Are speed camera's dangerous?

[MikeyC]

Are they causing more accidents now they're in place than they are before they were there? I only ask, because on my journey home today, at each speed camera I passed, I saw many, many skidmarks leading up to the painted white lines in the road.....

[Reevo8]

I was wondering the same, as whenever I didnt notice a speed camera until last minute I would slam on the brakes to stop getting flashed! In the wet and me and the bike would be intropduced to a cars front bumper!
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05 ZX10R, (**05 WKR)

[Kickstart]

Hi

Cameras everywhere. Deaths have ceased to go down and have now started to go up despite cars getting safe.

Simply put I would say they do no good at all, and can certainly cause local problems as well as pushing traffic onto quieter but more dangerous roads to avoid the cameras.

All the best

Keith
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[Chriss]

I've seen quite a few people locking thier brakes in an uncontrolled attempt to slow down. I think it's mainly caused by people going at an excessive speed, sometime without realising, checking thier speed, realising their speed's crept up and panic braked.

Edit: There's a speed camera near a school in Birchington, and the years before there was a speed camera, several children had died, hit by cars. Now there's cameras, even less have been hit, let alone killed. However, now I'm looking at my speedo rather than looking out for kids. I know I shouldn't be worried about my speed as I'm not intenionally speeding etcetc, but I can't help but check.
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[mchaggis]

There was £2m issued in speeding fines last year;road fatalities did not move a bit, according to a Ford safety dude I spoke to a week or two ago.
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[White Noise]

there have been a few times while riding/driving that i look down to check my speed before going through one and in that split second the road situation ahead has changed and caught me out, i haven't had an accident as a result but a few close calls. i think that there is an arguement that i should be further behind the car in front but its happened with pedestrians stepping out!
don't like it as it does make you not concerntrate on the road ahead and more about your speed. don't know if there has been any studies into if, but if the findings where against speed camera's i'm sure that it would be kept very quiet!
WN
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[MikeyC]

Speaking from experience, I know when i'm approaching a speed camera, I look down to see what speed i'm doing... so for a split second, i'm taking my eyes off the road, to double check i'm not exceeding the limit.... that surely cannot be a good thing... I'm pretty sure i'm not alone in doing this either!

[Chriss]

I belive somewhere in Canada, they got rid of all thier speed cameras. Not sure why, but in England, I'm sure they're here to stay. Anyone else noticed that you hear people all the time say "If you don't speed you've got nothing to worry about with speed cameras", however, 90% who say that don't drive/ride?
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[ash t]

Alot of speed cameras are in dangerous places. Speed cameras on open roads through countryside are just not neccessary. i know of some which are on beginnings/exits of bends, and would have/have caused major brown pants moments when i have had to slow down for them. yes you could say i shouldnt be speeding, but its open road, you dont expect to see a camera, its not unreasonable to be doing 70-80 mph on an open country road is it???
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[mchaggis]

[MikeyC]

I thought they had to be placed in places which were proven accident blackspots? Ones been put up on a dual carriageway near me, its in the middle of a flat straight stretch of road with no junctions/exits nearby. It wasn't an accident blackspot before, bet it is now!

[JonB]

Nearly went into the back of a van in Weymouth the other day as I was approaching a speed camera. I wasn't going too fast just had my eyes fixated on the speedo.
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[mr.z]

I know of 3 seperate accidents caused directly by speed cameras nearby,

one a little kid was killed at a crossing (they were looking at their speedo)
another a minor shunt after traffic stopped and they weren't looking..
the third a written off car from a junction, when asked "how didn't you see the car right in front of you?" the reply was "sorry mate i was looking at my speedo"

They are their own bright yellow accident blackspots.

The reason they are there is to reduce accidents and deaths, they are aciveing neither, as such there is no justification for them..
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[mr jamez]

[JonB]

I know limits on roadworks seem pointless but IMO they are more important than any over speed limit bar outside schools.
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[Major_Grooves]

Does anywhere have speed averaging cameras yet? If they are serious about reducing speed/accidents they should invest in these as then you will get people doing the speed limit for the whole road instead of just for a 10m section.
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[mr jamez]

I agree, it's a shame people are too stupid to realise that However they do go a little over the top and love shoving cameras in roadworks (often without bothering to tell people)

So it stops people speeding between the cameras, but adds another bunch of problems.

Didn't see any workmen though

[White Noise]

instead of camera's i think that there should be more of the monitors that i have seen a few times around. what i think that it is is that if you are speeding it will flash up with a warning of a hazard ahead (ie a hidden junction), if you don't know the road ahead it does really make you think about the road ahead and not the exact speed you are doing, makes you roll off a bit too!
WN
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[JonB]

WN if it's what I think it is I completely agree with you. Sometimes if I am going over the limit and a big LED sign says "30! SLOW DOWN!" it seems to have a better effect too me and I actually do follow it then! Far more effective and everybody is happy.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[White Noise]

nope, its simular to those but it actually flashes up the hazard coming up the road, ie a tight bend, junction as a symbol. just wish they had one for cow shite on the road!
WN

Edit: like this one

https://www.dambach.co.uk/images/prod0210.gif
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Buy my wife: 96' Yam XJ600s (Diversion)
Wing Commander White Noise - SE Clique
Riding Tip #86: See God, then back off a bit: Problem is i haven't seen god yet, just a close up of tarmac on revett straight

[Gracie Jones]

The other day I was going up the A1 in a 50 and the road opened up and straightened out completely - as straight a road as can be - and there was an NSL sign 200 yards ahead, so I began to move up to about 70-80 when just before the sign, I saw a bloody speed camera, so had to slam on the anchors.

I refuse to believe it is there more to reduce accidents than to raise cash. I wonder how close a camera has to be to an actual "blackspot"? Not very it seems. There was just no way that there could have been lots of accidents on that stretch, even if lots of cars together were accellerating - it is wide flat straight road as far as the eye can see.

[Claud 14.7 to 1]

Garrr the road works on the M25 are annoying.

Some places where they have cameras are so stupid it's unbelievable. Where I got caught out: a proper dual carriageway, just out of town, no junctions near, nothing, yet they still have a 50 limit for a good few miles.

I'd love to find out how much they make. It's not even 1 camera it's 2! And they have strategically put one of them behind a lamp post; you can see the yellow box bit, but only about half or 2 3rds of it.

Some I can agree with, a lot are a complete waste.

[Chriss]

[mchaggis]

The SPECS speed averaging scheme takes something like ten times as much money to set up (£200-300k) IIRC as a normal fixed speed camera. I doubt it'd bring in nearly so much revenue, despite probably having far more of an effect on road safety. They might actually work and bring some of the focus from penalising the motorist back onto road safety.

One system which works at reducing accidents, or ten systems which don't reduce accidents and raise more money. If you hated cars and were interested in raising money, which would you choose?

(I may be too cynical for my own good, but I do dislike them with a passion, partly because my speedo is knackered.)
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[JonT]

I think they are dangerous as whenever I get close to one without realising I grab a handfull of front brake just incase.