Gatso Cameras

[sibanac]

Thank you mr.bastard.

That was my original point. And also why i asked what make/model GPS system you had. As very high end systems are obviously alot more accurate.

High end systems are generaly hooked upto the cars tachometer and take your speed from that.
A good installer will calibrate the GPS system better then the cars dashboard will show it and thus gps is precived to have a more accurate mesurement while in reality it is only interpreting the data provided by the car better

 

[Lazarus]

and if you cant afford a real one:

 

[Tom]

High end systems are generaly hooked upto the cars tachometer and take your speed from that.
A good installer will calibrate the GPS system better then the cars dashboard will show it and thus gps is precived to have a more accurate mesurement while in reality it is only interpreting the data provided by the car better

That reminds me, my car has a trip computer, and if you reset its average speed when in motion, if my speedo says 40mph, the average speed will say about 35-37mph. I reckon it must be the actual speedometer itself that is designed to overestimate the speed.

 

[Will]

Look, its simple physics, if you're on a bike, or you're a pedestrian, cars are a danger and they will kill you if you get in their way. If we must have bikes, cars and pedestrians occupying the same space, those most at risk should be obliged to take the most care, its their skin after all. And if you don't want pedestrians, cars and bikes to occupy the same space, ban one group or the other. And if you tax motorists to the extent that they are in the UK - people will behave like the road belongs to them - why shouldn't they? They've paid for it!

I cycle defensively, the same way I drive. But you make it sound like you'd drive away guilt-free from killing a cyclist, since they should have been looking out for you in the first place. I'm assuming you don't mean to come across like that.

I'm quite happy sharing the same space. I dislike cycle lanes a lot, they make my life harder, not easier. If I am treated like a vehicle, rather than as an intruder on the road, then I'll get on fine with any other road user.

And getting into something a wee bit pedantic, you don't pay road tax in the UK, you pay vehicle excise duty. Roads have been massively subsidised by taxes other than VED, so I've paid for them too.

 

[DaGaffer]

I cycle defensively, the same way I drive. But you make it sound like you'd drive away guilt-free from killing a cyclist, since they should have been looking out for you in the first place. I'm assuming you don't mean to come across like that.

I'm quite happy sharing the same space. I dislike cycle lanes a lot, they make my life harder, not easier. If I am treated like a vehicle, rather than as an intruder on the road, then I'll get on fine with any other road user.

And getting into something a wee bit pedantic, you don't pay road tax in the UK, you pay vehicle excise duty. Roads have been massively subsidised by taxes other than VED, so I've paid for them too.

Not entirely guilt free - the guy who valets my car would have a hell of a mess to deal with

As for "Vehicle Excise Duty", you say tomayto I say tomarto. I pay VED, VAT on the car, 'special car tax' on the car, and more than 100% duty on the petrol, plus insurance, CO2 company car tax escalator if I'm a company car driver. So I own more of the road than you.

 

[Will]

As for "Vehicle Excise Duty", you say tomayto I say tomarto. I pay VED, VAT on the car, 'special car tax' on the car, and more than 100% duty on the petrol, plus insurance, CO2 company car tax escalator if I'm a company car driver. So I own more of the road than you.

No, you don't. You are paying for the damage the car does to the roads, and for the amount of shite your car pumps out the back end. Unleaded petrol is still not good for the enviroment, unless you enjoy sucking down benzene. At least leaded petrol only caused brain damage in children, unleaded is a carcinogen for everyone. Then we've got the cost of putting back together the victims of car accidents, and the cost of policing the roads. Add in the cost of adminstering the number of cars on the road, and I'm sure there are some other things which I have forgotten.

If you really think you've paid for all that soley through the taxes on your car, I've got a nice bridge for sale, one careful lady owner.

 

[babs]

So I own more of the road than you.

Everybody drive on their own bits and they can all stfu then

Thankfully though, bikes dont have number plates on the front, so they can all fuck off

How many bike owners in your area have a badger shaped helmet though?

 

[pcg79]

But my point is that I wasnt speeding and I still got flashed by the damn thing, and if speedos always overread the cars speed and I was doing 30, then how messed up is that camera! oh well
If I get a ticket though I am gonna fight against it, and if I get points well then im buying a damn bike and not touching a car again, theyre too damn expensive!

oh well clearly thats wrong.. but im sure only a small minority of people get flashed unnecessarily

 

[nath]

I heard on the radio, so feel free to correct me if i'm talking out of my bodhi

I really hate this smiley, but it's oh so appropriate.

 

[Clown]

Heh, it looks so weird when you use it too

 

[nath]

I feel dirty.

 

[mank!]

I've lost all respect for you nath :/

 

[nath]

Right there with you, bud

 

[Athan]

The stated aim for installing speed cameras is to reduce the number of accidents on our roads. Its strange we have the same number of deaths on our roads now as we did 10 years ago, when cameras were only just starting to appear?

mode="Devil's Advocate"

Just because the accidents didn't go down doesn't mean the GATSO cameras don't have an effect of reducing accidents. Could easily be other factors that increased the accident rate.

Its a money making scheme, pure and simple. The government should use more mobile cameras, and alert drivers on the local news/radio as to their rough whereabouts. Similar schemes operate in Germany with great success.

However I would agree with this.

If we could trust people (the policemen, manufacturers and maintainers of radar equipment etc) then we could just throw speed limits out the window as being the law, and just keep the signs as advice. Well, on dual carriageways and motorways, maybe single lane out of town roads too, probly want to keep the hard limits in built up areas.
However we can't, so you can't just go to trusting that when a policeman judges someone was 'driving dangerously due to excessive speed' they're telling the truth and weren't mistaken.

Thus we end up with the crappy "tar everyone with the same brush" hard speed limits that don't allow you to lawfully exceed them if the conditions are fit for it.

-Ath, got ticketted two times driving in the states