Tripod speed camera?

[Jason]

Was going down the b'mena dual carriageway earlier slightly above 70 and noticed the tripod standing with a officer hidin around a hedge... now i wasnt stopped or chased does that mean i will hear nothing or do they record+post out?

 

[rybo]

The officer wasn't hiding.

You were speeding.

When you stick to the facts I'll give you an answer.

 

[Cooper]

Rybo, watch you don't fall getting off your high horse now

Jason if it wasn't the camera in van type I think you'll be fine.

Andy

 

[Jason]

He was hiding, perfectly good open area he could have stood in but no the edge of a hedgeline seemed like a ideal place for him.. I was speeding slightly but i slowed down once i seen it but im jus wanting to be sure!

 

[rybo]

I'm getting tired of people trying to put down police officers wrongly in this way.

This is Ballymena RPU he's talking about. My unit. And none of them 'hide'.

If he wants to, come and show me exactly where the officer was standing & I'll deal with it.
Otherwise stop misleading people as to the way we work.

 

[Jason]

It was heading towards ballymena, the lay by before the 1st turn off for ballymena, he was at the 1st entrance in right next to the hedge with the landrover sitting out of sight, is that not hiding? I really dont care to be honest just would like to know if they send letters out or stop on the spot!

 

[rybo]

I don't think because a vehicle isn't parked out in full view of the road, you could consider that hiding.

You may not care, but I do, I'm sick to death hearing about traffic officers 'hiding' when they don't. And they all wear hi-vis clothing too. And people still speed past them.
I dare say a lot of members on this site would kick up if I referred to them as 'boy racers'. Well even though some may be, most aren't, so I keep to the facts and take care not to mislead or offend anyone.

To answer your Q - generally you would be stopped at the time, if the officers are using this equipment. In theory your reg could have been noted & a Notice of Intention to Prosecute posted, but its highly unlikely. Hopefully it will have had a deterrent effect.

 

[Jason]

I'm not slagging you guys off at all theres alot of sound ones but i would like to see more speed camera's on full display not stuck around corners/walls/hedges etc! It's pretty hard to spot one person even in hi-vis on a huge long road!

It was a tripod with a camera on top but his colleague was on the phone in the back ground and he was looking over at him too.. prob safe enuff but just to be sure!

And yes see'ing speed camera guys always has a deterrent effect!

 

[Boydie]

in reference to jasons "hiding" accusation, the first time i was stopped for speeding the officer in question was "hiding" behind a pillar and had the gun mounted on top of it with him crouching behind

the hi-vis was certainly not visible and it was only until he stepped out with the orange batton that i saw him.

hands up, i was speeding, quite quick in a 30 but i have done my 3 years and learned a lesson - just backing up jasons point.

this happened at the older timber place just before the cheese factory and after rose garden tennis courts in coleraine.

 

[hutchy_belfast]

I don't think because a vehicle isn't parked out in full view of the road, you could consider that hiding.

You may not care, but I do, I'm sick to death hearing about traffic officers 'hiding' when they don't. And they all wear hi-vis clothing too. And people still speed past them.
.

I have the utmost respect for the police and any personal dealings I have had with them have been nothing but positive, HOWEVER, I hope you are not suggesting that no traffic branch over here "hides"? Fair enough if you bleive noone in your unit does but I can assure you in goes on elsewhere.
Like I mentioned in a thread before (where my post was swiftly ignored) traffic branch operating on the Belfast- Bangor road "hide" frequently, even by your own measure.
One one particular occasion The officer had parked his bike up in the folk and transport museum and was standing behind the bus shelter under the bridge in pitch black, if that isn't hiding I don't know what is? How did I get a good look at the officer in question? I was on foot and I would swear under oath that is where he was positioned.
On another occasion at the top of the Knock dual carriagway just passed the two shell garages, traffic branch had their car parked well up the cul-de-sac out of view from the road and were bent over a member of the public maroon coloured megane with the gun on the bonnet. Don't think that's hiding? A sniper would have been proud of that spot.
I have no problem with speed being policed, if you don't like the punichment don't do the crime. But either police it fairly or quit the whole "we are doing it for your own good nonsense" Neither of those instances could possibly have acted as anything other than cash generation.

 

[106lad]

The officer wasn't hiding.

You were speeding.

When you stick to the facts I'll give you an answer.

They do hide there!

Get your facts right

 

[rybo]

But either police it fairly or quit the whole "we are doing it for your own good nonsense" Neither of those instances could possibly have acted as anything other than cash generation.

What do you mean by "police it fairly"?

There are speed limits signposted everywhere so you can't say you didn't know.
We have higher thresholds (leeway) than anywhere else in GB.
We have less fixed cameras than anywhere else in GB.
We have officers trying to educate drivers, especially within the 17-24 age group (those most involved in fatal/serious injury collisions). Millions of pounds spent on hardhitting TV ads etc.Hence the slogan about stopping you speeding rather than catching you.

But at the end of it all, those who don't heed should be caught & that is as important as any other aspect of road safety.

Some folk are of the opinion that we should spend ALL our time warning drivers to slow down. Well that may be a deterrent to a few. Penalty points are an effective deterrent to many.

Cash generation... The amount raised by our speed detection activities wouldn't even cover the operating costs, fleet mgt, & equipment etc. Its not even a consideration, despite what people would LIKE to believe. None of the fines see their way back to Traffic Units or their budgets.

'Hiding' - again this is a myth that is easy to post on a forum with no factual basis. Traffic policing is my line of work. Complaints of officers hiding are just not coming through. I'm driving about my area every day (as are more senior officers). Don't you think they'd have something to say if they saw this going on?

The bottom line is - slow down & don't speed. It doesn't matter what aspect of how you're caught you're unhappy with. When you've been nabbed its your own fault, no-one elses.

 

[Terry]

It's also easy to dismiss peoples observations as myths too. I admit alot of information is exaggerated on forums but i've seen officers literally using bushes and posts to hide behind, turned out to be the same guy and i did complain to both the sgt and the Inspector that were at the station that night.

However i completely agree with the fact if you get caught you get caught, whether they are hiding in manholes with telescopic cameras shouldn't really matter!

 

[ossy2004]

'Hiding' - I'm driving about my area every day (as are more senior officers). Don't you think they'd have something to say if they saw this going on?

are you sh-iting me??

do you not drive yourself when not working and see this for yourself? if you dont, your either blaintly lying or blind, its rare to actually see those officers on view, FACT!! (as many will back me up here)

fair enough, if ya dont speed, youve nothing to worry about, but its just so crafty that they 9/10 hide and caught you when supposely they "arent meant to be doing this"

you obviously wont agree...but we all know that hiding is a constant crafty cop move!!

 

[Cooper]

We've all seen the photo of the guy on the roundabout (thread) to see why most of the motoring public would disagree when you say

'Hiding' - again this is a myth that is easy to post on a forum with no factual basis.

Without dredging up that thread, within the eyes of those motorists on the M2 I'd say most would say he was hiding.

The branch are never going to win in the popularity stakes as long as the motoring public feel they are out to get them. And that feeling is a fact.

Andy

 

[pablo]

I think some of the problems are:

- a lot of people seem to drive like idiots but dont speed, therefore cameras,speed traps do nothing against them. They are (imo) more dangerous than people doing 85 on the M2.

- the hiding issue is real whether people report it or not. Ive seen bike cops hiding behind bus shelters. Personally Im 50/50 as the saying goes if youre speeding what does it matter how you are caught. Who really would report this anyway? I cant imagine anyone would unless caught by said cop, then its a case of you made it up to get off the fine.

- people feel targetted as police are out actively trying to trap them speeding. This seems disproportionate to catching people with no tax/insurance/banned licence etc. When was the last time you went through a police checkpoint and were asked for your licence etc?

- the speed limits dont make a lot of sense. eg the motorway speed is the same as the dual carriageway which is much more dangerous, and only 10mph difference between the safest roads (motorways) and the most lethal roads (little twisty backroads). Its hard to stick to speed limits when you think they are wrong. Personally I dont see the problem in doing 90mph on the motorway if conditions allow. My car is more than capable of it, I feel Im a good enough experienced driver to cope with it. I dont however because I dont want to get caught and get points. As opposed to thinking its wrong and dangerous.

 

[ossy2004]

yeah was gona say that, that the thread about the biker cop on the motorway roundabout was obviously HIDING!!

 

[Daisy]

Pablo, thats well presented there and totally agree with the last piece you wrote....

 

[Boydie]

- the speed limits dont make a lot of sense. eg the motorway speed is the same as the dual carriageway which is much more dangerous, and only 10mph difference between the safest roads (motorways) and the most lethal roads (little twisty backroads). Its hard to stick to speed limits when you think they are wrong. Personally I dont see the problem in doing 90mph on the motorway if conditions allow. My car is more than capable of it, I feel Im a good enough experienced driver to cope with it. I dont however because I dont want to get caught and get points. As opposed to thinking its wrong and dangerous.

i feel exactly the same!

i read a report where a lawyer/porsche turbo driver was pulled for doing 120 on the motorway in england late at night

fair enough he was doing a ridiculous speed but he decided to take this to court

at court he argued that his car was capable of doing 190-200mph and stop very very well from that speed so 120mph was just a snip of what the car could really do

he argued against a 1.0 metro whos top speed is say 90mph so motorway driving up to 75-80mph is nearing its max speed and was comparing the safety issues

i cant remember it in depth but that is the jist - imo cars are becoming a lot safer with better equipment, handling and braking therefore, at least on the m'way, speed limits should increase during certain hours!

 

[pablo]

in fairness tho the capability of the car is only half the story, the bod in the drivers seat being the other half.

 

[Terry]

in fairness tho the capability of the car is only half the story, the bod in the drivers seat being the other half.

This is true but then they still like to quote the stopping distances etc stated in the highway code that, to my knowledge, haven't been updated in years anyway.

 

[rybo]

@ Pablo. Lol at police actively trying to trap people speeding. How can anyone but you & your own right foot make you speed? You're either doing it or you're not. Don't try to blame anyones speeding on police.

The only people targetted are those who break the speed limit. This keeps going round in circle after circle. Those who obey the speed limits have nothing to worry about - cops 'hiding', hi-vis clothing, wrong road, braking distances etc etc etc.

My car is not only capable of 90 on the motorway, its capable of crashing into things, making a terrible mess & killing people. I wonder how you'd cope at 90 when a fox or badger runs out in front of you. Not to mention horses, cows, swans, tractors, cyclists or people. Yes I've had to deal with ALL of these things on the motorway. Planks of wood, lorry tyres, exhaust systems, bags of coal the list goes on & on. If you'd ever witnessed even the aftermath of a smash at motorway speeds you would not be advocating higher speed limits. Yes you might think 90 is Ok & for some careful competent drivers who maintain full concentration on the road, and in the right road conditions, visibility etc, it is. But there are too many IFs there to just raise the speed limit in my opinion. Too many bad drivers who can't even cope with existing laws to even consider raising the limits. And to achieve what? At most, on a clear road, reduced journey time of less than 5 mins. Its a recipe for disaster.

There are quite a few laws I don't particularly like or agree with. Tough. I'm left with a choice of whether to break them or not. I choose not to. If I didn't & get caught, its my fault - no-one elses & I wouldn't bleat about it. Or how they caught me. If I feel strongly about something being so wrong, I'd try to get it changed.

 

[pablo]

No offense but its that kind of attitude that puts people off. Im only trying to be honest and lay out what I think people are atually thinking.

In peoples day to day business whats the largest police presence they see? traffic branch trying to catch them speeding. Now before you get all humpy with me I *know* that lots of things go on behind the scenes that we dont know about but we are talking about perception here.

To add to this persecution complex people have you have the police hiding in order to catch people out, while on the other hand saying "We want to stop you speeding not catch you speeding"

In the interests of a debate you should be open minded to the public views and imo thats what the public are thinking.

As I said above people know the rules and if they choose to break them should be prepared to suffer the consequences. Also at the end of the day every car IS a deadly weapon but imo current tactics are fuelling the "out to get us" perception

 

[ossy2004]

speeding is wrong, so is hiding!!

 

[Eager]

In my opinion, that pic above isnt really hiding. There are police that do properly hide, he is just resting his ass.