Tripod speed camera?

[Terry]

I think it's hard to have an actual discussion when people adopt certain attitudes. Members of the forum are indeed the public and as Pablo says he's only being honest about peoples perceptions. A perception may be wrong or inaccurate, but the fact that someone has that perception itself is fact.

I only got involved in the thread because it said that police officers don't hide, when clearly some people have witnessed them doing exactly that.

Then it's escalated into a debate over speed limits etc which is one that persons alot better educated / informed than us on the subject have discussed for years. I agree with alot of info in your last post though.

 

[rybo]

Fine. Sorry to be so blunt about it but we ARE out to get people who choose to speed after all the warnings & advice available.

What fuels peoples perceptions too are folk telling lies for their own agenda - like the 'I got a ticket for doing 34' brigade. I'm on this site Pablo to explain many of the things that go on behind the scenes. I want folk to base their opinions on how things really are, not how some disgruntled R driver caught diffing chooses to describe it to minimise their blame & demonise the police. I am providing an open public insight that has not been available to very many people in the past. My only agenda is road safety. But I'll not accept the rubbish that some folk want others to believe.

I'm amazed how many forum users who slag off police at every available opportunity, then send me pm's politely asking for my advice! (Which by the way is always freely given, no matter who is asking).

 

[Terry]

I'd have to say i camp on the pro-police brigade, if anything, and i think most of us take what some users may post with a pinch of salt as everyone knows people exaggerate and downplay situations to suit their own agendas sometimes.

I'm quite happy to see people from the police represented on the forum which can provide the other side of the story as well as advice etc and there's nothing wrong with a bit of healthy debate

 

[pablo]

rybo - i think you are taking me slightly wrong here. Never once did I slag off the police and compared to some sites people on this site have been pretty mature in their dealings with yourself and Avo. Obviously you get the odd disgruntled person but hey thats life, forums are great for a rant.

 

[svensktoppen]

@ 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.

"You're either doing it or you're not"

Exactly there lies the problem - 85mph on an empty motorway is (in the eyes of the law) the exact same offence as 40mph in a busy 30mph zone with pedestrians and cyclists and what have you, and the "offender" is treated in the exact same way.

But to most motorists, they are like night and day.

I know traffic police over here are much, much more lenient than most, people over here really have no idea how lucky they actually are. I also know you do a lot of other stuff quietly behind the scenes, picking off careless drivers, untaxed/uninsured cars, and what have you.

But seeing traffic branch on the bridges on the M2, or hiding in the bushes along main roads, really gives a different impression... Perception is everything.

I don't think you are lying Rybo, but neither do I think everybody else on here is. These things happen.

 

[ossy2004]

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

i agree...but people know themselves that they hide, and some crazy spots too. use peoples driveways for their cars and stick the camera out then once caught...show themselves. that aint justice!!

and the whole "We want to stop you speeding not catch you speeding" seems like a joke alot of the time!!

 

[pablo]

ossy i think youve made your point now

 

[ossy2004]

lol ok

 

[Gobsheene]

Oddest that i have seen is on the Shoreroad comming intowhite abbey.

Police were parked in the left most lane outside the British legion with sidelights on...

And what looked VERY like a hand held camera poking out a crack of the back drivers side window!
I wasnt speeding and didnt get caught, but I did think that was highly unorthodox as they were in effect blocking a lane of traffic!

 

[rybo]

Possibly ANPR.

We don't use handheld cameras for speed detection. They are either fixed or mounted within a van.

The laser devices we use have an optical scope that can be confused with a camera, but it doesn't record images - only speed readings.

 

[Graham]

seen them on ards carriageway also with a handheld camera held out the side of the car point back down the road, sneaky is what i'd call that no matter what device it is

 

[p 5ary]

unfortunately the "law" ,which the police only enforce, is set for the biggest retards on the road so we all suffer!

 

[big cyril]

@ Rybo, the members of the forum come from a variety of backgrounds, and very few are the stereotypical 'boy racer' with badly modded Corsa, baseball cap, R plate and immature attitude.
The number of responses above would suggest that at least a proportion of the public do actually think that officers involved in speed detection do hide whilst conducting speed detection.
It may be factually correct or not depending upon your viewpoint, but it is clearly the perception.

 

[Lyons]

I'm quite happy to see people from the police represented on the forum which can provide the other side of the story as well as advice etc

I dont know why, but i was just thinking about this yesterday. I think its great that rybo, avo + Brocks are involved on RMS. Most of their posts are factual, and provide information that is interesting or beneficial to us, the road user.

Looking at the Traffic Branch approach as a whole, from the views of the general public it does look like they are just out to get people. Its like the health and safety officers in work, they just walk around looking for faults then deal out punishments, never do they sit down and talk about what can be done to improve the situation. I know there are numerous ad campaigns, signs etc, but i cant help but feel theres just another approach that everyone is missing . I dont know what it is but!

I agree with the whats been mentioned before regarding laws- if you obey them, you have nothing to worry about. If not, you have to be prepared to face the concequences if caught. I dont want to come across that im an angel, but i pretty much am . I dont drive irratically, and the only time i would venture above the speed limit would be where i see appropriate given the conditions. For example, im not going to sit at 70mph on the M1 at 12.37am on a dry, clear night. In saying that i wouldnt go above 85/90mph. I know if i were stopped, given the mood of the officer i could face points, but thats my choice!

I dont like going on about it too much, but doing the Advanced Driving course a few years ago totally changed my perspective on driving.

 

[Ghost]

Oddest that i have seen is on the Shoreroad comming intowhite abbey.

Police were parked in the left most lane outside the British legion with sidelights on...

And what looked VERY like a hand held camera poking out a crack of the back drivers side window!
I wasnt speeding and didnt get caught, but I did think that was highly unorthodox as they were in effect blocking a lane of traffic!

Have to agree there, many times i have seen a grey octavia sitting with a hand out the window, at quite often at 8 or 9 when visability is poor, especially in the winter.

I also dont want to slag police off, but there is a select few who feel hiding will either make them look better? or feel better about themselves....

any time i have been stopped by the police has been positive and have drove away thinking they were dead on, but from friends and relatives who are always driving, the PERCEPTION is that there now out to catch people rather than slow them down and prevent an accident.

 

[hutchy_belfast]

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.

Policing fairly would entail speed detection method using detterence rather than detection as the main goal. You know what I mean, don't make any attempt to disguise yourself while operating the equipment. I do not resent speed detection operations as above and I welcome the education efforts and discretion, of which I have first hand experience of. As for the revenue not covering the opeartion, the police are not a private company that needs to be profitable, however, I just don't beleive that somewhere along the line there aren't targets to be met. I come to this conclusion by witnessing first hand the actions of several patrols conceeling themselves, why else do it?
Which leads me on to my next point, I cannot speak for everyone who claims to have seen a patrol "hiding" but the two instances I gave were 100% true and like I said, would take the stand and repeat them.
Im sure you are aware, that just because complaints aren't made does not mean it won't happen. in this country in particular there is a large sense of "the people vs the police" please bear in mind this is nothing close to my own standpoint, but alot of people out there don't trust the police enough to even bother complaining to them. As for higher officers complaining? I have no idea what those individuals are likely to do, in most professions however, you stick together, not that this is necessarily a negative trait, but "grassing" isn't often encouraged in any profession.
I agree with you on the last point, please see my original post, if you don't want to be caught don't speed BUT I just don't like the way the general public and lied to and patronised with the whole "we are doing this for your own good" nonsense, sometimes actions speak louder than words

 

[B A Baracus]

I REALLY do not see the problem here. I couldnt care less if the police hide, should they decide to be dressed as pensioners at a bus stop, wearing a clown suit, the list is endless.

If you speed and get caught dont moan about them hiding, dont speed in the first place.

 

[00flyboy00]

LOL...this is funny! Rybo is not going to like this......
I am also in RPU and I will place myself in a position to make the best use of equipment and in a place where motorists PASSING me will have the least oppertunity of seeing me and flashing other road users.
If you see a traffic cop you will flash to warn other drivers....and don't 1 of you think about denying it!
I think its fair that I will position myself in a place that will hinder this activity, even if it completly exposes me to the oncoming traffic.

To me....IMO.... sympathy is found in the dictonary.....usually between S Hit and S yphillus....you speed...you get caught....you get pionts....and a wee fine.

You should learn from this and not speed again, instead of bleating and moaning about HOW you got caught. I am tired of listening to people I work with having to explain themselves for other peoples actions.

I don't speed. I have a clean licence, kinda like I don't smoke so I dont have a cough....but if I did, I wouldn't blame Benson and HEDGES (like that one) for selling me the ciggies.

Folks....we hide, you flash....and speed....and on it goes.....

 

[Lyons]

I REALLY do not see the problem here.

LOL, me neither.

 

[Jason]

Glad someones being honest about it

 

[hutchy_belfast]

I REALLY do not see the problem here. I couldnt care less if the police hide, should they decide to be dressed as pensioners at a bus stop, wearing a clown suit, the list is endless.

If you speed and get caught dont moan about them hiding, dont speed in the first place.

I agree in theory, but if that was to be the case they would have to change tactics from "please dont speed because it kills and we want to stop you speedingfor your own good, not just catch you and make money to "dont speed or we will catch you, end of" It's just the whole deception and patronising nature of the whole thing that bothers me.

 

[B A Baracus]

At least im not the only one then Lyons!

And yes I DO speed on the odd occasion, ill freely admit it but should I happen to be caught (again) I wont be on mouthing about how they were hiding.

 

[Graham]

here here jason, its like when i got caught speeding the folks said "how'd you manage that"?

my response, "i seen them, never thought, dropped a cog and here i am take it like a man, and wised up since"

 

[B A Baracus]

The biggest mistake IMO was whatever clown in the Police force first made the comment that they wouldn't be hiding with cameras.

When I passed my test there was no such thing as Hi-Viz jackets or marked cars.
The only warning you had of a speed trap was 3 armed cops guarding the one with the "hairdryer"

 

[00flyboy00]

We cant hide the cameras....they come in great big liveried vans with pictures on the side....just for the hard of sight speeder.... I did request a camouflage net but didn't get anywhere with that one!

Do make myself 'less obvious' when using the laser. Don't always wear hi-vis kit, depends on where I am operating.

Don't agree with the thought that we do it as a money making activity. I do it cause I love the expression on the face of the motorist as I stand up out of my fox hole, remove the gilly suit and camouflage paint and reach into the unmarked car to pull out my pen........PRICELESS!