UK car enthusiasts' struggle with the kudzu-like spread of speed cameras has been well documented, but to those outside of England, the scale and scope of the issue is hard to get one's head around without experiencing it firsthand. That said, perhaps news that an auto insurer has just authored a plan specifically designed with speed cameras might give readers some sense of the scale of the issue.
Isle of Man Assurance has just begun offering LicenseGuard to its clients for a premium. The basic gist of the package is that it covers transportation costs for one year if you have your license revoked due to speeding offenses.
According to the UK's financial times, there are 8,000 cameras in use for plate recognition, and a further 6,000 dedicated speed cameras. With nearly one million motorists a single conviction away from losing their license, it's no wonder that certain offenders are seeking out accomplices that will admit to committing speeding offenses that they didn't actually commit, paying them in cash or by favor.
[Sources: The Financial Times; Art by Andy Davey]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Fabulo @ Jun 12th 2006 12:28AM
Apparently, some people in the UK are fighting back, and they hit the state/city where it hurts.
http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm
Or maybe it's a case of self combustion.
Other solutions is not to elect the people who push that crap back up your ass.
chirsme @ Jun 12th 2006 4:16AM
helo, nice blog site
Iain @ Jun 12th 2006 4:56AM
Incase you are unaware, the picture shows the chanselor of the exchequer, Gordorn Brown, taking money from the speed camera that is meant to look like Alistair Darling, the half man half badger bastard who put the speed cameras up in the first place. If you google image search him you will understand!
tim @ Jun 12th 2006 2:39PM
I'd be pretty wary about carrying out any acts of vandalism on Gatso cameras. A good number of them will be covered by conventional CCTV and criminal damage is a rather more serious charge than speeding. What's sneakier even than Gatso cameras which are at least well signposted and luminous yellow is the SPECS system. These measure your average speed over a section of road (using automatic number plate recognition ANPR) and nick you without your even knowing it. I was done by this system 6-7 years ago at least on the Nottingham ring-road in an experimental trial section.
All normalish politicians in the UK support speed cameras Fabulo so unless we vote in total nutters we're stuck with them I'm afraid. That said, you've got to be pretty foolhardy to get caught by a coventional GATSO if you've your wits about you. The other result of widespread camera usage is that we hardly ever see traffic police in cars anymore so as long as you know where the cameras are you can drive everywhere else as fast as you like or on the pavement (sidewalk) or falling-down drunk or at the age of fourteen. Methinks this hasn't all been thought through. Contrary to what one mostly hears the cameras don't even make much of a profit for the taxpayer either.