UK police admit almost half of all speed cameras are off
We all know the drill. You see a speed camera, you slow down, you look at the camera, you check your speedometer and look for the camera again. But in the UK at least, reports now indicate that nearly half of the 1,000 speed cameras installed are entirely inactive.Because many of the cameras installed in the UK during the 1990s failed to meet transportation department criteria for deployment, some 40% were immediately decommissioned. However, the boxes that house them are still there, even though many of them are empty altogether. Motorist groups are lobbying to have the inactive devices removed, citing them as a dangerous roadside distraction, but the government insists that whether they're in use or not, the visible presence of the camera boxes keep drivers' speeds in check.
[Source: The Daily Mail, Photo by SHAUN CURRY/AFP/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mobius_1 4:14PM (1/01/2009)
The thought of losing precious £ is enough of an incentive to slow down.
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Hike15 4:18PM (1/01/2009)
someone should make a website mapping out which ones actually work...its a quick way to make some money and help others save money
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Blackstar 8:03PM (1/01/2009)
Oh maybe people could, oh I don't know... drive the speed limit?
Better yet, they don't need less of these boxes they need more. Put up thousands of cheaper camera cases that look active everywhere so drivers are not ever out of range of one. I like that idea.
If people stopped trying to make up time on the roads and simply managed their own time better, allowing more time to get to and from where they need to be, we all would be better off.
Sebastien 4:34PM (1/01/2009)
Why don't they spray paint on the ones that are not working. Then the Government will take it out for been an eye sore
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Foomiqua 4:45PM (1/01/2009)
They should spray paint the ones that ARE working. Right on the front, over the lens.
sebastien 4:51PM (1/01/2009)
That would result in been fixed or replaced. Whereas if it's already not in use, they'll just take out because it's cheaper to do so.
Reader 4:56PM (1/01/2009)
Then it seems the quickest solution would be to spray paint on all of them, that way the non-working ones are taken out and the working ones are replaced.
Mike 7:59PM (1/01/2009)
AND READER WINS WITH THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!! GOVERNMENT VANDALISM!!!! YAY!!!!!
WeX 5:04PM (1/01/2009)
In Sweden there has to be an operator checking the cameras that are turned on, and thus not all cameras are on. But you still break, even though i would guess that it's less than 50/50 that it's turned on.
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MGBYG 7:02PM (1/01/2009)
Some have put a tyre full of petrol around the neck and sparked:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/25/2509.asp
http://english.controleradar.org/burning-gatso.php
I don't condone violence, but that's vandalism with a purpose!
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dukeisduke 8:39PM (1/01/2009)
More Big Brother crap. Knock them all down.
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ls1vette 9:28PM (1/01/2009)
Blackstar
8:03PM (1/01/2009)
Oh maybe people could, oh I don't know... drive the speed limit?
Better yet, they don't need less of these boxes they need more. Put up thousands of cheaper camera cases that look active everywhere so drivers are not ever out of range of one. I like that idea.
If people stopped trying to make up time on the roads and simply managed their own time better, allowing more time to get to and from where they need to be, we all would be better off.
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Sounds like you need to grow some balls, about the stupidest comment I have seen here yet.
Speeds set are not for safety, it's for revenue pure and simple.
Here is the USA where real cars are made we have Open Road Races for as much as 120 miles distance through mountain roads with "caution 35 MPH" in blind off camber decreasing turns and we run them at 130 to 150 MPH with totally stock cars with no problems.
Sure if your driving some 4 banger with fart pipes I can see where anything over 50 MPH is a big deal but the answer is not low speed limits, buy a real car, and not some TOY ota.
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Pierre Lourens 10:28PM (1/01/2009)
Avoid being rude; it just makes you look worse.
Instead, consider where he might be coming from. Sure, we are all driving enthusiasts and nothing beats going fast, but I, for one, am glad speed limits currently exist. With all the lousy, phone-addicted drivers on the road these days, I am glad that they can't go much faster than 10mph over the speed limit.
Imagine, if you will, a soccer mom. On the phone, yelling at her kids, drinking coffee, and going 80mph on a secondary road. She simply would not have as much control as she would at 45mph. If you respect yourself and your vehicle, I'd suggest that you stop disrespecting others and learn that not all rules are inherently bad.
That being said, nothing beats going 40 over on a country road where no other drivers are around. But we are talking about urban and suburban situations, so that country road doesn't apply anyway ;).
catfish 11:44PM (1/01/2009)
I for one am a fan of letting the soccer mom who does 80 while drinking coffee and talking on her phone while doing her make-up on a back road weed herself out of the gene pool.
People like that do not belong on the road, at any speed. Speed limits as a safety aspect are a crutch for poor and distracted driving.
Blackstar 11:11AM (1/02/2009)
ls1vette
9:28pm (1/01/2009)
Sounds like you need to grow some balls, about the stupidest comment I have seen here yet.
Speeds set are not for safety, it's for revenue pure and simple.
Here is the USA where real cars are made we have Open Road Races for as much as 120 miles distance through mountain roads with "caution 35 MPH" in blind off camber decreasing turns and we run them at 130 to 150 MPH with totally stock cars with no problems.
Sure if your driving some 4 banger with fart pipes I can see where anything over 50 MPH is a big deal but the answer is not low speed limits, buy a real car, and not some TOY ota.
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ls1vette
9:28pm (1/01/2009)
Sounds like you need to grow some balls, about the stupidest comment I have seen here yet.
Speeds set are not for safety, it's for revenue pure and simple.
Here is the USA where real cars are made we have Open Road Races for as much as 120 miles distance through mountain roads with "caution 35 MPH" in blind off camber decreasing turns and we run them at 130 to 150 MPH with totally stock cars with no problems.
Sure if your driving some 4 banger with fart pipes I can see where anything over 50 MPH is a big deal but the answer is not low speed limits, buy a real car, and not some TOY ota.
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(Facepalm)
No, the stupidest comment ever is the one I just read.
(Sigh)
You honestly think the speed limits around the world are set up merely to generate revenue streams for the governments and ruling bodies around the globe? I think you've seen one X-Files episode too many.
ORR's have absolutely, positively, NOTHING to do with topic at hand. Nothing. Siting the Big Bend Open Road Race Fort Stockton, TX or the Bonniville 100 on Highway 93A Wendover, NV or the Pony Express 130 State Highway 305 Battle Mountain, NV, any other ORR's in the USA as an example of why speed cameras on congested roads and public spaces is beyond moronic. That's like saying that because NASCAR drivers can go 150, I should be able to as well wherever I want. Building or purchasing a fast car, does not make the world your personal race track, no matter how much you think it should.
ORR's like these I've mentioned are approved by the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and are conducted on closed Nevada highways. Nobody is on the course except the participants. All of which have comprehensive safety rules and a large staff of professional personnel monitoring the course and it's participants. Your top speed is determined by your vehicle’s safety equipment and your experience level. Not to mention they have a rule book over 50 pages long of requirements that have to be met before allowing entry. Now, unless you are advocating that public roads also should also follow these strict guidelines and should also be staffed by safety personnel to allow the maximum speeds to be increased, your argument is a specious one at best, completely asinine at worst.
Not that what I drive has anything to do with anything, as I mentioned above, I drive a Merc. But I don't intentionally speed with it or put people, the public or my passengers at risk in it. People who need to drive fast to prove the size of their 'manhood' are simply compensating for having a tiny genitals anyway. One of the great joys about having normal sized testis is I don't have to think with them all the time. One can be a car enthusiast and still know something about responsibility. Not all of us speak or behave like spoiled children who think the rules don't apply to them because they don't agree with them.
dave 1:45AM (1/02/2009)
You'd be in favor of that, until she hits one of your family members in her Ford Excursion, walks away from the accident no problem, and that person is dead. Gone forever.
I know a lot of kids like to get in on those whole rEVOLution and revival of libertarianism, but listen, not every single thing the government does is with the intent of oppression. Speed Cameras might not be a good idea, but many cars simply are not SAFE at over 80 or 90 mph, especially on tight roads. Speed Limits are a good idea.
Sure, we're enthusiasts here and we love fast cars with 700 hp and 1000 lb-ft of torque, but that's not what public roads are for. They are for getting people from point A to point B safely. Not everyone can drive at 120mph safely. Maybe you can in your corvette, but Jimmy T. Ricer will KILL SOMEONE in his Honda Civic with 300,000 miles on it. No, he won't be removed from the gene pool. He'll walk away unscathed, but that somebody who gets hit for walking on the sidewalk could be YOU.
Racetracks are for racing. Public roads are not.
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Blackstar 9:27AM (1/02/2009)
Amen to that brother.
Kitko 2:58AM (1/02/2009)
What else is new? That's a known fact, all partnerships have the info on their websites. A camera on Kings Road can operate for 2 weeks and be off for tje next two while a camera in the parallel street will become live. The point is a dead camera does not act as money maker, it's only a preventive measure.
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Pierre Lourens 11:35PM (1/02/2009)
Well said, Dave.
Pointing out the endangerment of others is important, because too many terrible drivers walk away from fatal accidents with barely a bruise. We'd see even more of this without responsible legislation and speed limits.
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