New Speed Cam due in 2013

[GTDB7]

The news is a good few days old now, but if these appear then won't driving be fun :-)

Of course we should always obey the rules of the road and not do anything stupid... however with the costs involved I wish the government etc would quit targeting the easy motorist and use this sort of technology to combat street crime, such as gangs, muggings anti-social behaviour etc..

http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/04112010/36/world-s-most-...


Anyone with half a brain knows there are more effective ways to increase road safety, and cameras for the most part are simply revenue generators.

There is a significant £ value for the establishments by simply banning a driver.. re-test costs, license renewal fees, higher insurance premiums and court fines.

I'd prefer to see more technology like this around schools, for various reasons, Perverts, Traffic, Gang related violence etc.. In my mind that would benefit society much more.

[sadlerj]

Nice rant...

I see it will target Tailgating "As well as speeding, ASSET can determine if a driver is wearing a seatbelt, and measure the distance between his car and the car in front to see if he's tailgating." I'd like to see that stand up in court! What if a car pulls in front you cutting you up at the point the photo was taken..is that tailgating? No.

Will it target the middle/outside lane morons, no. Will it target inconsiderate drivers, no. Will it target people not paying attention, no. Will it target people without the intellectual capacity to drive, no.

[GTDB7]

Exactly..

Those who tend to drive dangerously most of the time seem to avoid detection, whereas those who are generally safe drivers slip up just once (they're only human after all) and the Machine slaps them down and will attempt to ban them.


And as you clearly pointed out,, I never tailgate, in fact I tend to always measure my distance by that rhyme "only a fool ....2 second rule...."

and then I add a little more,, yet leaving a safe gap invites people to cut in or undertake and cut the gap to almost half.. sure the book says to gradually slow down to regain the gap.. but in that time you either have someone else up yer jacksie or you get snapped for tailgating.

I can see many innocent folks getting penalised through this system.

They should operate like SPECS where if you tailgate over a set distance then you can get prosecuted.

But then how many accidents are waiting to happen, someone jams in front, you apply brakes, person behind runs into you.

It can and does happen :-/


I guess there is no real answer short of having a human in there to make an informed judgement at the time.

[LordBretSinclair]

GTDB7 said:

I guess there is no real answer short of having a human in there to make an informed judgement at the time.

You're right Phil. Trouble is that the powers that be have consistently over the years used the flawed excuse that new technology means traffic police manpower can be reduced. I'd much rather have to deal with an officer who can use discretion than a faceless machine which only gives "evidence" collected over a split second.