Ohio Judge Got It Right

Off-topic Chatter
41

No, baddies in american films are always British, you guys hold a grudge :stuck_out_tongue: :bigsmile:

I do agree that speed is a scape goat and revenue earner, your definitely not exclusively in that and I just lost 3 points off my license that prove it - dual carriageway, limit used to be sixty, dropped limit to 50 and a camera van set up the same weekā€¦.

The thing is though, certainly for us brits, we know the motorist is a cash cow. Always has been, look at how they charge fuel duty. Then value added tax on fuel price + fuel duty, we get taxed twice on fuel |( then road tax, mot, compulsory insurance. They even upped the price on veg oil when it clicked you can run diesels on it.

BUT there has to be some control of speed, even as an avid speed freak I accept that. I just dont get the argument that a system set up to monitor speed is wrong. It can be operated incorrectly, which is the majority argument, but, your still speeding.

Also, weā€™re all confusing speed cameras with red light monitors, two totally seperate entities. I agree that there the authorities can stack the deck, weā€™ve had something similar recently with box junction cameras and timings.

It still boils down to, if you adhear strictly to the local road regulations, you should be ok, if you knowingly dont, you should man up and take it if you get caught.

My last points could have resulted in a ban and loss of job, months after my first son was born, I wae literally very very lucky in timing, like days between points off and points on my licence. I didnā€™t blame the authorities though, just myself.

42

That would be the same A6 I live just yards off the side of :frowning: Far to much of my life has been wasted in traffic on the stretch between Hazel Grove and the city centre, more even than I wasted in the couple of years I spent driving from Stockport up to Bolton round the 60 every day.

Shame the cameras do nothing to actually stop the real cause of the issues we have round here. Inconsiderate prats who should never have been issued a licence, and thatā€™s the ones that actually bother with such technicalities. It is insane though. In the ~1mile stretch between my home and my brothers weā€™re subjected to 3 speed cameras and an ANPR system. Add on the 5 CCTV cameras and then ask why anybody would feel fear in such an observed community.

Iā€™m a cyclist. Iā€™ve not even driven in the last 6 years. Speeding is a big issue and I can see why there are efforts to reduce speed in certain places. However, I still maintain that unsafe parking, lack of spatial awareness and an inability to judge speed of others (especially bikes that do over 20mph!) is whatā€™s going to take me out. The recent incident with the british cycling coach was only 5 minutes from my front door.

43

Itā€™s that statement that is so ironic . . . speeding that isnā€™t unsafe for conditions really isnā€™t an infraction against community good. Reasonable communities/officers allow for this.

The point of enforcement should be to make accountable those who donā€™t adjust for conditions (regardless of whether they want to take their lumps) . . not to simply parrot that speeding is speeding and generate revenue when it isnā€™t a meaningful solution to a real, material problem.

For years officers have recognized this principle and generally have had latitude to prioritize on problem drivers. Itā€™s the wrong-minded bureaucracy and political correctness mindsets that have encroached and hampered appropriately targeted enforcement (with traffic, and a LOT of other current public safety issues).

Contractors getting a cut of paper violations are exactly the wrong solution to an already bad enforcement mindset. We desperately needs to target where it is needed, instead of financially rewarding the well-connected for posted infractions that would otherwise be correctly ignored by an experienced officer. Making the correction starts with getting the average person to recognize and insist on better solutions.

As far as Iā€™m concerned, all they had to do was have the cameras adjust for average speed and get the jerks who are driving well over the pack (or really running red lights). Then stop giving them excuses to wipe away their history and have penalties grow if they donā€™t learn to adjust/behave (in all social aspects, not just driving).

PS - Havenā€™t had any points on my license (or ā€œaccidentsā€) for years and years - not from a lack of driving faster than posted limits.

44

Hey Gords, just to bring you up to speed (sorry couldnā€™t resist the pun), the authorities in places like Yorkshire and Queensland have already combined their speed and red light cams at traffic intersections : Combined Speed/Red Light Cameras in West Yorkshire - Page 1 - Yorkshire - PistonHeads UK http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/Road-safety/Camera-Detected-Offence-Program/Combined-red-light-and-speed-cameras.aspx

45

Last summer I was pulled over after speeding past an unmarked police car on a motorway. I was doing 87mph (according to the officer) After a licence check and a civilised discussion I was let off without points or a fine, because he agreed that my speed was appropriate when the weather and road conditions were taken into consideration :slight_smile: what a good chap!

If I had been clocked by a mobile speed camera (an unmarked van at the side of the road) I doubt that I would have been so lucky! The thing is, I took this as a warning to watch my speed, driving is essential for my work.

Woody

46

If you're worried about getting a ticket from one of these cameras, there's a spray that makes your plates unreadable to those cameras. Check the link below and watch the video. I'm ordering it.

47

This is a little off topic, but you may find roughly the first ten minutes to be informative.

This issue, of quotas, is far from unique to big cities.

@atbglenn - That paint, even if it works, is likely more trouble than it's worth. In fact at night, you may well find yourself getting a ticket, because a cop has trouble reading your license plate due to it being "obstructed". You can also look forward to it being an add on ticket. Whether your plate is easy to read or not, to human eyes, will be irrelevant to a judge.

48

Yep, you will get a ticket if an officer detects it.
However it may save you from more expensive camera tickets.

Around here people park illegally because the occasional fine ($20) is cheaper than the cost of the carparks. ($40 + per day)

49

$40 per day is not bad at all by NYC lot standards. The parking tickets run from $65 and up, and if they come around again, and you're still parked with a ticket, they will not hesitate to write you a second one.