34
john robson said:
Actually, two reasons for that site, a few fatal RTC's over the years and also it is an 'area of community concern' which basically means that the local residents have complained to either the Police or local council regarding the speed of vehicles on that road. Mind you if you can't see two/three coppers in high viz jackets and slow down in time you have got serious problems with your observation skills, so perhaps slowing down might be a good idea. They were, just for the record not 'hiding in bushes' either.
>> Edited by john robson on Friday 10th September 23:34
So no real reasond for that site then
Some tosspots with no knowlege of anything conjugate the verb to talk bollocks and we have to put up with revenue collection. When are these idiots going to get real? The A34 is giving us a clue in its name
Its a
main road thingy, wassaname
Ie for the purposes of transport, not kids doing running thingy or a playstreet.
Clue: If you live there and dont like cars going past your house, you made a bad decision you are in fact a moron.
Best solution,
Move, Move MOVE MOVE YOU WNAKEWRS
john robson said:
Actually, two reasons for that site, a few fatal RTC's over the years and also it is an 'area of community concern' which basically means that the local residents have complained to either the Police or local council regarding the speed of vehicles on that road. Mind you if you can't see two/three coppers in high viz jackets and slow down in time you have got serious problems with your observation skills, so perhaps slowing down might be a good idea. They were, just for the record not 'hiding in bushes' either.
Fair enough John, a few fatalities on that portion of the road. But one of the points I was trying to make was that there was no statement to say that they would be there in the official release of information a few months back. In addition to this, I have yet to see any activity where they said they would be ie further north on the A34 around Burnage. Believe you me, there have been a fair few RTC's on that stretch over the last few years. However, I'll stick my neck out and state that the vast majority of them were probably attributable to pedestrians crossing the road (not using the pedestrian crossings) without any due care and observation rather than excessive speed from a vehicle. On a straight and open road it beggars belief how a pedestrian can be knocked down.
Evidently our observation skills cannot be that poor. After all the thread would not exist without it.
The following day they were on the northbound stretch at the bottom of the hill leading down from Barnes, as they have been before, catching those majority who do over 40mph in that stretch between Gatley and where they were located. Why are vehicles travelling faster on that stretch? Because it is not a residential area, has link roads on and off the motorway and looks like a motorway. Why is the camera at that location? To collect revenue.
However, I do applaud any officer who prefers to stop and educate a driver on such a stretch of road. But they would be more effective if they did this in residential areas where they could also educate pedestrians of all ages in how and where to cross a road.
Richard
jr said:
Actually, two reasons for that site, a few fatal RTC's over the years and also it is an 'area of community concern' which basically means that the local residents have complained to either the Police or local council regarding the speed of vehicles on that road. Mind you if you can't see two/three coppers in high viz jackets and slow down in time you have got serious problems with your observation skills, so perhaps slowing down might be a good idea. They were, just for the record not 'hiding in bushes' either.
The reason for posting this originally was to inform people that the safest part of the A34 (ie least populated part of kingsway from fallowfield through burnage/didsbury and almost into gatley - a total of several miles of 40mph limits) was being targetted presumably as an accident blackspot.
It isn't, it can't be - there are no hazards, side roads, anything there, unless you count the numpties filtering in from the M60 and trying to cut across three lanes of traffic to turn right onto the A560. It may well be 'an area of community concern', but even with my obviously useless observational skills nobody lives there
There are no houses within 200 yards, unless you count the ones the other side of kingsway or the few big houses nearer the traffic lights.
The police Volvo was hidden up the entrance to the hospital, and the policeman with the tripod and natty-looking hairdryer was on the pavement next to the bushes, on a lefthand curve in the road, so, no technically he wasn't hidden in the bushes, but from a distance would appear to be so. I'll give you that one
If you wanted to do something constructive about speeding child-murdering greenhouse-gas-emitting granny-maiming motorists, do it where the accidents occur, and where the serious speeding occurs - through the ex-council house areas where the houses meet the road is where I would target. There was a ten or thirteen year old lad who tragically died recently in burnage while crossing kingsway at ten o'clock at night (with his similarly-aged cousin) for a pizza - that is the area that the police should clamp down on - the areas of denser population. Education not alienation is the key. I hope the officers I saw were doing just that, rather than filling the coffers with peoples money and licences/livelihoods.
Figures may be twisted to show the specific area targetted is dangerous, but in reality I very much doubt it. Just my opinion. I don't speed along kingsway (ricardinho keep quiet
)Remember - speed kills. I read it in the paper so it must be true. >> Edited by andy43 on Saturday 11th September 11:34
I would love to have this conversation with you, in person, as I am sure it would be a good debate. I have only glanced through the posts but I am somewhat concerned re your lack of regard for peoples lives. I don't know how many fatal/ serious accidents you have witnessed or come across, but they do involve real people, with real families who have to cope with life afterwards.
Yes the A34 is a big wide main road, but what speed is realistic along there. From the comments I see here you seem to think it should be treated as a motorway with a 70 mph limit. Forget where the houses are kids have friends, they walk and cycle places, they need to cross roads in the course of that, unfortunatly they do not judge speeds and distances as well as older folks, they sometimes wrongly asume cars are doing 30 mph when they run across roads, if by chance that car is doing 50 mph it would almost certainly kill them.
The example given with the child crossing the road for a pizza is a typical example, but equally he or other children could be crossing anywhere. The majority of accident hotspots are junctions, speed is occasionally a factor but not always at these locations.
If people drive at a reasonable speed and sharpen up there observation skills they will not have a problem with cameras or traffic cops. If you don't see the cop with the laser on a tripod then what chance would you have seeing the potential hazard
Yes the A34 is a big wide main road, but what speed is realistic along there. From the comments I see here you seem to think it should be treated as a motorway with a 70 mph limit. Forget where the houses are kids have friends, they walk and cycle places, they need to cross roads in the course of that, unfortunatly they do not judge speeds and distances as well as older folks, they sometimes wrongly asume cars are doing 30 mph when they run across roads, if by chance that car is doing 50 mph it would almost certainly kill them.
The example given with the child crossing the road for a pizza is a typical example, but equally he or other children could be crossing anywhere. The majority of accident hotspots are junctions, speed is occasionally a factor but not always at these locations.
If people drive at a reasonable speed and sharpen up there observation skills they will not have a problem with cameras or traffic cops. If you don't see the cop with the laser on a tripod then what chance would you have seeing the potential hazard
jr said:
Yes the A34 is a big wide main road, but what speed is realistic along there. From the comments I see here you seem to think it should be treated as a motorway with a 70 mph limit.
No. The 40mph limit is about right for the A34 from the roundabout at fallowfield right thru to gatley. But doing 40 in the wet, in traffic, over the hump in the road approaching the f'field roundabout is plain stupid, for instance. An observant 60 at 3 in the morning in certain areas could be ok. Crap driving, and inattentiveness cause accidents. Speed can be a factor, stupidity is more usually the cause. Education is the answer, plain and simple - I've been caught speeding a total of three times - once receiving a pic of my car in the post with a NIP, and twice face-to-face with a traffic cop - this is by far the best way to give bad drivers a kick up the proverbial - I can still picture both officers faces and what they thought of me ten years down the line. It works, plain and simple. The officers I saw were stopping people, hopefully to give them a verbal kicking rather than a piece of paper.
What made me post the original post was the fact that I'm local to that stretch of road, and I've a rough idea of where accidents have occurred 'cos I read the papers. Where the speedtrap was isn't the right place.
The tragedy in burnage indicates the problem - the driver responsible didn't stop - a hit-and-run. Finding him and stringing him up isn't enough - I'm a father twice over and can't even begin to imagine the pain the boys parents must feel, or the feelings of the traffic cop having to break the news to them.
That area is where the police should be if they want to target the A34, pulling people for undertaking, jumping lights, doing u-turns on such a main road etc etc.
jr said:
If people drive at a reasonable speed and sharpen up there observation skills they will not have a problem with cameras or traffic cops. If you don't see the cop with the laser on a tripod then what chance would you have seeing the potential hazard
Totally agree. Problem is, they now use laser cameras apparently - as soon as the cop sees you through the viewfinder, you're busted. 'Observation' is too late. 'Reasonable speed' depends on which area of the country you're in - there's no way of knowing what threshhold a radar trap is set at. Only sure-fire way of avoiding points is sticking to the speed limit - rather than driving according to the conditions and visibility you can spend all your time staring mindlessly at the speedo or off into the middle distance like pwig (no offence meant
), hoping to spot the camera before it spots you. Not good for improving observational skills or responses in my view. The americans are at where we are heading, all driving mindlessly at 55 mph, chewing on burgers and scrawling on their dash mounted clip-on note pads, all keeping exactly at the speed limit. Not good. >> Edited by andy43 on Saturday 11th September 19:43
I just plain disagree
We have far more prioroties than this nonsense. We have to sort out terrorism. We have to fix the failing education system. We have the health service that is good in parts and the management is crap. We have morons creating pressure groups to do stupid things. We have scameraships. We have a civil service which has 99% inefficiency. We have a hippie in charge of the country and his wife has a gob bigger than a letterbox. We need to sort out the benefit system so scum dont benefit.
THe A34 should by now be a motorway and I have quite happily done 140 150 down there in certain conditions get a bloody grip people its a goddam road FFS. There should be no need to cross the damn thing anyway its all jaywalking as far as I am concerned, go in the car you tossers if you dont have a car get a job you lazy bastards.
We have far more prioroties than this nonsense. We have to sort out terrorism. We have to fix the failing education system. We have the health service that is good in parts and the management is crap. We have morons creating pressure groups to do stupid things. We have scameraships. We have a civil service which has 99% inefficiency. We have a hippie in charge of the country and his wife has a gob bigger than a letterbox. We need to sort out the benefit system so scum dont benefit.
THe A34 should by now be a motorway and I have quite happily done 140 150 down there in certain conditions get a bloody grip people its a goddam road FFS. There should be no need to cross the damn thing anyway its all jaywalking as far as I am concerned, go in the car you tossers if you dont have a car get a job you lazy bastards.
Easy there Nonners! john said:How exactly did you come to this conclusion?
...but I am somewhat concerned re your lack of regard for peoples lives.
john said:A few. One 'came across' me in a flat spin along the pavement after flying off the bonnet of a car at Parrswood (when I was a schoolboy). I will never forget the experience (as I'm sure he and his family won't) and can still remember the chill that surrounded me as he lay still for what seemed minutes before he regained consciousness. Luckily he survived and made a full recovery.
I don't know how many fatal/ serious accidents you have witnessed or come across, but they do involve real people, with real families who have to cope with life afterwards.
Anyway, to the facts.... he ran across the road without looking straight into the path of a (legal speed) car. Could have used the footbridge but didn't.
This happens far too often and is the main reason why pedestrians get knocked down on Kingsway. That lad who died getting a pizza, surely wasn't looking either. Also he and his cousin (like so many other locals) could have walked 80 yards more to a dedicated crossing point at the junction. Very rarely have i seen flowers etc at a junction on Kingsway - they are usually a fair distance away, as above. You don't need to speed to kill somebody; pedestrians actions/inactions can do it for themselves. I agree the guy who didn't stop should be strung up for it. I suspect he was not insured/MOT'd etc. These are the people who need to be stopped; not drivers driving with respect to road and conditions.
john said:Au contraire, i was merely stating that people drive faster in that section because it is unpopulated and connects to the motorway. I did not say or think that it should be treated as a motorway with a 70mph limit. 50mph would be much better. How many people do you see crossing the road in that area?! Nobody needs to because it goes from nowhere to nowhere. You can't walk on the northbound stretch because there's no pavement and there are motorway slip roads. On the southbound stretch there's a subway. In fact I'm sure the Police would warn anyone who tries to cross, not to! Hence the provision of (deserted) subway. There are better places to walk.
From the comments I see here you seem to think it should be treated as a motorway with a 70 mph limit. Forget where the houses are kids have friends, they walk and cycle places,
john said:I echo andy43's comments on this. In addition I object that my level of observation is being degenerated by the fact that I am increasingly spending more time looking at my speedo, when I should be looking for potential hazards on the road and pavement. This does not mean I cannot control my speed. I am spending a disproportionate amount of time on that aspect of driving which detracts from the far more important aspect of hazard awareness.
If people drive at a reasonable speed and sharpen up there observation skills they will not have a problem with cameras or traffic cops. If you don't see the cop with the laser on a tripod then what chance would you have seeing the potential hazard
nonegreen said:
I just plain disagree
We have far more prioroties than this nonsense. We have to sort out terrorism. We have to fix the failing education system. We have the health service that is good in parts and the management is crap. We have morons creating pressure groups to do stupid things. We have scameraships. We have a civil service which has 99% inefficiency. We have a hippie in charge of the country and his wife has a gob bigger than a letterbox. We need to sort out the benefit system so scum dont benefit.
THe A34 should by now be a motorway and I have quite happily done 140 150 down there in certain conditions get a bloody grip people its a goddam road FFS. There should be no need to cross the damn thing anyway its all jaywalking as far as I am concerned, go in the car you tossers if you dont have a car get a job you lazy bastards.
You've really excelled yourself with that post Nonners....
Only 150??? Were the brakes binding on your Porsche????......
Wacky Racer said:
I just plain disagree
We have far more prioroties than this nonsense. We have to sort out terrorism. We have to fix the failing education system. We have the health service that is good in parts and the management is crap. We have morons creating pressure groups to do stupid things. We have scameraships. We have a civil service which has 99% inefficiency. We have a hippie in charge of the country and his wife has a gob bigger than a letterbox. We need to sort out the benefit system so scum dont benefit.
THe A34 should by now be a motorway and I have quite happily done 140 150 down there in certain conditions get a bloody grip people its a goddam road FFS. There should be no need to cross the damn thing anyway its all jaywalking as far as I am concerned, go in the car you tossers if you dont have a car get a job you lazy bastards.
You've really excelled yourself with that post Nonners....
Only 150??? Were the brakes binding on your Porsche????......
Nah I was just chillin.
nonegreen-on-a-mission said:
main road thingy, wassaname
Ie for the purposes of transport, not kids doing running thingy or a playstreet.
Clue: If you live there and dont like cars going past your house, you made a bad decision you are in fact a moron.
THe A34 should by now be a motorway and I have quite happily done 140 150 down there in certain conditions get a bloody grip people its a goddam road FFS. There should be no need to cross the damn thing anyway its all jaywalking as far as I am concerned, go in the car you tossers if you dont have a car get a job you lazy bastards
Best posts I've read on here in months
There's nothing like a balanced arguement You want to get the heat exchangers checked out on the Beetle - could be leaking gases into the cabin again
Very interesting stuff. Look on the bright side, only a few tickets were given out that day, all were for well over the speed limit, but the hundreds of motorists that saw the cops there will certainly be paying more attention when they drive along the A34.
>> Edited by john robson on Monday 13th September 12:13
>> Edited by john robson on Monday 13th September 12:13
john robson said:
Very interesting stuff. Look on the bright side, only a few tickets were given out that day, all were for well over the speed limit, but the hundreds of motorists that saw the cops there will certainly be paying more attention when they drive along the A34.
>> Edited by john robson on Monday 13th September 12:13
16 burglaries and 12 muggings took place at the same time no doubt but nothing will come of them. Its about time we demanded a police force that targets criminals not motorists and request that when pressure groups demand action against speeding motorists they be charged with wasting police time and banged up. Whole damn thing is a bloody disgusting waste of my money pwig said:
I dont get it, we moan about cameras saying there should be more traffic cops, and when we get traffic cops we moan they should be out catching burglars.
Johnny, I remember when there were loads of traffic cops long before you were born. They were a damn pain in the arse then as they would be now. I do not want more traffic cops I am quite capeable of looking after myself. Put the whole lot of em on the beat or gardening leave as far as I am concerned. Traffic cops make no difference to the number of accidents anyway they only serve to sweep up the aftermath. We do not need to pay people that much to push a broom. When I was your age I, like you, used to go out for very late night drives and in those days invariable got pulled on suspicion of drinking and driving (For this read "Jesus did you see that bugger?" ) I was pulled up every week without fail for more than 2 years and they only ever made one charge stick. (less than a 1% success rate! Transpose that to your job?
). The bottom line was the little w*nker class 1 drivers could not really catch me despite having superior machinery and it annoyed them, particularly because my observation skills were good enough to spot them usually before they spotted me. 25 years on and with more than 1 million miles covered (the police kill someone every half million btw) I still have no time for them. There is no need to persecute the motorist most of us behave very well considering we have to put up with the manifestation of the anti car policies created by the liberal mentally ill. Gassing Station | North West | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff